The Flying Circus of Physics

by Jearl Walker

Hurry! Hurry! Come one, come all. Meet a man who can pull two railroad passenger cars with his teeth and a real-life human cannon ball. Come face to face with a dead rattlesnake that still bites. And unlock the secrets of a magician’s bodiless head. Welcome to this updated edition of The Flying Circus of Physics, where death-defying stunts, high-flying acrobatics, strange curiosities, and mind-bending illusions bring to life the fascinating feats of physics in the world around us. In 1977, Wiley published the first edition of Jearl Walker’s The Flying Circus of Physics, which has sold over 100,000 copies and become a cult classic in the physics community. The Flying Circus is a compendium of interesting real world phenomena that can be explained using basic laws of physics. This new edition represents a thorough updating and modernization of the book. The new edition gives us the opportunity to highlight Jearl’s creativity, his communication skills, and his ability to make physics interesting.  Jearl Walker received his B.S. in physics from MIT in 1967 and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Maryland in 1973. His popular book, The Flying Circus of Physics , has been translated into at least 10 languages and is still being sold worldwide. For 16 years he toured his fun-filled Flying Circus lecture throughout the U.S. and Canada, introducing countless teachers to such physics phenomena as molecular adhesion by hanging spoons from his face and Leidenfrost's phenomenon by dipping his wet hand in molten lead without getting hurt. These lectures led to his national PBS television show, Kinetic Karnival, which ran for several years and won him a local Emmy Award. During his 13 years as a columnist with Scientific American magazine, Dr. Walker wrote 152 articles for "The Amateur Scientist" section, which were translated into at least 9 languages worldwide. His topics ranged from the physics of judo to the physics of bearnaise sauce and lemon meringue pie. In 1990, he took over the textbook Fundamentals of Physics from David Halliday and Robert Resnick and has now published the seventh edition of the book. He has appeared countless times on television and radio and in newspapers and magazines.

Genres: Physics, Science, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Jearl Walker (born 1945 in Florida) is a physicist noted for his book Flying Circus of Physics, first published in 1975; the second edition was published in June 2006. He teaches physics at Cleveland State University.

Walker has also revised and edited the textbook Fundamentals of Physics with David Halliday and Robert Resnick.

Walker is a well known popularizer of physics, and appeared several times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Walker is known for his physics demonstrations, which have included sticking his hand in molten lead, walking barefoot over hot coals, lying on a bed of nails, and pouring freezing-cold liquid nitrogen in his mouth to demonstrate various principles of physics. Such demonstrations are included in his PBS series, Kinetic Karnival, produced by WVIZ in Cleveland, Ohio.

Walker authored The Amateur Scientist column in Scientific American magazine from 1978 to 1988. During the latter part of this period, he had been the Chairman of the Physics Department at Cleveland State University. He appeared regularly around this time on the long-running CBC radio science program Quirks and Quarks.

He is the first recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award from Cleveland State's College of Science. The College's Faculty Affairs Committee selected Walker as the first honoree based on his contributions to science education over the last 30 years. In future years, the award will be named "The Jearl Walker Outstanding Teaching Award". The award was presented in a ceremony on April 29, 2005.

Walker graduated with a degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1973.

Reviews

[JL Salty · Rating 3 out of 5]

10/22
Previewed for possible library purchase, to help 8th graders who don’t yet have the math but are interested in the science. I looked at an OLD copy, and it was just not attractive as an eye-catcher. And the problems were not terribly engaging. I did appreciate the cross-referencing to other problems applying the same principles. It’s fine, but I’ll keep looking.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect bathroom or bedtime book, consisting of many many in depth questions about physical phenomena, along with answers and references for further information. Copiously illustrated, it's great for posing questions (some of them still unsolved) to kids and adults.

[Cosmic Explorer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

[Rachele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good teaching resource. This version is much improved.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mind bender, and humbling too when one finds out how little one really knows about the world of physical things.

[Sjoerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply a must-have for anyone with an interest in teaching an demonstrating physics or science in general. I need not to say any more.