A truly marvelous book about the physics of everyday life explained in language anyone can understand. It's written in a breezy, consumable style that reminds me of A Short History of Nearly Everything or Sapiens. It has me looking at things around me in a new light. Highly recommended.

Interesting & accessible science books for non-science types! This book offers understanding of complex theories illustrated by examples from every day life. You will never look at the milk swirling in your teacup the same way again!

I'm sorry, but I kept trying with this book. I started it several times, and always got just a little bit further. It was everything I wanted to like in a book, but it never grabbed my attention. I don't know if it was the organization, or the voice... it wasn't the content. I just never got hooked in enough to want to pick it back up. I even tried the audiobook thinking it might force me to get through it....so I'm throwing in the towel. I apologize for not having a better review, but you are getting an honest one. It doesn't deserve 1 star because the problem might be me, but with a more compelling hook, I might have gone farther.

This was definitely not my usual fare, but what an interesting read. I've always had a peripheral interest in science and this was a way of taking the everyday occurrences and looking at them with a science eye.

Interesting in a nerdy sort of way. Probably only interesting to those interested in the background science of everyday things.

Have you ever wondered why coffee spills leave a ring on the table, or why a piece of buttered toast always falls butter-side down? These are just two of the topics physicist Helen Czerski explains in this book, released at the beginning of January.

I've always liked science, though I'll readily admit that physics was always my least favorite branch (I'm a chemistry kind of person). That doesn't mean that everyday phenomena don't sometimes mystify me. I understand the theories about things like wireless communication and electricity, but it's just so crazy to think that we've managed to harness them and do so much to make them useful. That's one of the reasons I really appreciated this book.

Czerski takes these everyday things and explains the physics of them, applying what is (I think) the least exciting branch of science to learn to simple little things, like bubbles, coffee stains, and cell phone wireless signals. Okay, that last one is not quite so simple. Still, I liked that in each chapter, she was able to tackle a theme (for instance, electromagnetism) and find several real-world applications to demonstrate it. I liked her apparent natural curiosity about the world and her easily replicable experiments (like putting raisins in a bottle of something fizzy or knocking toast off of the table).

I think this book helps make physics seem more approachable, something that's definitely nice when you want to read about it and not get your PhD in it. It's science and when you read, you're learning, but there's nothing dull here. There aren't loads of calculations and numbers (one of my least favorite parts of physics in high school). A lot of the things in this book would even make good cocktail party conversation starters (with the right crowd, of course).

The only part of this book I didn't like was the last chapter. I know it was meant to tie things together and give us a broader overview of humans and our place in the world, but it kind of bored me. I liked the earlier chapters' concrete examples and experiments and found that this was missing at the end. I would've left that whole chapter out, focusing instead on the real content of the book.

Storm in a Teacup is easy to recommend for anyone interested in science or in learning a little more about how and why the world works. I think it's appropriate for anyone, of any age, though if you do have a physics degree, it might be a little elementary for you. It's not exactly a quick read, but if you break it down into chapters, it's enjoyable, educational, and something a little different, especially if your TBR pile looks anything like mine. I gave it four stars.

*ARC from W.W. Norton & Company via NetGalley

Author and PhD Helen Czerski loves physics and wants others to share her enthusiasm. She sure won me over. This is a thoughtful debut by Czerski, a physicist/oceanographer. Chock full of tidbits on how/why stuff works, she breaks down things that I never even thought about and makes learning fun.

Curiosity is human nature and I find myself more curious of everyday experiences and thinking about things in new ways after reading Helen’s book. Is it worth paying more for a fluorescent light? Should my sunglasses have polarizing lenses? How can I tell a raw egg from a boiled egg without taking off their shells? Why isn’t my ketchup coming out of the bottle? Why does my tea water slosh around when I carry my mug to the other end of the room? Why don’t ducks get cold feet? Well, I never thought about those last two questions nor their physics but now I can amaze my friends with newfound knowledge! I could go on and on about the stuff I learned from Helen, but just do yourself a favor and go buy the book.

STORM IN A TEACUP by Helen Czerski is subtitled "The Physics of Everyday Life" and Czerski does an excellent job of describing the many instances where physics impacts us. For example, she talks about the science behind popcorn popping and refrigerator magnets in a very accessible way. General readership with an interest in science will certainly enjoy STORM IN A TEACUP and the entertaining responses to questions like "How do ducks keep their feet warm when walking on ice? Or why it takes so long for ketchup to come out of a bottle?"

Czerski is a physicist and recently contributed "A Week in the Life" article to The Wall Street Journal whose review of her book appears here [link]. She also is a BBC presenter. The following is a short video clip of her looking for and explaining patterns, much as she does in her new book:

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qht72-1yYw

STORM IN A TEACUP received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.It will be interesting to compare and contrast with the forthcoming (May 2017) The Physics of Everyday Things by James Kakalios.

Links in the online post go to Wall Street Journal articles:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-week-in-the-life-of-physicist-helen-czerski-1484320942
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-physics-of-everyday-life-1484345934