Science in Flight

Name: Science in Flight
ISBN: 9787308126717

布莱恩·克莱格Zhejiang University Press2014

Rating 3.4

Word count: 119K words
Chapters: 31
ISBN: 9787308126717

Summary

This is a popular science book structured around a complete air journey. Starting from the moment a passenger walks into the terminal and continuing all the way to landing, the author breaks down the phenomena people have long taken for granted but rarely examine during airport and flight into understandable scientific principles. Why do airports separate landside from airside? What technologies are used in baggage screening and body scanning? How can detectors sniff out unusual items? How are runways numbered? What enables wings to lift a fuselage weighing dozens of tons into the sky? Why is the sky blue, and how do clouds and storms form? How are aircraft refueled and navigated, and how do satellite positioning systems in the cockpit work with ground radar? What would happen if you tried to open the cabin door mid-air? These questions all receive accessible and accurate answers in the book. The author also naturally weaves seemingly abstruse topics—quantum physics, relativity, fractals, river landforms, and even how the human eye works—into the scenery outside the window and the daily life inside the cabin, making every journey a scientific ramble. The language is light and brisk, and the chapters proceed in the order of the journey, so readers can either read from start to finish or flip to the relevant chapter before takeoff.

Editor's review

大多数科普书要你把目光投向星空或显微镜，这本书却让你系好安全带、靠在舷窗边。作者布莱恩·克雷格是剑桥出身的物理学者，也是写了几十本科普书的老手，他最擅长的就是把“好像懂了其实没懂”的日常现象问到底：跑道上的数字不是随便刷的，安检门里的技术比想象中复杂，天空的蓝与云的形状都各有一套解释。本书结构极为贴心，章节顺序与登机流程同步，候机无聊时读机场那一章，爬升时读机翼那一章，读到降落正好合上书，一本小书就打发掉一次长途飞行。它不追求体系化的教科书式完整，而是以问题带原理，读起来轻松，却常在不经意间补上中学物理留下的空缺。对常出差、常坐飞机的人来说，它能让熟悉的机场和机舱重新变得新鲜。

Who it's for

A good fit for

经常乘飞机出行、想弄懂机场与机舱各种设备的旅客
对物理、气象、地理有兴趣的中学生和大学生
喜欢用轻松随笔方式获取知识的科普读者
需要在长途飞行中找一本易读小书的读者

Not a good fit for

希望系统学习航空工程或飞行器设计的专业读者
期待详尽技术参数与公式推导的硬核技术爱好者
偏好文学性叙事、不爱原理讲解的读者

Reading tips

按旅程顺序阅读：候机读机场那一章，起飞后读机翼与大气，落地前读风景与降落。
随身带一支笔，把书中提到的现象和自己航班上看到的对应标注出来，印象会更深。
遇到感兴趣的物理机制，可配合中学物理教材或科普视频做延伸，不必强求一次读懂。
读完后不妨在下次飞行时做一次“实验观察”，比如留意跑道编号、云的形态与气压变化。

About the publisher

Zhejiang University Press China · Founded in 1984

Since its founding in 1984, Zhejiang University Press has published across fields ranging from science, engineering, agriculture and medicine to the humanities and social sciences, covering both academic monographs and general-interest titles. Judging from the 211 books in our catalog, its strengths lie in management, finance, social sciences, world history and biography. Representative works include Wu Xiaobo's financial titles such as "Day by Day" and "Tencent Biography", translations in the social sciences such as Chizuko Ueno's "Patriarchy and Capitalism", and biographical and historical works such as "Alexander Hamilton" and "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Its authors include Chinese and international scholars and writers such as Wu Xiaobo, Chizuko Ueno and Ron Chernow. On the evidence of the catalog, the press combines academic translation with accessible finance and history writing, giving equal weight to specialist publishing and popular reading. It should be noted that public information on the press's full publishing structure and characteristics is limited.

Chapter 1 At the Airport
Boredom in the Terminal
An Airport Divided in Two
Baggage Screening
Sniffing the Air
Secrets in the Detectors
Body Scanning
Who Do You Think You Are?
The Roots of Superstition
Chapter 2 Into the Sky
The Basic Structure of an Aircraft
Refueling the Plane
The Good Side of the Greenhouse Effect
Green Flying
Getting the Plane Moving
Big Radar Is Watching You
The Electromagnetic Space
Satellite Positioning in the Cockpit
A Universally Shared Language
The Latest Style of Runway
How Newton's Laws Get You Moving
Joining the Jet Set
Turning and Climbing
Feeling the Pressure
How Wings Work
Controlling the Wing Surfaces
Chapter 3 Exploring Terrain and Landforms
Chapter 4 Above the Clouds
Chapter 5 Cabin Life
Chapter 6 Technology in Flight
Chapter 7 Distant Scenery and Returning to the Ground

FAQ

这本书需要什么物理基础才能读？

基本不需要专业基础。作者用日常语言解释原理，涉及牛顿定律、气压、电磁波等内容时都会先讲清现象再讲道理，中学生即可顺畅阅读；有中学物理底子会读得更快。

书的内容过时吗？航空技术发展很快。

书中讲的多是安检、空气动力学、导航、气象等基础原理，这类内容变化不快，十多年后依然成立。个别设备与流程细节可能已有更新，但不影响整体理解。

适合在飞机上读吗？

非常适合，这正是它的写作场景。章节顺序与乘机流程对应，篇幅短、可分多次读，一次航程读完大半不费力。

这本书和《飞机的科学》一类书有什么不同？

它不以飞机本身为唯一主角，而是把整个旅程——机场、天空、地形、机舱生活——都当作科学现场，视野更广，笔调也更随笔化。

译本是全译本吗，有删节吗？

中译本由杨洁羽翻译，浙江大学出版社出版，正文结构与英文原书章节一致，未见到删节说明，可视为完整译本。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

布莱恩·克莱格 Author

Brian Clegg is represented in this Chinese book database by a single title, Four Dimensions: An Astonishing Journey Through Time. Public information about his nationality, dates of birth and death, education, and career is limited, and the database contains no existing profile, so no speculation is offered here. Judging from the available work, he writes for general readers on fundamental yet imaginative topics in physics, such as time, space, and dimensions, placing the book in the popular science category. His approach emphasizes explaining concepts in accessible language and uses everyday experience and thought experiments to guide readers into abstract issues, rather than piling up formulas and terminology. This orientation suits readers who are curious about science but may lack a specialist background, and gives his work a place in popular science reading. More biographical and bibliographical detail could be added if further information becomes available.