By Michel Paty, EDP Sciences, Collection Sciences et histoires. Paperback ISBN 286883518X, €34.
The title Michel Paty has chosen for his book, La physique du XXe siècle (Physics of the 20th century), is an ambitious one. Summarizing the main advances in physics over the past 100 years in 276 pages, as well as demonstrating their impact on other fields of science, seems like an impossible task. Indeed, the author himself, a physicist and science historian, questions whether it is possible to single out the 20th century’s most important and most characteristic developments in science in general and physics in particular. He takes up the challenge all the same, painting a general panorama of physics in the 20th century.
He begins by reviewing the main concepts of physics, describing the historical background to them, and the men and women associated with them. These include relativity, quantum physics, atoms and states of matter, the nucleus, elementary particles, fundamental fields, dynamic systems and phase transitions. He then turns to fields closely related to physics, namely geophysics, astrophysics, cosmology and, more generally, the search for the origins of the universe. At the end, he examines the subject of physics and the associated methods, and comes back to the emergence of Big Science in the 20th century. Finally, in his conclusion, he describes the lessons to be learnt from the past and looks to the future with confidence.
For the student or curious novice, Paty’s book can quickly become a reference manual, whose use will vary according to individual requirements. It provides the reader with a general introduction to the main fields of physics research and helps him or her along with historical references. The photographs (essentially portraits), boxes, diagrams and tables, which are simple and well chosen, offer an alternative means of getting to grips with the subject. Finally, a detailed bibliography invites the reader to further exploration. Paty has thus essentially met the challenge he set himself, as his book opens up the door to those who wish to enter the universe of physics.
