Eureka!: Discovering Your Inner Scientist

"I know, I know, you think you're just not smart enough to be a scientist. Chad Orzel might convince you otherwise with Eureka. Drawing on basketball, stamp collecting, Angry Birds, Iron Chef, and Antiques Roadshow among his many colorful examples, he ably demonstrates that science is not a rarefied alien endeavor performed solely by those with genius IQs. It's a process, and a way of thinking about the world available to all. Surprise! You're probably committing acts of science every day."--Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Calculus Diaries and Me, Myself and Why "Chad Orzel is absolutely right: everyone has a scientist inside them, eager to burst out and look at the world in a new way. This book provides great examples that will inspire you to let your inner scientist free."--Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Caltech and author of The Particle at the End of the Universe "Many people are curious about the natural world, but few consider themselves scientists. Using an engaging array of examples of scientific discovery--some recent, others drawn from history--Chad Orzel takes readers on a wonderful tour of how scientists think."--David Kaiser, Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science, MIT and author of How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival PRAISE FOR EUREKA: "A good reminder that we are all capable of looking at the world scientifically and working things out, and we should all have the confidence to do that a bit more often."--BBC Focus "Chad Orzel entertainingly argues that we are all scientists, with the innate ability to discover and create."--New Scientist "This fun, diverse, and accessible look at how science works will convert even the biggest science phobe." --Publishers Weekly "Similar to Richard Rhodes or Dava Sobel, Orzel makes complicated scientific narratives accessible to lay readers." --Library Journal "In writing that is welcoming but not overly bouncy, persuasive in a careful way but also enticing, Orzel reveals the 'process of looking at the world, figuring out how things work, testing that knowledge, and sharing it with others.'" --Kirkus Reviews "[Eureka] makes science fun for just about anybody."--Times Union, Albany "Drawing on a wide variety of examples and stories, many from sports and pop culture, Orzel writes in a crisp, clear, and entertaining style."--Winnipeg Free Press