Richard A. Muller’s engaging and engrossing new book Physics for Future Presidents is a perfectly-pitched introduction to the science behind the headlines for aspiring world leaders and news junkies who care about the details.

The book grew from a series of popular lectures Muller gave at UC Berkeley which embraced a range of general topics like nuclear terrorism, cold fusion and climate change that have been widely reported in the news, but rarely completely understood.

The lectures were recorded for podcast, click on the links below to join Muller’s students on a freewheeling tour though some of the most pressing issues in modern science, pitched perfectly at the intelligent layman rather than the physics graduate. Audio quality can be variable, but the ideas never fail to enthrall:

Physics for future presidents (MP3 download)

Nuclear Weapons (MP3 download)

The physics of sound, and something about UFOs (MP3 download)

If your appetite is whetted by those, click on the links below to find a directory of all of Dr.Muller's talks on the Berkeley site:

The January 2008 lectures:

Complete September 2007 archive

January 2007 archive

September 2006 archive

Richard Muller is a Professor of Physics at the University of California. His book "Physics for Future Presidents", has just been published by W.W.Norton, price £15.99

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