Pancella P.V. - Idiots Guides: Physics

No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize theres no such thinghow could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you know better.

You understand that the quest for knowledge is a never-ending one, and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just the next thing. You know what you dont know, youre confident enough to admit it, and youre motivated to do something about it.

At Idiots Guides, we, too, know what we dont know, and we make it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work, asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most-accessible way possible.

After all, thats our promiseto make whatever you want to learn As Easy as It Gets. That means giving you a well-organized design that seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic. It means controlling the pace youre asked to absorb new informationnot too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more illustrations wherever its better to show rather than tell.

So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but youve been here before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end of this book, you wont be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little less complicated than it was before. And well be sure your journey is as easy as it gets.

Mike Sanders
Publisher, Idiots Guides

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Random House LLC

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001-278656-July2015

Copyright 2015 by Penguin Random House LLC

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eISBN: 9781615647903
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2014959609

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Introduction

Lets face it, physics has a certain reputation. You probably know what were talking about. Many people think physics is the most difficult, most esoteric science there is. Only the smartest kids in the class have any chance of understanding it. You need supercomplex, high-level math to solve physics problems. It has nothing to do with the real world, but for some reason they make you take physics in school if you want to be an engineer or a doctor or even an architect.

Well, we disagree with almost all of that. Physics is cool because it is the basis for all of the rest of science and technology. It is actually fun and interesting because it lets you figure out how various parts of the worldlike tides and sunsets and bumper carsactually work. Physics explains a lot of things we observe happening in the real world, not just in careful lab experiments but also in ordinary everyday life. Sometimes we can even use that knowledge to predict the future! Physics is the most fundamental science, but it doesnt have to be intimidating. Since youre reading this book, were guessing that you are at least willing to give it a try, and we appreciate that. In this brief introduction, were going to describe our goals in writing this guidebook, and how we put it together to achieve them.