Picture of author.

Para outros autores com o nome Peter J. Bentley, ver a página de desambiguação.

8 Works 445 Membros 14 Críticas

About the Author

Peter J. Bentley maps out the breakthroughs in theory and technology that have brought us from Alan Turing's original ideas in the 1940s to the omnipresent reality of our digitized world today. This is the extraordinary story of computer science, of pioneering individuals and leaps of imagination mostrar mais that have revolutionized our world-and will continue to revolutionize it in future. mostrar menos

Obras por Peter J. Bentley

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

Ever wondered how adhesives and dyes work? How diesel and petrol engines work? Why do we get swellings, broken bones, blisters and a myriad of other questions?

The Undercover Scientist by Peter Bentley attempts to address the underlying science behind everyday workings through a day in the life of an extremely unlucky individual. The problems described are extremely varied, but the underlying science is sound and well cited. Unfortunately, the level of science is fairly varied, ranging from interesting explanations of lightning to mundane gravity. I appreciate that it is targeted at the non scientist, but the decision to force the events into a fictional day mean that there is little order to the grouping of the problems. There is an index, but I am hardly going to use this as a reference - the contents is useless since each chapter title is not particularly informative as to the matters discussed.

A fairly short and mildly entertaining read, but not challenging or interesting enough to recommend.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Zedseayou | 10 outras críticas | Jan 30, 2024 |
Fun, needs a couple of good illustrations. Also it was obvious that it was retitled for American release, and it was, the original ( UK ) title was ' The Undercover Scientist '
 
Assinalado
Baku-X | 10 outras críticas | Jan 10, 2017 |
A fun educational read or listen.
The audiobook is excellent.
 
Assinalado
bashour | 10 outras críticas | Dec 24, 2015 |
I really enjoy quirky science texts, which is probably why Goodreads recommended this one to me. Using a storyteller's perspective, Dr. Bentley finds a way to share some interesting science by going through the worst possible day in an average person's life.

Each chapter tells part of Average's life, then something goes horribly wrong, then we get the scientific explanation of why that thing went wrong. Topics range from slipping on the soap, to why water heated in the microwave might unexpectedly explode, to the science of a rainy day; Bentley presents some fascinating science using a conversational style that will keep anyone interested.

Also included in the back is an abridged bibliography for anyone interested in reading further. To keep the list from getting too long in the book, Bentley hosts the full list on his website. He also makes himself available to correction on any of his science in the acknowledgements, which is a nice touch.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
regularguy5mb | 10 outras críticas | Aug 3, 2014 |

Prémios

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Estatísticas

Obras
8
Membros
445
Popularidade
#55,082
Avaliação
3.2
Críticas
14
ISBN
65
Línguas
6

Tabelas & Gráficos