The Prism and the Pendulum by Robert Crease, Random House, $23.95, ISBN 1400061318 Reviewed by Graham Farmelo
THEORISTS have been much more vociferous of late than experimenters in proclaiming the beauty at the heart of their science. Yet experiments inspire no less aesthetic rapture in their admirers than do equations. It was smart of historian and philosopher Robert Crease to fill the void with this attractive book that purports to describe the most beautiful experiments in science.
To find out which were the fairest 10 of all, he asked readers of his column in Physics World, house journal of the UK鈥檚 physicists, to nominate the most beautiful physics experiments. The results led Crease to the 10 experiments described here, which he 鈥渇eels justified in claiming鈥� are the most beautiful in the whole of science. Leaving aside reservations about this interpretation and the equation 鈥減hysics = best science鈥� 鈥� on which it seems to be based 鈥� this is an entertaining collection of essays.
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He tells us the historical context of each experiment, how it was done, why it was so successful and how it has clarified our understanding of nature. He begins with a first-rate account of how Eratosthenes measured the Earth鈥檚 circumference 2500 years ago using simple apparatus and ingenious reasoning. This is no bog-standard textbook description, but a richly textured portrait of the experiment. He does the same thing with all his other subjects, notably Newton鈥檚 light-splitting prism experiment, Cavendish鈥檚 measurement of the weight of the world, the Foucault pendulum, the Millikan oil-drop experiment and the electron diffraction observations that capture the central mystery of quantum mechanics.
Crease suggests that all his top-10 experiments exhibit a kind of beauty characterised by the efficiency and authority with which it reveals something deep about how nature ticks. This theme is well sustained, giving the book a pleasing unity.
The Prism and the Pendulum is a first-rate collection of essays. But I would have enjoyed reading about the most beautiful experiments in, for example, geology, chemistry and biology, especially if written by someone of Crease鈥檚 learning and light touch.