Could you actually laugh out loud reading a book on physics?

An Old Man's Toy

"How many times have you actually laughed out loud reading a book on physics?" --- The Science Teacher

An Old Man's Toy was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction.

Translations: China, Japan, Taiwan

Re-published by Oxford University Press as Einstein's Universe with a new afterword on brane world and cosmic microwave background. You can read sample chapters and reader's reviews on Amazon.

  • "A brash, breezy, and authoritative discussion ........ with vivid analogies ........... a fascinating book."-- W. Greenberg, Washington Post.

  • "How many times have you actually laughed out loud reading a book on physics? If your answer is "Never!", then you should pick up a copy of An Old Man's Toy. ..... Many books on physics can be very interesting, but it is rare to find one that is actually fun to read. I thoroughly enjoy reading it and would recommend it to anyone. A. Zee has a style of writing that makes one keep turning the pages ..... (The book) is interesting, playfully written, and very readable. Don't pass it up."--The Science Teacher

    • "Zee writes with wry, poetic humor ...... It's as if he is conducting an easygoing conversation with his audience ...... A scientist who can clearly evoke the imagery hidden within a mathematical equation, [Zee treats his material] with enthusiasm and delight."--The New York Times

    • "An extraordinary writer: playful, inspired, and brilliant."--Publishers Weekly

    • "I can't imagine a happier combination of zip, joy, clarity and absolute up-to-datedness. (This) lovely book is a beautiful creation."--John Wheeler, distinguished physicist and professor emeritus, Princeton University

    • "Brilliantly constructs the universe."--Kirkus Review

    • "Through his engaging, conversational style, Zee ... succeeds in informing while entertaining the reader with his disarming stories......Zee's entertaining style makes a [detective] mystery out of the history of physics."--San Francisco Chronicle

    • "A. Zee is that rare creature: a physicist who knows how to tell a story. (His previous book) Fearful Symmetry was ... lucid, entertaining. In this reprise, Zee is just as fascinating, and even funnier .... with his prankish good humor and gifts for simplifying the complicated ...... An Old Man's Toy is both a delightful read and a faithful yet accessible look at an avant-garde that is far more revolutionary than any downtown's club scene .... it is too rare an opportunity to miss."--Life of New York

    • "Zee's writing is clear, straightforward and profound. He is a very good explainer."--The Los Angeles Times



    You can listen to An Old Man's Toy read by an actor with a beautiful voice on a tape made by the Library of Congress for their Books for the Blind program and available from your local public library.

    Reviews of my other book Fearful Symmetry

    Home