Review of 'The Physics of Everyday Things' by James Kakalios

What an interesting topic - I am so glad I have this book! I have always wondered about some of those things.  While I could tell this book was broken down into simpler explanations,  me not being overly 'scientific' minded, to be honest, I still had trouble getting my head around some of the information provided.  I guess there is only so far you can go to simplify concepts but if it doesn't come naturally to you, it will probably still be hard to understand! On the whole though, James did a great idea of simplifying in a way the average person can understand.

I like how he starts each section introducing the 'everyday thing' he is going to explain. For example he starts the book
focussing on digital timers and clocks. He goes on to explain about the pendulum and its oscillations creating kinetic energy.  If anything it gives me a sense of wonder at the types of information people know out there to create and maintain these things. The power stations with their rotating coils of wire and magnets etc.  I think it might have helped me to have more diagrams or pictures to illustrate some of these concepts perhaps?

The chapters are titled as follows:

1. You Begin your day (clocks, mp3 players, electric toothbrush, toaster, fridge)

2. You Drive into the City (electric/gasoline hybrid vehicle, GPS, EZ Pass,  traffic jams, self parking , keyless remote control)

3. You go to the Doctor (high speed elevator, wifi, electronic thermometer, X-ray scan, ultrasound, MRI,

4. You go to the airport (credit card, metal detector, full body scanner,  X-ray scanner, explosive trace detector)

5. You take a flight (lithium battery, airplanes, digital photo, cloud data storage, noise cancelling headphones, High speed train)

6. You give a business presentation (USB flash drive, photocopier, LCD projector, Laser pointer, microphone, radiation/microwaves)

7. You go to a Hotel (fitness monitor wristband, motion sensor, proximity card,  remote control, flat panel tv,

I found the part about traffic jams really interesting! Something I have wondered about and his explanations there were really clear and made a lot of sense. I thought his explanation of wifi really informative also and easy to follow.

This is a very current book talking about current technology such as cloud data storage etc.  If you've ever wondered about any of these things - I definitely recommend this book!  It's a great resource.

Please note that I was sent a copy of this book for purposes of review, however the opinions expressed are entirely my own.