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Introduction to galaxy formation and evolution: from primordial gas to present-day galaxies

Don’t Be Afraid of Physics provides a guided tour to the most advanced concepts of physics in lay terms, accessible to a broad audience. The authors, Ross Barrett and Pier Paolo Delsanto, proudly state in the introduction that they ‘use no mathematics and include only one well-known formula’ (guess which one?). This is no easy feat, and in my opinion, Barrett and Delsanto manage to do it excellently. This book is aptly divided into three parts. The first part deals with science and the scientific method in general. This affords the authors the possibility to deal with topics such as the birth of the scientific method, the role of science, the use of science for good and for bad, and the relation between scientific knowledge and other forms of knowledge, such as philosophy and religions. This first part is very clearly written and provides a strong background that can be of interest also for practitioners working in physics. The second part explores the frontiers of physics. It deals with the oddities of quantum physics, of special and general relativity, of quantum electrodynamics, of the Standard Model and of cosmology. Overall, this part provides a very broad overview of these topics, providing lucid and in-depth explanations, accessible to a general reader. It is impressive the quality and quantity of informationBarrett andDelsanto manage to compress in an easily intelligible form in this part of the book. Finally, the last part of the book is more speculative, providing some insights into the limits of current theories and into the directions future physics research is likely to take. Several anecdotes and short stories punctuate the technical content of the book, providing, as the author says, ‘pause to lift our spirits [. . . ] for, as with all voyages, our journey will be worth nothing unless we enjoy ourselves’. These stories and anecdotes are refreshing and help the reader gain an intuitive feeling for the importance of the physics concepts explored in each chapter. Overall, this is a very interesting and entertaining book. It is very pleasant reading for everyone wanting to gain insights into the most advanced and modern physical theories, and on the influence, they bear on our life.