We Need to Talk About Kelvin by Marcus Chown

Now. Don't be confused with this one and think it's We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver*. This one isn't a novel, it's about physics. The subtitle of the Kelving book is everyday things tell us about the universe' and it consists of eleven chapters, each of which explains how an every day thing - your reflection on a pane of glass (apparently that shows us that light isn't made of waves but particles) or a teacup falling and breaking, but not unbreaking (this shows us that the universe started with a big bang).

Got that?

What I liked about this book was how each chapeter is very clearly outlined with a clear everyday scenario and an explanation of how that relates to physics. It's very readable, but in parts it can be hard-going if you don't have any knowledge of the subject.

Luckily for me I read the Brian Cox/Jeff Forshaw book last year - Why Does E=mc2? And why should we care? - which covers some of the same ground. In particular that one helped if only because of the diagrams of vectors which came in useful in this one.

My new-found liking for physics has also been useful in half-way understanding the discussion about nuclear power plants which is extremely topical at the moment. I find myself nodding knowledgeably when talking heads on the TV witter on about the 'inverse square' calculation for how much radiation you get at various distances from the source. Or something.

I also nearly did one of those 'air punching' type of jigs the day I read about the second law of thermodynamics the very morning after I'd watched Professor Brian Cox getting excited about it on tv the evening before.

*Which I can highly recommend - but it's not for the faint hearted.