"When you combine some of the most profound concepts in physics with exceptional storytelling, this is what you get: popular science writing at its very best. Einstein’s Fridge is a hugely readable and entertaining history of thermodynamics and how it has created and shaped our world." —Jim al-Khalili
"An accessible and crystal-clear portrait of this discipline’s breadth, largely told through its history." —Physics World
"Sen knows how to grab the attention of an audience … [An] elegantly written and engaging book … It’s a measure of Sen’s achievement that by combining science, history, and biography he takes us on a successful tour through thermodynamics." —Financial Times
"This entertaining, eye-opening account of how the laws of thermodynamics are essential to understanding the world today – from refrigeration and jet engines to calorie counting and global warming – is a lesson in how to do popular science right." —Kirkus Review
"Sen makes a convincing case for the importance of thermodynamics." —Publisher's Weekly
A compulsively readable account of the extraordinary people,
battling internal demons and external adversaries, who discovered the laws of
thermodynamics and the science of heat, and brought about a scientific
revolution.
Einstein’s Fridge tells the story of how scientists uncovered the
least known and yet most consequential of all the sciences, and learned to
harness the power of heat and ice.
The laws of thermodynamics govern everything from the behaviour of atoms to
that of living cells, from the engines that power our world to the black hole
at the centre of our galaxy. Not only that, but thermodynamics explains why we
must eat and breathe, how the lights come on, and ultimately how the universe
will end. The people who decoded its laws came from every branch of the
sciences – they were engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists, cosmologists
and mathematicians.
Their discoveries, set over two hundred years, kick-started the industrial
revolution, changed the course of world wars and informed modern understanding
of black holes. This book captures the thrill of discovery and the power of
revolutionary science to change the world forever.