By Colin Bruce - The Einstein Paradox: And Other Science Mysteries Solved By Sherl (1998-10-02) [Paperback]

by Colin Bruce

In this marvelous book, the reader is introduced to the bizarre concepts of modern physics as the only way to solve a casebook of otherwise impossibly paradoxical crimes. Murder on a royal train. Divers dead of heatstroke at the bottom of an icy sea. An epidemic of insanity among the world’s top scientists. This is the story of the great paradigm shifts of science, told as never in Sherlock Holmes adventures set amid the grandeur and squalor of Victorian London. Holmes, Watson, and other beloved characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle are challenged by mysteries, each of which hinges on a scientific paradox or principle. Colin Bruce has recreated the atmosphere of the original Sherlock Holmes stories to give a truly compulsive read. You won’t even realize you’ve learned something until it’s too late!

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Mystery, Crime

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Ioannis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το παράδοξο του Αϊνστάιν δεν είναι ακριβώς λογοτεχνικό βιβλίο αλλά ένα βιβλίο για ανθρώπους που θα ήθελαν να γνωρίσουν με σχετικά απλό και εύληπτο τρόπο κάποιες βασικές αρχές αλλά και παράδοξα της σύγχρονης φυσικής και ενδεχομένως και κάποια ιστορικά στοιχεία πίσω από την έρευνα τους. Τοποθετείται χρονικά σε μια περίοδο που έζησαν οι θεωρητικοί που έβαλαν τα θεμέλια και άλλαξαν τον τρόπο σκέψης προς αυτό που γνωρίζουμε σήμερα.
Δεν μου άρεσε και δεν κατάλαβα γιατί χρησιμοποίησε ως πρωταγωνιστικό δίδυμο τον Σέρλοκ Χολμς και τον βοηθό του ενώ κατά τη γνώμη μου θα μπορούσε το βιβλίο να σταθεί και με πρωτότυπους χαρακτήρες. Ίσως ήθελε να αποφύγει να ρίξει βάρος σε αυτό το κομμάτι και να επικεντρωθεί στις θεωρίες του κάθε κεφαλαίου. Γενικά είναι ενδιαφέρον και μπορεί να πληροφορήσει τον/την φιλομαθή αναγνώστη/στρια και να προξενήσει και επιπλέον ενδιαφέρον.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction books myself, and usually my book choices have little or nothing to do with the laws of physics, but The Einstein Paradox and other Science Mysteries Solved by Sherlock Holmes by Colin Bruce was a whole different story. The book is enticingly clever and kept me interested on some of the dreariest subjects know to man. I found the book at my local hand-me-down book shop while I was perusing thru, and wasn’t at first impressed. I mean sure, I love a good mystery, and Sherlock Holmes is a classic, but how can that make quantum physics any easier to understand? At least that’s what I thought at the time, but I was mistaken. Luckily for me, I had a good friend with me who demanded I give this new book a try, and it was well worth it.
Colin Bruce uses the well-known Sherlock Holmes novels as a foundation for a set of short stories describing all sorts of complicated scientific laws. The book starts out simple with a story about pendulum theory and extends its lessons all the way up to quantum physics. Each little story is a Sherlock Holmes style mystery complete with Dr. Watson, the office and, of course, Holmes himself. There is always some scary murder that the police have no hope of solving and the killer, oddly enough, in science. After being left to investigate Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes discover, and explain, the odd science that has people dropping like flies. The tall tales are all an odd mix of fiction non-fiction that explain different scientific anomalies in a way that the average-Joe can understand.
I, personally, was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’m a big fan of a good mystery and this book gave me several. I couldn’t get enough of the classic story lines and the way Colin Bruce explained the science was exquisite. Even being someone who doesn’t understand science perfectly, I could clearly see what each and every killer scientific lesson was trying to say. The best part for me though, was the fact that, without being someone who had even read the original Sherlock Holmes novels, the book made perfect sense. This book didn’t take forever to read and, because it is short stories, I could put it down and pick it back up as I saw fit. I absolutely love The Einstein Paradox and I am nothing but impressed by how well it kept me interested.
The Einstein Paradox and other Science Mysteries Solved by Sherlock Holmes by Colin Bruce is a book made for almost everyone. Anyone who loves a good mystery will be sucked in by the excitement of the seemingly un-solvable murders; those who are more interested in the facts will enjoy the clever explanations. The Einstein Paradox is also perfect for someone who is having trouble understanding a physics subject or taking a difficult science class too. If you have read and enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes novels, you will want to see Colin Bruce’s witty take on such an impactful classic. All in all, if you are someone who just likes to leave a book feeling a little smarter, or enjoys any sort of quirky mystery, then I highly recommend The Einstein Paradox and other Science Mysteries Solved by Sherlock Holmes by Colin Bruce.

[Senshisteph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love pop-science, I love Sherlock Holmes, so what could be better?

The stories are entertaining, the explanations clear and engaging, and the 'educated layperson' comes away feeling they almost actually understand quantum theory! To be able to explain such complex and counter-intuitive topics in such a clear and readable way shows that the author is an extremely talented communicator of science.

[Elisabeth Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like others have stated, the stories were great at explaining various scientific concepts in simple ways but they lacked emotional attachment to the characters and felt somewhat cold and dry. I think science can be told in warmer tones.

[KathyNV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating combination of the deductive reasoning of Sherlock Holmes vs the curiosity and creative reasoning of Albert Einstein. Logic and imagination come together to create one very interesting read!

[Chloe Leong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of enjoying myself while reading the book, its fun to read this book.

[Kushal Srivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry if you're reading this Colin, but there's no other way to say it-I want my fucking money back. I go to this big though totally lacking in quality bookstore-Odyssey-out of the crap-pile of books I found a decent looking title-The Einstein Paradox, well nothing great you'd say, me too, but here's the bash-the subtitle says And other Science Mysteries Solved by SHERLOCK HOLMES, man ! I almost had a boner. Sherlock Holmes and Physics that's gonna be wet dreams for sure.

I almost forgot about the book though because I was reading the cucumber nose of Rushdie, but then one day I had this massive hardon for detective fiction and what better than Mr. Holmes. So I pick up this book (Rs 545, yeah I still want it back) and rush through the first story, man what a let down, you expect that the smartest man in the world will comeup with some excellent theory about the murder and we'll all ejaculate in his honor but, I quote from the book "Holmes cursed and smote himself on the forehead and I doubtless looked as baffled as I felt." The "I" here is ofcourse the fucking moron Dr. Watson and Holmes is cursing himself because HE DIN'T SOLVE THE CASE, some Dr. Summerlee did. WTF!! Seriously, I didn't pay up that money to see Holmes balls kicked all over the place by some nutjob physicist.

I believe I have great forgiving power, because I read the next story from the book as well, and well, that did it. Holmes was not even working on the case, he sent Dr. fucking-moron-Watson on the voyage and Prof. challenger solved the mystery. Wowowowow I just got pwn3d.

The mysteries are also pathetic, I mean half of the time the author is explaining that why Earth is round and not flat, I mean come on if you wrote this book in 1910 (book was written in '97)then also this would have been truism. The time period this book aims at is 1905-1915, because he talk about Einstein's STR but at one place he also mentions through Prof Challenger "Come to think of it, the number of conserved quantities we know of is similar to the number of symmetries the universe is observed to possess. I wonder if there might be some deep link here" so he clearly doesn't know Noether's theorem, which sets the boundary at 1915.

Most of the time author is harping on very basic and elementary physics which totally drained my bodily fluids as this was not what I was looking from this book. I wanted SHERLOCK HOLMES and he and only he should solve the cases. Damn you Colin! I didn't go beyond the 2nd chapter.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

**edited 02/02/14

An incredibly entertaining read, Bruce deftly weaves together the characters from Conan Doyle with complex concepts from physics. Although I think Bruce does a good job using allusion and metaphor to try to explain the principles of quantum, as someone not familiar with relativity or quantum, I found some of it rather difficult to absorb. It was also a little difficult to marry the Victorian world of Sherlock Holmes with theories such as the Many-Worlds theory that are currently under debate today. There is an inherent anachronism in using Holmes to explain theories that depend on observations that were made far after Holmes' time.

...
Due to my disapproval of GR's new and highly subjective review deletion policy, I am no longer posting full reviews here.

The rest of this review can be found on Booklikes.

[Soledad P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunca fui muy buena en física y química, pero me encanta leer teoría matemática y este libro es justamente sobre eso. Los casos que debe resolver Sherlock Holmes lo van guiando a través del mágico mundo de la física y explora en teoría muchas de las teorías (valga la redundancia) que en el siglo XX han llevado a la humanidad hacia la comprensión del universo en el que viven. Lo más destacable del libro es el humor incomprendido del Doctor Watson y el hecho de que Holmes, como sus fans deben saber, es un individuo que sólo investiga lo que le interesa, por lo que a veces se ve un poco sobrepasado por la ciencia (sobre todo en el caso del péndulo de Foucault). También fue interesante ver la faceta científica de Mycroft, que si hubiera existido, hubiera sido una verdadera lumbrera de la ciencia

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as interesting or as comprehensible as Colin Bruce's other Sherlock Holmes science book, Conned Again, Watson! Professor Challenger appears more often than Holmes, which was a tad bit annoying for this Holmes fan. This has also been published as The Strange Case of Mrs. Hudson's Cat. Whether the cat is alive or dead is not the point, of course -- unless you happen to be the cat.

[TheSaint · Rating 4 out of 5]

In stories such as "The Case of the Energetic Anarchist," and "Three Cases of Relative Jealousy," Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solve the mysteries of science. In The Einstein Paradox Colin Bruce recreates Holmes with remarkable accuracy and makes understanding basic principles of physics relatively painless.

[Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of Sherlock Holmes-style detective stories is attractive enough. Couple that with intriguing scientific facts and theories, and you get a book that simultaneously educates and entertains. I wish there were more writers like Colin Bruce, who has mastered both science and storytelling. This book is simply a joy to read and reread.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were interesting and fun. The overall cohesion was less than I expected, and the characters of Holmes and Watson weren't *quite* right. With a little of imagination there is enjoyment to be had.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few spots that felt contrived but overall I loved it.