Guerrilla Science [electronic resource] : Survival Strategies of a Cuban Physicist /
Altshuler, Ernesto.author.
Full of drama, dedication, and humor, this book narrates the author’s often frustrating experiences working as an experimental physicist in Cuba after the disintegration of the so-called socialist block. Lacking finance and infrastructure, faced with makeshift equipment, unpredictable supplies, and unreliable IT, Altshuler tells how he and his students overcame numerous challenges to make novel and interesting contributions to several fields of science. Along the way, he explains the science - from studies of ant colonies to superconductivity - either qualitatively or quantitatively, but always at a level fully understandable to an undergraduate student of natural sciences or engineering. An even wider audience, however, may skip the technical sections without missing the essence. With numerous anecdotes, photographs and the author’s own delightful cartoons, the book tells a remarkable, and often amusing story of how successful science can be performed against all odds.
Includes bibliographical references.
Guerrilla Science -- The Chinese Connection -- Strange Phenomena in Cuban Sands -- Lab-in-a-Bucket: Low Budget Experiments on the Solar System -- Garbage Experiments -- A Reason to Drink Coca Cola -- Should We Be a Little Afraid of Urinating? -- Smarter than Bibijaguas -- Annex: How Grains Influence Weak Links in Ceramic Superconductors.
Full of drama, dedication, and humor, this book narrates the author’s often frustrating experiences working as an experimental physicist in Cuba after the disintegration of the so-called socialist block. Lacking finance and infrastructure, faced with makeshift equipment, unpredictable supplies, and unreliable IT, Altshuler tells how he and his students overcame numerous challenges to make novel and interesting contributions to several fields of science. Along the way, he explains the science - from studies of ant colonies to superconductivity - either qualitatively or quantitatively, but always at a level fully understandable to an undergraduate student of natural sciences or engineering. An even wider audience, however, may skip the technical sections without missing the essence. With numerous anecdotes, photographs and the author’s own delightful cartoons, the book tells a remarkable, and often amusing story of how successful science can be performed against all odds.
Physics.
Science—Social aspects.
Life sciences.
Condensed matter.
Entomology.
History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics.
Societal Aspects of Physics, Outreach and Education.
Popular Science in Physics.
Popular Life Sciences.
Condensed Matter Physics.
Entomology.