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Simply Dirac
“What a fantastic entrée into the life of Paul Dirac and the exotic world of Quantum Mechanics, of which he was one of the great pioneers. With its cast of some of the most important scientists of the modern age, this is both an entertaining and an enlightening read.”
—Michael White, Bestselling author of 39 books including Isaac The Last Sorcerer Paul Dirac (1902–1984) was a brilliant mathematician and a 1933 Nobel laureate whose work ranks alongside that of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Although not as well known as his famous contemporaries Werner Heisenberg and Richard Feynman, his influence on the course of physics was immense. His landmark book, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics , introduced that new science to the world and his “Dirac equation” was the first theory to reconcile special relativity and quantum mechanics. Dirac held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a position also occupied by such luminaries as Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. Yet, during his 40-year career as a professor, he had only a few doctoral students due to his peculiar personality, which bordered on the bizarre. Taciturn and introverted, with virtually no social skills, he once turned down a knighthood because he didn’t want to be addressed by his first name. Einstein described him as “balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness.” In Simply Dirac , author Helge Kragh blends the scientific and the personal and invites the reader to get to know both Dirac the quantum genius and Dirac the social misfit. Featuring cameo appearances by some of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and highlighting the dramatic changes that occurred in the field of physics during Dirac’s lifetime, this fascinating biography is an invaluable introduction to a truly singular man.
Benefits of reading Simply Dirac :
What's
Buy Simply Dirac now and get a unique insight into the life of a truly extraordinary man!
—Michael White, Bestselling author of 39 books including Isaac The Last Sorcerer Paul Dirac (1902–1984) was a brilliant mathematician and a 1933 Nobel laureate whose work ranks alongside that of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Although not as well known as his famous contemporaries Werner Heisenberg and Richard Feynman, his influence on the course of physics was immense. His landmark book, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics , introduced that new science to the world and his “Dirac equation” was the first theory to reconcile special relativity and quantum mechanics. Dirac held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a position also occupied by such luminaries as Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. Yet, during his 40-year career as a professor, he had only a few doctoral students due to his peculiar personality, which bordered on the bizarre. Taciturn and introverted, with virtually no social skills, he once turned down a knighthood because he didn’t want to be addressed by his first name. Einstein described him as “balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness.” In Simply Dirac , author Helge Kragh blends the scientific and the personal and invites the reader to get to know both Dirac the quantum genius and Dirac the social misfit. Featuring cameo appearances by some of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and highlighting the dramatic changes that occurred in the field of physics during Dirac’s lifetime, this fascinating biography is an invaluable introduction to a truly singular man.
Benefits of reading Simply Dirac :
What's
Buy Simply Dirac now and get a unique insight into the life of a truly extraordinary man!
134 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 29, 2016
26 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Helge Kragh
59 books39 followersHelge Stjernholm Kragh is a Danish historian of science.
Kragh studied mathematics and physics at the University of Copenhagen before obtaining his PhD in 1981 at the University of Roskilde. He is a professor at the Centre for Science Studies of Aarhus University.
Kragh's areas of study are the history of physics from the mid-19th century onward, the history of astronomy, the history of cosmology and the history of chemistry.
Kragh studied mathematics and physics at the University of Copenhagen before obtaining his PhD in 1981 at the University of Roskilde. He is a professor at the Centre for Science Studies of Aarhus University.
Kragh's areas of study are the history of physics from the mid-19th century onward, the history of astronomy, the history of cosmology and the history of chemistry.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 12, 2017
This is a brief introduction to Dirac's life and work. It's plain and day that he was autistic (probably had Asperger's Syndrome). It's also a shame he isn't more famous; his work on quantum theory has been extraordinarily influential, bringing field theories of fundamental interactions to dominance and inspiring popular and increasingly well supported ideas about cosmology (Inflation theories).
The book is unreliable regarding the state of current physical theory, suggesting that both electro-weak-strong unification and the cause of matter-antimatter abundance asymmetry are both correct and understood. Neither is the case. As far as I know the parts about Dirac's science are correct however, and hopefully the same is true of the biographical details.
The book is unreliable regarding the state of current physical theory, suggesting that both electro-weak-strong unification and the cause of matter-antimatter abundance asymmetry are both correct and understood. Neither is the case. As far as I know the parts about Dirac's science are correct however, and hopefully the same is true of the biographical details.
January 4, 2025
Fascinating quick account of a little known influential physicist.
June 6, 2017
I had probably heard of P.A.M. Dirac when I took physics back in high school or college, but really didn't remember anything about him. The author states that in order to read/understand/enjoy this book, you really don't need a physics background. I disagree; this book is heavy on the study of physics, especially Quantum Mechanics.
The more that I read about brilliant scientists & their discoveries, the more I am convinced that their brains work in a totally different manner than the brains of us normal Joes. I would recommend this book only to those who are heavily into physics and/or biographies of scientists.
I was provided a copy of the Audible version of this book by the narrator/publisher/author and chose to review it.
The more that I read about brilliant scientists & their discoveries, the more I am convinced that their brains work in a totally different manner than the brains of us normal Joes. I would recommend this book only to those who are heavily into physics and/or biographies of scientists.
I was provided a copy of the Audible version of this book by the narrator/publisher/author and chose to review it.
April 29, 2021
Fascinating. Dirac was one of a kind. Not so much science here, but some, and lots of good stories.
June 8, 2016
[Disclaimer: I was sent an electronic copy of this book when I promised to review it here and on Goodreads.]
Some background about myself: I studied Physics up to the Ph.D. level (experimental elementary particle physics), and then left the field to pursue a career in computing. However, I retained an interest in Physics which became reactivated when I retired. So, I was very familiar with Dirac's contributions to Quantum Theory, and, indeed, still have a copy of his book "The Principles of Quantum Mechanics" (Fourth Edition) on my bookshelf. However, I only learned about Dirac's notoriously laconic personality when I read Graham Farmelo's excellent book on Dirac, "The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom".
The current book, "Simply Dirac", is a more abbreviated version than Farmelo's book, as is entirely appropriate given the apparent goals of this series of books. I probably would have expected it to focus more on Dirac's life and personality than his scientific discoveries, but in fact, I found that it contained a lot more of the science than I expected. As I was reading this part of the book, I was wondering to myself how this coverage might match up with the expected readership of this series. With my Physics background, and my recent reading of many "educated layman's" books on physics about the achievements of physicists over the course of the past 120 years or so, I had no trouble following the discussion, even when, for example, the topic of "Second Quantization" was mentioned. However, I am unsure how the typical educated layman might handle this level of discussion, when little or not explanation was present (again, as one would suspect in a book of this type). Not really a criticism; merely the thoughts that went through my head at the time.
The highlights of Dirac's contributions to quantum mechanics were well described, and well covered. Later, when the coverage moved on to his more controversial theories of cosmology, and his Large Numbers Hypothesis, I started to worry about the amount of coverage of those areas given in the book, relative to his many real and significant contributions to quantum theory. He may have become even more eccentric as he aged, but he is not alone in that -- Eddington, for example, also engaged in 'numerology' in later life. Dirac should be honored for his undisputed contributions, most of which were achieved at a very early age. That he became less engaged in the mainstream of what was happening in physics in later life is not terribly surprising; the same was true of Einstein.
On the whole, I liked the book. I liked the fact that it has a true Table of Contents, and titled chapters is good (Farmelo's book, for some reason, did not). However, the lack of an index is not so good (Farmelo's book has a very good index, but is of course a much longer book).
I feel the need to make a somewhat minor correction:
At the beginning of the chapter "Mathematical Beauty", the author makes reference to a poem by Keats, but uses an incorrect title. The correct title of Keats' poem is "Ode on a Grecian Urn". The author also makes a minor error in the quoted last line. It should read:
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
(note the quotes)
Some background about myself: I studied Physics up to the Ph.D. level (experimental elementary particle physics), and then left the field to pursue a career in computing. However, I retained an interest in Physics which became reactivated when I retired. So, I was very familiar with Dirac's contributions to Quantum Theory, and, indeed, still have a copy of his book "The Principles of Quantum Mechanics" (Fourth Edition) on my bookshelf. However, I only learned about Dirac's notoriously laconic personality when I read Graham Farmelo's excellent book on Dirac, "The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom".
The current book, "Simply Dirac", is a more abbreviated version than Farmelo's book, as is entirely appropriate given the apparent goals of this series of books. I probably would have expected it to focus more on Dirac's life and personality than his scientific discoveries, but in fact, I found that it contained a lot more of the science than I expected. As I was reading this part of the book, I was wondering to myself how this coverage might match up with the expected readership of this series. With my Physics background, and my recent reading of many "educated layman's" books on physics about the achievements of physicists over the course of the past 120 years or so, I had no trouble following the discussion, even when, for example, the topic of "Second Quantization" was mentioned. However, I am unsure how the typical educated layman might handle this level of discussion, when little or not explanation was present (again, as one would suspect in a book of this type). Not really a criticism; merely the thoughts that went through my head at the time.
The highlights of Dirac's contributions to quantum mechanics were well described, and well covered. Later, when the coverage moved on to his more controversial theories of cosmology, and his Large Numbers Hypothesis, I started to worry about the amount of coverage of those areas given in the book, relative to his many real and significant contributions to quantum theory. He may have become even more eccentric as he aged, but he is not alone in that -- Eddington, for example, also engaged in 'numerology' in later life. Dirac should be honored for his undisputed contributions, most of which were achieved at a very early age. That he became less engaged in the mainstream of what was happening in physics in later life is not terribly surprising; the same was true of Einstein.
On the whole, I liked the book. I liked the fact that it has a true Table of Contents, and titled chapters is good (Farmelo's book, for some reason, did not). However, the lack of an index is not so good (Farmelo's book has a very good index, but is of course a much longer book).
I feel the need to make a somewhat minor correction:
At the beginning of the chapter "Mathematical Beauty", the author makes reference to a poem by Keats, but uses an incorrect title. The correct title of Keats' poem is "Ode on a Grecian Urn". The author also makes a minor error in the quoted last line. It should read:
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
(note the quotes)
August 25, 2018
Simply Dirac is a short book featuring the life and times of Paul Adrian Maurice Dirac. With it being so short, the book has no choice but to be the ‘lite’ version of other works on Dirac. For instance, the book mentions that it takes some beats from The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo, a book that I have read and enjoyed. Now, while Dirac might be famous in Physicist Circles, he is not famous to the layman. The common person on the street is way more likely to have heard of Feynman than they are to have heard of Dirac. However, his contributions to Quantum Mechanics are unquestionably brilliant. Although, I suppose all he really did was write a textbook on the subject and come up with the Dirac Equation.
The book discusses his contributions in an easy to understand manner, and explains all of the symbols used. This is a book to me as I have said in other reviews since I don’t know much about advanced Statistical Mechanics. In any case, this book was pretty good. It was just really short, but it was a good condensed version of Dirac’s Life and times.
I happened to find a printed version of this book, so I was able to read it in a format that I like. I suppose one of these days I will have to get a ebook reader or a device of some kind. Until then, the printed page is where it’s at.
The book discusses his contributions in an easy to understand manner, and explains all of the symbols used. This is a book to me as I have said in other reviews since I don’t know much about advanced Statistical Mechanics. In any case, this book was pretty good. It was just really short, but it was a good condensed version of Dirac’s Life and times.
I happened to find a printed version of this book, so I was able to read it in a format that I like. I suppose one of these days I will have to get a ebook reader or a device of some kind. Until then, the printed page is where it’s at.
July 27, 2017
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I'd never heard of Dirac before this audiobook, but he was very interesting. This was a very simple introduction to Dirac, and I'm pretty glad that it was a 'simple' introduction, because parts of it could be quite confusing.
I'd never heard of Dirac before this audiobook, but he was very interesting. This was a very simple introduction to Dirac, and I'm pretty glad that it was a 'simple' introduction, because parts of it could be quite confusing.
June 2, 2017
Audible:Well,even 'simply' I don't get Dirac. Math...too many numbers.Jack Winters was a fine narrator.I just did not understand much of the material.I was provided this book free by the author, narrator or publisher.
March 28, 2017
I didn't enjoy this at all. very dry. a lot of information. perfect for reports in grade school
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews