How to Teach Physics to Your Chinese Dog

Got a big box in the mail today, which included author copies of two Asian editions: the Japanese edition, which I had seen before, and this: That is, obviously, the Chinese edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. I say “obviously” mostly because I know that edition was about ready to roll out–… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Chinese Dog

Counterfactual Physics: Lorentz Variance?

The theory of relativity takes its name from a very simple and appealing idea: that the laws of physics should look the same to moving observers as to stationary ones. “Laws of physics” here includes Maxwell’s equations for electricity and magnetism, which necessarily means that moving observers must see the same speed of light as… Continue reading Counterfactual Physics: Lorentz Variance?

What to Tell Your Dog About Einstein

“Hey, dude, whatcha doin’?” “Signing these contracts. I’m not sure why they need four copies, but they do.” “Contracts for what?” “The new book. Remmeber, the one we’ve been talking about these last few weeks? Sequel-of-sorts to How to Teach Physics to Your Dog? About relativity?” “Oh, yeah, that’s right! We’re doing another book! Where… Continue reading What to Tell Your Dog About Einstein

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Sideways

A Japanese physicist who I worked with as a post-doc spotted the Japanese edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog in the wild, and picked up a copy. He sent along a scan of a couple of pages of the text, one of which I reproduce here: I had totally forgotten that Japanese… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, Sideways

How to Teach Physics to Your Japanese Dog

The vanity search this morning turned up something I hadn’t seen before: That’s the Japanese edition of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. I knew one was in the works, but hadn’t heard when it would be out. Of course, I can’t read any of it other than my own name (rightmost column of… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Japanese Dog

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Now With More Quantum

If you’re in the UK, you may very well be thinking “You know, I love the idea of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, but I find American idiom very intimidating. If only there were an edition just for people like me…” Well, hypothetical UK person, your prayers have been answered: This is the… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Dog: Now With More Quantum

I Write Like a Random Selection of Famous People

Via Crooked Timber, there’s a silly web site that lets you put in a chunk of text, and does some sort of statistical analysis of it to determine what famous writer’s prose it most closely resembles. It turns out, I’m kind of hard to categorize. For instance, when I’m writing about Holy Grails, I apparently… Continue reading I Write Like a Random Selection of Famous People

Important World Cup Updates

The US managed to survive yet another appalling lapse of officiating and beat Algeria 1-0 on a goal in stoppage time. Simultaneously (in some frame of reference), England beat Slovenia 1-0. With South Korea advancing yesterday, countries with current or forthcoming editions of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog are 3-0 when it comes… Continue reading Important World Cup Updates

Last Chance for World Cup Success

Three European countries, France, Germany, and Spain have suffered embarrassing World Cup losses. The French team in particular has appeared to be in complete disarray. Their combined record to this point is just 2-3-1 (W-L-T). What do these three countries have in common? None of them have purchased translation rights for How to Teach Physics… Continue reading Last Chance for World Cup Success

How to Teach Physics to Your Brazilian Dog

As I was heading out with SteelyKid to do some shopping, I noticed that the mail had arrived, including a large book mailer from my agent. I was a little puzzled as to what that could be, but left it for my return. Where I was pleased to open the envelope and find: That’s a… Continue reading How to Teach Physics to Your Brazilian Dog