Rating: 
Summary: Wish I had read this before Engrg School
Review: A fascinating and well written work. Michel Guillen brought to life the stories of the equations. When I had these in college, they were no where near as interesting!
Rating:
Summary: Wish I had read this before Engrg School
Review: A fascinating and well written work. Michel Guillen brought to life the stories of the equations. When I had these in college, they were no where near as interesting!
Rating: 
Summary: Trite, inaccurate, and a waste of time
Review: A wonderful idea poorly executed. This book is trite, shallow, and inaccurate. Apparently to make the book easier to write, the author appears to invent facts -- there's no way to tell for sure since there are no notes, references, or bibliography.On the other hand, the book probably meets the standards of most fourth or fifth grade biographies -- biographies that emphasize action, concoct dialog, and make up dramatic encounters. These biographies also have the virtue of being interesting to the uncritical minds of children. I have trouble believing an educated adult could tolerate this book. All in all, this may be the worst book about science and mathematics I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: For someone who doesn't like math, this was a great read!!!
Review: Although I have never been fond of math, I thouroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be informative and entertaining. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history and philophy of the sciences.
Rating:
Summary: (Five Equations) + (Micheal Guillen) = The Best Non-Fiction
Review: Any avid reader knows the experience. After weeding through countless uninspired (and uninspiring) novels, or grueling non-fiction that could only be improved by a couple of bald-faced lies, you somehow come across that ONE book that completely captures your imagination, and you simply can't read it fast enough. I would bet that anyone reading this knows the feeling exactly; it's the kind of experience that keeps one going back to the libraries and bookstores.
I'm pleased to report that Michael Guillen's "Five Equations that Changed the World" falls into this category with ease. The subject matter may not initially attract those for whom "mathematics" is synonymous with "inferiority complex", but speaking as an "almost pure" non-mathematician, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in history, in the processes of scientific method, or who simply enjoys an absorbing human drama. Additionally, even the most mathematically challenged may finally have their first experience of truly understanding intricate numerical concepts, as well as the thought, experience and effort which go into their creation.
The book details the lives of five historically prominent individuals, from Sir Issac Newton to Einstein, with the central focus of each story being a mathematical principle (and resulting equation) that proved to be their defining and enduring achievement. Guillen doesn't shy away from presenting the numerical concepts in their pure form, or try to take refuge in "layman's terms", but instead allows you to see some of the thought that went into the development of each equation, and in this way ensures that you will understand the concepts that led to the numbers. This process allows the reader to clearly see mathematics as a language that can be used to elegantly summarize complex ideas.
Ultimately though, what is truly astonishing about the book doesn't lie in the five equations, but in the details of the lives of these remarkable men. Each story is filled with the passion, competition, family drama, ill feelings, jealousy, hard work and sheer will that underlies most human endeavours, science not the least. On finishing the book, I found myself wondering for days where people like these are today, people for whom "genius" seems a small and confining definition. There obviously is not space here to provide any details, so I will can only encourage anyone who finds this even mildly intriguing to do themselves a favour and go to the source as soon as possible.
Guillen manages to find that extremely rare balance where, even as you're reading the book, you're marvelling at his ability to maintain an almost perfect mixture of enlightenment and entertainment. This book is one of those rare items (fiction or non-fiction) that is so absorbing that I found myself checking the number of the last page, not because (as so often happens) I wanted to know how much more I had to wade through, but because I just didn't want it to end too quickly. Be warned, though: this book will almost certainly disrupt your life for whatever time period it takes to finish it! Mr. Guillen, I thank you.
Robert Haaf
Rating:
Summary: the personal side to science and math
Review: As a non-scientist but a person very interested in science and how it changes our world and the people in it, I really enjoyed this book. The real science is there, with very lucid explanations for some seriously complex matters, but I think Mr. Guillen did a wonderful job of personalizing the scientists who made these great breakthroughs. Since we can assume that he did not get to personally speak with Newton and the others about their lives and the people in them, I thought he did a great job of making them seem real and so very human. Many of us assume that scientists are nothing but cold and logical in all aspects of their lives, and I think some scientists like to make us think that. (Somehow puts them a little above reproach). But the personal side to these stories is, I think, even more fascinating in a way than the science. The things that some of these people overcame are unbelievable. An excellent,fascinating and thoroughly interesting book.
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: Both the non-technical and the mathematically educated reader will enjoy this book as leasure reading. Highly recommanded!
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging, Optimistic and Sloppy
Review: Delightfully written, easy to follow, Guillen describes the personal situations and scientific context of Newton's Law of Gravitation, Bernoulli's Law of Hydrodynamic Pressure, Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction, Clausius's Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity (the equivalence of mass and energy). As is the recent custom outside of textbooks, Guillen has given an exceptional amount of personal detail, letting us be amazed once more about how much these five scientists achieved despite personal situations that varied from ordinary to awful. Furthermore, the resistance from other scientists of their times is still surprising to some of us, while the resistance of the Catholic Church is not. Guillen's efforts to provide clear explanations for the discoveries mostly succeed, least well for Clausius's Second Law of Thermodynamics, in my opinion. Many clever similes are used. A better explanation of the inverted delta in Clerk-Maxwell's equation on Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction is needed. Guillen defines it as "the amount of" (p158), while "the rate of change" might be better. The math does not go beyond high school algebra, with that one exception, so the mathematically challenged such as this reviewer need not fear. What is very disappointing is the number of errors: 1. On p27 globes are said to 2-dimensional, when they are actually 3-dimensional; circles are 2-dimensional.
2. On p36 et seq planetary motion around the sun is said to follow oval paths, when the paths are actually elliptical. These are different shapes. 3. On p137 the Leyden jar was said to be the forerunner of the modern battery. In fact is was the ancestor of the modern capacitor. 4. On p139 Volta's piles were said to provide more current the higher the pile, meaning the more plates). In fact, more plates gave more voltage, not more current. The two terms are not interchangeable. The piles were said to be the ancestor of today's storage batteries, while, in fact, they were the precursor of today's "dry" cells, which are not rechargeable. 5. On p158 the general term "electricity" was used instead of the proper term "voltage" (E). 6. On p162 a perpetual motion machine seems to be described inadvertently by the supposed possibility of using an electric motor to spin a dynamo that, in turn, powers the motor. This is not possible, of course. 7. On p163 the term "current" is used instead of "voltage"; these have never been interchangeable. The current is the number of electrons passing a certain point per second, while voltage is the unit of electrical pressure. 8. On p163 the term "heat" is used instead of "temperature". Thermometers measure temperature; calorimeters measure heat. 9. On p187 there seems to be total confusion between heat capacity and conduction. The apple filling in a pie is mostly water which has high heat capacity and good conduction, so it is easy to be burned on hot filling. The crust is mostly carbohydrate with air pockets, almost a foam, and the combination of low heat content at a given temperature and poor conduction makes it harder to be burned by the hot crust. 10. On p246 the speed of light was said to be constant. This should have been qualified from the start as being in a vacuum, as was done from p248 et seq. 11. The gross structure of the atom was worked out by Ernest Rutherford et al. in 1911 by bombarding gold foil with a beam of alpha particles from radium, not in the 1930s with "atom smashers" (particle accelerators), p258. 12. Einstein's 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was for his discovery of the photoelectric effect, not for quantum mechanics (p259), which Einstein never even accepted! Other Amazon.com reviewers found other mistakes as well.
Rating: 
Summary: strange book
Review: dr.guillen's historical sketches are entertaining, but he makes several egregiously false statements in the book. on page 62, paragraph four, he describes a perpetual motion machine which he claims actually existed. p.116, paragraphs 3 and 4, he explains the mechanism of lift on a wing incorrectly. on p.27 he describes globes as "two dimensional circles". on p.183,paragraphs 3 and 4 he gives an incorrect explanation of paradoxical undressin(it's actually a result of perepheral vasodilitation,following failure of the autonomic nervous system). p.187, paragraph 3, he says the heat capacity of water is less than that of air, which is incorrect. in what subject, exactly, does he have his phd?
Rating:
Summary: A Good Background Book
Review: Eleven of the 14 reviews give this book 4 and 5 stars. I also give it 5 stars. The book explains how these great men formulated their equations with reasoning and observations. These equations are normally in textbooks without any explanations of their derivations. This book explains their origins that will help students understand them better. Can you understand the derivation of the schrodinger equation when it is discussed in just one page of a chemistry book? I would like to comment on the criticisms of JAYBREY@CONCENTRIC.COM from San Francisco. (1) If you increase the volume of the water behind a damn, the height and the pressure of the water against the damn increases. From this point of view, volume does affect the pressure. (2) You are basically right about friction and the Carnot Cycle. However, if you actually measured the work from an engine, friction would be a factor. I am certain that Dr. Guillen is aware of these two points. Regardless of all complaints, he has our attention. Keep in mind that he is writing for the average layman. I want my grandchildren to read this book. I wish it were available when I started college.
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