This book is one of a kind. I started reading it, attracted by curiosity, and chapter by chapter I found myself rethinking physics like I never have before.

Drawings and sketches have always been part of the learning process of every student, from primary school to university; however, in this book, Don Lemons, a professor of physics, pairs the drawings with some short anecdotes from the history of physical sciences. Using this simple and effective style takes the reader’s imagination back in time. The impression is to sit there, with Thales looking at a tree and a rod, sketching on a paper to infer the power of triangulation to measure the distance using shadows; or later with Kepler, fighting to convince himself first, and the world after, about his innovative theories on the order of the universe and planetary motion; and again back in the first years of the 19th century, peering into the invisible to understand the structure of matter and atoms together with the pioneers of that era.

The book is divided into five parts related to the ages of the discoveries: “Antiquity,” ruled by Greek philosophers like Thales and Aristotle, Archimedes, and Eratosthenes; “Middle Ages,” with the discoveries and observations of Leonardo and the inception of disciplines like optics and astronomy; “Early Modern Period,” the golden age of classic physics with the development of astronomy, optics, thermodynamics, and electrostatics by giants like Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton; “Nineteenth Century” and its research on matter and electromagnetic waves; and “Twentieth Century and Beyond,” where names like Einstein above all bring our journey to the expansion of human knowledge into the infinitely large and infinitely small, from the origin of the universe to the discovery of the smallest subatomic particles. It is like being in a time machine. The amazing and effective style of the author makes the reading pleasant and compelling.

The reader should not expect a technical book, and not even a physics essay. I would venture to say that this book contains all the things that one would not expect to find in a book of physics, yet the reading will stimulate readers to look at some scientific discoveries from a different perspective, or maybe instill a passion to go back to their schoolbooks and revisit the formulas in a different light. This original book can become an effective companion for teachers who want to attract the attention of their students. I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in physics and engineering, or readers who simply want to know more about the discoveries in these fields that have changed the history of humankind.

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