A review by greenspe
The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science by Robert Crease

3.0

A very quick read, with some chapters clearer and more fascinating than others. Much of the highlights were the biographies of the scientists themselves--Galileo, Newton, Young, Rutherford, and especially Henry Cavendish, who needs his own biopic, stat. Each experiment is separated by short 'Interludes' on various topics concerning science and philosophy that are surprisingly successful, and nowhere near as redundant or pat as they could have been. You'll probably want the internet handy, though, to look up better descriptions of the Experimentum Crucis, or footage of a soliton, or figure out what the hell parity violation is (I'll save you the trouble, it is neither comprehensible nor important).