How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary

Why do golf balls have dimples?
How does an iPod turn binary digits into Bon Jovi?
How do microwave ovens cook?
How does a pitcher make a curveball curve and a knuckleballjitter?
Why don t you fall off an upside–down rollercoaster?

If one didn t know better, one might think the world wasfilled with magic from the household appliances thatmake our lives easier to the devices that fill our world withsounds and images. Even a simple light bulb can seem mysteriouswhen you re clueless about the science behind it.

Now in How Everything Works, Louis Bloomfield takes youinside the amazing gizmos and gadgets that are part of the fabricof our everyday life, explaining the physics that makes them work.Examining everything from roller coasters to radio, knuckleballs tonuclear weapons, How Everything Works reveals the answers tosuch questions as why the sky is blue, why metal is a problem inmicrowave ovens, how MRIs see inside you, and why some clothesrequire dry cleaning.

You don t need a science or engineering background tounderstand How Everything Works. All you need is an activecuriosity about the extraordinary world all around you. Remarkablyclear and always fascinating, How Everything Works isnothing short of a user s manual for our everyday world.

Chapter 1. Things That Move.

Chapter 2. More Things That Move.

Chapter 3. Mechanical Things.

Chapter 4. More Mechanical Things.

Chapter 5. Things Involving Fluids.

Chapter 6. Things That Move With Fluids.

Chapter 7. Thermal Things.

Chapter 8. Things That Work With Heat.

Chapter 9. Things With Resonances and Mechanical Waves.

Chapter 10. Electric Things.

Chapter 11. Magnetic and Electromagnetic Things.

Chapter 12. Electronic Things.

Chapter 13. Things That Use Electromagnetic Waves.

Chapter 14. Things That Involve Light.

Chapter 15. Optical Things.

Chapter 16. Things That Use Recent Physics.

Chapter 17. Things That Involve Materials.

Chapter 18. Things That Involve Chemical Physics.

Appendix A. Relevant Mathematics.

Appendix B. Units, Conversion of Units.

Glossary.

Photo Credits.

Index.

No one is better at making physics come to life than Louis Bloomfield. Widely recognized for his teaching of physics and science to non–science students at the University of Virginia, Professor Bloomfield is the co–host of the Discovery Channel television show Some Assembly Required, premiering in the fall of 2007.