Book excerpt: jThis thoroughly updated and revised text contains a selection of well-written essays based on Silvermans work on a wide range of topics, including: quantum mechanics, including atomic and nuclear physics, electromagnetism and optics, gravity, thermodynamics, and the physics of fluids. Presenting a personal odyssey in physics, Silverman investigates processes for which no visualizable mechanism can be given, or that seem to violate fundamental physical laws (but do not). The discussions use little mathematics, and anyone with a little college physics will be able to read the book with pleasure. -Engagingly written -Easily understandable by both the general reader and the seasoned physicist -Covers a diversity of subjects from "hot" topics in contemporary physics to less widely known but subtle and intriguing issues in physics -Discusses real physical systems whose behavior provokes, surprises and challenges the imagination -This second edition is newly revised and updated