My Thursday presentation here in Houston went well, though it was a pretty small crowd. I’ll be doing it again today before running to the airport to get home. I didn’t really have an opportunity to do shameless self-promotion regarding the new book, but I did get a copy of the official cover for it, which you’ll see above if you’re looking at this on the blog, or below if you’re reading via RSS.
I don’t have a very detailed schedule for the rest of the process, but the target on-sale date is in early January 2015. Which probably dashes my dream of getting on the Colbert Report, but I’ll live. Anyway, as is always the case (he says drawing on the vast experience of two previous books), having a set cover makes the whole thing feel a bit more real…
How much does the semi-classical depiction of the atom bother you?
I’m not bothered by the semi-classical atom at all. It’s an iconic symbol, not anything claiming to be a serious scientific description of the atom. I’m fine with it as a general symbol that says “SCIENCE!”
Does the inner scientist question the cover of the book? That would make an interesting twist.
What bothers me most about the semi-classical atom is that a number of books used to teach the third semester “modern physics” course START with it, even the ones that introduce quantum mechanics before they get to the atom. Why not do it right and then explain the accidental agreement that led to a decade-long struggle to understand why Bohr got everything wrong except the energies!