How Did We Find Out about Energy?

How Did We Find Out #9

by Isaac Asimov, David Wool (Illustrator)

Discusses the types, conservation, possible sources, and uses of energy. Includes material about contributors to the study of energy.

Genres: Science

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

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

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great primer on beginning Physics! I found it easy to follow and understand. It really is too bad my Physics teacher didn’t use Asimov’s titles on Physics, which I haven’t read yet, stipulated. But I understand what he wrote here more than anything in that semester of Physics! Unlike another reviewer, I thought Asimov’s guesses on energy at the end of his book prescient. We do need to get off oil as an energy form. While I don’t think the future will be nuclear after Fukushima, I do think there will be a huge change coming because of the Climate Crisis caused by burning oil and coal. This is recommended.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

#169

It is nice to imagine the good Doctor sitting at his desk thinking I have three hours to spare, why not write a book about energy?

And then he did it. And he did it well. Starting with the difference between kinetic and potential energy and ending with entropy. These books are meant for kids. But there is absolutely no downtalk. They are nice reading, if one can live without formulas.

It is not really 65 pages of Asimov since there are a lot of drawings. But I do like the drawings, especially the one of Galileo.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short (65 pages) book giving a short history of the study of energy for grades 5-8. Good, if a bit dated at the end since it was written at the beginning of the oil squeeze.