Our Self-Assembling Universe - Frank Gaertner - Bog

OSAU-2 is a book for all ages. I believe that aspects of OSAU-2, which involve a person assembling the nuclei of atoms, could even be used as an early form of play for children in preschool or kindergarten. Doing so would be a great way to teach children the fun involved in learning how they are connected to our Universe. My first volume of Our Self Assembling Universe was used in a very successful, introductory, guest-class lecture on nuclear physics where over 300 eighth-graders were able to assemble on their own the alpha-particle, i.e., the nucleus of the atom called helium-4. It was then easy to show how our star, the sun, uses that process to produce the nuclei of other atoms as well as the heat and light we so enjoy on planet Earth. Next the students used their own self-assembled alpha-particle to create, in the same way as do the stars in Our Universe, the nuclei of carbon-12, nitrogen-14, oxygen-16 and neon-20. These model nuclei became souvenirs that the students could take home as wonderful memories of their enlightening, strange day with the ukulele-playing Dr. Gaertner. However, as one will soon see from the Preface of OSAU-2, this book is even more unusual and it's not just for children, OSAU-2 is the world's first AWTbook (¿). . It's a book of the future, a book that has the capacity to teach, in the best way possible, any erstwhile wannabe-scientist, be they girl, boy, woman or man, no matter how old, everything they might want or need to know about biology, chemistry, physics, or dare I say it, even quantum mechanics. For example, see for yourself how some 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms self-assemble the molecular machines that put us together and bring each of us to life every day. And introduce yourself to the amazing quantum weirdness that makes it all possible.