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Understanding Physics, Asimov #1–3
Understanding Physics
3 Volumes in Motion, Sound & Heat; Light, Magnetism & Electricity; The Electron, Proton & Neutron. 1993 Barnes & Noble reprint of three Isaac Asimov classics. Originally published in 1966.
Hardcover
First published May 1, 1966
119 people are currently reading
2847 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,665 books27.2k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 8, 2013
Back in high school, my physics course was a complete joke. Our teacher was a football coach who was more interested in that than teaching us physics.
Then in college, I was forced to take Physics 101 and 103. I hated them with an undying passion. I didn't understand most of what the textbook was trying to tell me, the teachers were boring and monotonal...I had a real mental block about pretty much anything having to do with physics. I thought I was a hopeless case.
Then, a few years ago, I was browsing the "bargain books" bin at a Barnes & Noble in Birmingham, Alabama. And there it was. A Physics book. By Isaac Asimov.
Isaac. Asimov.
It was $5. I bought it without hesitation and started reading it immediately in the book store while waiting on my friends to get done.
Not only did I understand every word Mr. Asimov wrote, I found that it all made perfect sense. It was as if a locked door had been blown off its hinges.
I avidly read the entire book cover-to-cover. Motion, sound, heat, light, magnetism, electricity, atomic structure...I understood it all. For the first time, my eyes didn't cross when the equations were given. Because Asimov explains the formulae. Explains how they were arrived at. Gives the history of the discoveries. Leads you along WITH the men and women who figured it all out.
Makes it make SENSE.
Because of this book. Because of Isaac Asimov's wonderful ability to write engagingly about topics that would put sugar-laden, hyperactive, caffeine-infused three-year-olds to sleep. I've read many books about physics, math, and such since then, and thanks to the foundations this book laid, I understood them.
If you can find a copy of this, get it. Check the bargain bins. Check used book stores. Check library sales.
Then in college, I was forced to take Physics 101 and 103. I hated them with an undying passion. I didn't understand most of what the textbook was trying to tell me, the teachers were boring and monotonal...I had a real mental block about pretty much anything having to do with physics. I thought I was a hopeless case.
Then, a few years ago, I was browsing the "bargain books" bin at a Barnes & Noble in Birmingham, Alabama. And there it was. A Physics book. By Isaac Asimov.
Isaac. Asimov.
It was $5. I bought it without hesitation and started reading it immediately in the book store while waiting on my friends to get done.
Not only did I understand every word Mr. Asimov wrote, I found that it all made perfect sense. It was as if a locked door had been blown off its hinges.
I avidly read the entire book cover-to-cover. Motion, sound, heat, light, magnetism, electricity, atomic structure...I understood it all. For the first time, my eyes didn't cross when the equations were given. Because Asimov explains the formulae. Explains how they were arrived at. Gives the history of the discoveries. Leads you along WITH the men and women who figured it all out.
Makes it make SENSE.
Because of this book. Because of Isaac Asimov's wonderful ability to write engagingly about topics that would put sugar-laden, hyperactive, caffeine-infused three-year-olds to sleep. I've read many books about physics, math, and such since then, and thanks to the foundations this book laid, I understood them.
If you can find a copy of this, get it. Check the bargain bins. Check used book stores. Check library sales.
May 23, 2015
This book changed my life. I moved to a new state in high school and I had no friends. To pass the time in the summers I would go to the public library. One day, I picked up this book because it had a seal on it which read something to the effect of "Book of the Month". I read it over a weekend and it was my inspiration to study physics from that point forward. I went on to earn degrees in mathematics and astrophysics, and became a professor for many years. In short, it was a good read.
September 17, 2019
Understanding Physics, a compilation of three volumes covering (I) Newtonian mechanics and thermodynamics, (II) electromagnetism, and (III) atomic physics, is a fantastically useful reference for everything you probably learned in high school physics and then forgot. Like all of Dr. Asimov's nonfiction, it is written with the utmost clarity, and contains no mathematics more advanced than simple algebra. It is also very well indexed and cross-referenced.
Dr. Asimov preferred to write about science from a historical viewpoint, which highlights science as a process of discovery, rather than a dry recitation of facts. In fact, this book also appeared under the title The History of Physics.
While the first two volumes concern topics thoroughly understood before the 20th century, the third volume, The Proton, Neutron and Electron, is somewhat dated. (For example, no mention is made of quarks or gluons—topics .) As a supplement to this book, therefore, I recommend the Good Doctor's masterpiece, Atom .
Dr. Asimov preferred to write about science from a historical viewpoint, which highlights science as a process of discovery, rather than a dry recitation of facts. In fact, this book also appeared under the title The History of Physics.
While the first two volumes concern topics thoroughly understood before the 20th century, the third volume, The Proton, Neutron and Electron, is somewhat dated. (For example, no mention is made of quarks or gluons—topics .) As a supplement to this book, therefore, I recommend the Good Doctor's masterpiece, Atom .
February 9, 2022
This was my attempt to better understand the esoteric world of physics. Asimov does a superb job at explaining very difficult concepts (difficult for me personally) in an somewhat easy manner. The book is chock-full of equations however, and unfortunately math has never been my strong point. I got through most of the first book in this collection of three books (Motion, Sound, and Heat) but I couldn't finish. My head was spinning with all the algebra.
I did however leave this attempt with a better understanding and appreciation for the world around me. The chapters on motion were particularly interesting -- I cannot see a ball flying in the air or the act of pushing one of my son's toys along the floor without thinking of gravitational pull, force, velocity, speed, and angular momentum! Asimov made me look at our universe in a different lens and for that I'm grateful!
I rated this work 5 stars because he goes into great depth to discuss and explain these complicated topics and I'm sure someone mathematically inclined will be able to understand more fully this work. Maybe I'll revisit this one in the future.
I did however leave this attempt with a better understanding and appreciation for the world around me. The chapters on motion were particularly interesting -- I cannot see a ball flying in the air or the act of pushing one of my son's toys along the floor without thinking of gravitational pull, force, velocity, speed, and angular momentum! Asimov made me look at our universe in a different lens and for that I'm grateful!
I rated this work 5 stars because he goes into great depth to discuss and explain these complicated topics and I'm sure someone mathematically inclined will be able to understand more fully this work. Maybe I'll revisit this one in the future.
February 8, 2009
This is the first physics book I read, and I have gone on to read very many since then. I can't say that I wouldn't have chosen to become a physicist had I not read this book, as I was naturally drawn to physics. But for me, this turned out to be the perfect first physics book, because Asimov did a fantastic job of introducing the subject in an accessible way without dumbing it down like so many popular science writers would have done. He also does a wonderful job of mixing the history of the subject with the technical details. After reading this book 16 years ago, I knew with complete certainty that I wanted to become a physicist, and I never looked back.
May 7, 2018
Okay, so it's not the standard model of particle physics, General Relativity or Quantum Chromo-Dynamics. But as a sort of primer on applied physics this is one of the best general audience books out there. Asimov doesn't 'fake it' (as Feyman always warned about), but gives it straight and notes when he's leaving details and complications out. This book is not bleeding edge particle mechanics but it would serve you well in a Newtonian Universe. Probably my favorite book by Asimov.
June 29, 2021
I doubt anyone would consider reading this since it was written well over 50 years ago. But in the 1960s I remember reading Asimov's writing on chemistry and it lighted a mental fire in me. His writing was so interesting, years later I took a chemistry course at The Citadel just for fun. This book also has very many interesting points that are so well described. Thank heavens for scientific authors who not only explain but create excitement.
September 5, 2010
This massive tome is a compilation of three books originally published under the series Understanding Physics: Motion, Sound and Heat; Light, Magnetism and Electricity; and The Proton, Neutron and Electron. It has since appeared as
Understanding Physics
(1993, Barnes & Noble Books). I recommend the latter edition, because in The History of Physics, the pages are numbered consecutively through all three volumes, but the index and cross-references in the text are numbered by volume and page within the volume (e.g., "II-140"). Thus, it is very difficult to hunt down references to other parts of the book.
My review of Understanding Physics is here.
My review of Understanding Physics is here.
August 17, 2023
I think there are two factors that explain the enduring popularity of Isaac Asimov’s 1966 classic, Understanding Physics. The first factor is right in the title, “Understanding.” Traditional physics texts focus, perhaps appropriately, on the equations. A student can successfully “plug & tug” their way through a physics course with rote memorization, without really understanding the various phenomena. Asimov, the ultimate explainer, is singularly focused on the background, meaning, & implications of the equations that are fundamental to physics. To take a trivial example, you can do mass/energy conversions all day without ever understanding why c, the speed of light in a vacuum is needed in Einstein’s equation. Asimov makes the need for c abundantly clear. The second factor in explaining the continuing usefulness of Understanding Physics is that it takes the reader through the development of our understanding of physical phenomena all the way from the ancient Greeks through to nuclear physics (at least, as it was in 1966). Asimov is at his best demonstrating the supreme beauty inherent in how physicists built upon one another’s discoveries to arrive at our current description of nature. It’s breath-taking. I first read the three separate books that together comprise Understanding Physics some forty-six years ago. And I just re-read the consolidated volumes precisely to refresh my appreciation of this supremely beautiful edifice.
March 14, 2025
Isaac Asimov was a prolific science communicator. He wrote Understanding Physics in 1966. Asimov logically explains phenomena and the history of our understanding. Keep in mind that the edition I own predates several advancements in technology. In 1966, we had not been to the Moon and back yet. Engineers were using Slide Rules, and I believe they developed the Integrated Circuit, but couldn't use it well. Computation was in its infancy.
Asimov begins with the Greeks and how they devised their systems. Aristotle deserves mention, along with people like Isaac Newton, among others. He delves into equations and how to use them, but they are secondary to the book. The end of each volume has a bibliography and suggestions for further reading. Returning to the publication date of 1966, I wonder if Asimov was aware of the discovery of the CMB radiation at the time of writing.
I love the clarity of Asimov's writing, but the pagination bothers me. Allow me to explain. The book is three volumes in one. When it gets to the second volume, the page count restarts. I don't like when it does that, but that is my only complaint. Asimov addresses this with the references he makes to the first volume.
I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
Asimov begins with the Greeks and how they devised their systems. Aristotle deserves mention, along with people like Isaac Newton, among others. He delves into equations and how to use them, but they are secondary to the book. The end of each volume has a bibliography and suggestions for further reading. Returning to the publication date of 1966, I wonder if Asimov was aware of the discovery of the CMB radiation at the time of writing.
I love the clarity of Asimov's writing, but the pagination bothers me. Allow me to explain. The book is three volumes in one. When it gets to the second volume, the page count restarts. I don't like when it does that, but that is my only complaint. Asimov addresses this with the references he makes to the first volume.
I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
April 27, 2020
Here’s a real treat for all of us who wish we’d paid a little more attention in high school. For the most part Isaac Asimov does a great job of explaining physics concepts from simple machines to quantum mechanics in language easy enough for even the most science-illiterate members of the audience to understand. Every once in awhile he lapsed into an explanation so math-intensive that I had trouble following him. Further, more illustrations would seriously have helped visual learners like me. Finally, it’s a shame he didn’t update this book at some point during his illustrious career; though most of the fundamentals remain intact from 1966 to the present, several grey areas have subsequently been colored in. That notwithstanding, this is a good – if lengthy – read for anyone with a not-much-more-than-casual interest in the subject at hand.
November 10, 2019
This 3-volume set is a rich resource to understand physics clearly. Asimov always gives you a little bit of history on each concept, which really draws you into its fundamental properties. Asimov has written books on an incredible number of topics, so he KNOWS how to explain topics. He is so clear and concise. What is nice, is that you can pick any topic you'd like in this 3-volume set and read it individually. Sure, the chapter or so in front of it can help too. But you can really just read any chapter you want and not be lost. Remarkable.
April 1, 2024
If you want a book that does a good job of explaining the basic fundamental laws of physics without many formulas and no calculus, this is probably the best. Any book that is not math heavy is going to miss a lot, but for a book that provides just explains the concepts in plain English, this is very useful.
May 19, 2019
An amazing book! Starts off with ancient Greek philosophy and then begins to correct one thing at a time, leading to a linear and easy understanding of the principles that followed. A must-read for anyone who wants to deepen their knowledge of physics or start from zero and work their way up.
December 1, 2024
Best introduction to understanding the many different disciplines of physics.
It's written many years ago so it's not meant for cutting edge knowledge, I found it to be easily readable basic concepts upon which to build.
It's written many years ago so it's not meant for cutting edge knowledge, I found it to be easily readable basic concepts upon which to build.
Read
May 28, 2022Didn’t start.
July 17, 2022
One of the greatest physics resources out there. It doesn't read like a textbook; rather, it's easily-understood and fantastically well-written.
February 7, 2023
My 14 yo son adored this book!
July 30, 2025
I think I understand physics now
March 11, 2017
Even though it's written for the layman, it still a bit heavy for the average reader.
February 6, 2014
This book is an overview of the fundamentals of physics. In three volumes, it covers classical physics (motion, sound and heat) Light magnetism and electricity, and modern physics (nuclear physics and electronics). In a very lucid and entertaining style, this great sci-fi writer makes a seemingly difficult subject understandable and riveting. The physics classes I took in college were oriented towards the problem solving. While there are some math problems involved to illustrate the science, it is kept simple. Calculus is not required to understand and enjoy this work. This book was written in 1966, so much of the phenomena, such as fiber optic technology, that we see in today’s world are not covered. Also, this book is bulky and must be read at a desk. Still it is a much worthwhile and satisfying read.
June 12, 2017
This was the first physics book that I read and I greatly enjoyed it. I do not possess an extensive background in physics, but I did take an introductory course in the subject during High School. I was absolutely amazed with the ease of which Asimov translates the abstract and technical material in this book into everyday language. He also provides numerous concrete examples so that you are able to visualize the concept more concretely.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an introduction into the world of physics!
I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an introduction into the world of physics!
August 21, 2009
The Good Doctor presents a comprehensive treatment of every aspect of physics in this one-volume edition, which otherwise is presented in three volumes: Volume 1 Motion, Sound & Heat; Volume 2 Light, Magnetism & Electricity; and Volume 3 Electron, Proton & Neutron.
May 28, 2008
This was originally my dad's book, a long time ago, and I couldn't keep my hands off it when I was a kid. It's an excellent overview by any measure, and far more accessible than any other science book I've since encountered, while still possessing breadth and depth.
August 19, 2009
The title says it all; the Good Doctor delivers a comprehensive description of the history of man's understanding of physical properties of the universe.
June 18, 2008
im cool
December 14, 2018
I'm just a fat nerd who loves Isaac Asimov.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
October 24, 201311/7/88. No library and no iBooks.
October 18, 2014
I liked it: Most everything in layman's terms.
Want to read
February 11, 2013is it good ?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews