How did we find out about atoms?

How Did We Find Out #12

by Isaac Asimov

Discusses the concept of atoms and evidence of their existence accumulated since the time of the Greeks.

Genres: Science, History

62 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Works 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...

Reviews

[Aman Vig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in science are extremely gripping and Asimov does justice always. Lucid explanations, encouraging a sense of wonder, great story telling, my man always nails it.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not one of his best in this series but still deserved 4 stars. He explains how we can figure things out about atoms even without having seen atoms with our eyes. In fact, he specifically answered this in describing a skeptic who had to accept convincing evidence even though it couldn’t be seen! Definitely recommended especially if you’re having trouble with atomic concepts.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would call these children's books and I don't think I would get much argument. But hey! It's Isaac Asimov! No let down here.

[Avi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This level of book, I'm not reading to take lessons from what he's teaching, I'm reading to take lessons about how he's teaching it.