Why am I passionate about this?

I have always had a fascination with science. It came not from school or college, where lessons were sometimes dull, but from books about the discoveries and the people who made them. After careers as a soldier and as a government statistician I felt impelled to spread the word by writing, or at least try. After 40 rejections, my first book – about James Clerk Maxwell – was published and, to my joy, found many readers. My aim in writing is simply to share enjoyment with readers in an equal partnership. And I hope always to leave the reader feeling that he or she really knows the people I am writing about.


I wrote

The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside: A Maverick of Electrical Science

By Basil Mahon,

Book cover of The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside: A Maverick of Electrical Science

What is my book about?

Oliver Heaviside, born in 1850, invented much of electrical engineering as it is practised today but his name has faded…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Men of Mathematics

Basil Mahon Why did I love this book?

First published in 1937, this lovely book is a true classic. In two volumes Bell brings to life 30 or so mathematicians, from Archimedes to Cantor. When first reading the book many years ago I had remembered some of the names from school and college, but only as labels to theorems or equations, and I felt taken into a delightful new realm of knowledge – I could now think of Fermat, Lagrange, Gauss, and Riemann as people. And I began to want to know more about the scientists whose names I had heard in school and college. Bell’s book had sparked a lifelong interest.

By E.T. Bell,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Men of Mathematics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Synopsis coming soon.......


Book cover of The Maxwellians

Basil Mahon Why did I love this book?

In telling us how four men with disparate but complementary talents came together to bring James Clerk Maxwell’s epoch-changing but hitherto obscure theory of electromagnetism to the world, Bruce Hunt somehow succeeds in combining the highest level of scholarship with a warm and engaging narrative. One gets to know Oliver Heaviside, Oliver Lodge, George Francis FitzGerald, and Heinrich Hertz, and to feel almost as though one were sharing their struggles and triumphs. I love this book.

By Bruce J. Hunt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Maxwellians as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

James Clerk Maxwell published the Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism in 1873. At his death, six years later, his theory of the electromagnetic field was neither well understood nor widely accepted. By the mid-1890s, however, it was regarded as one of the most fundamental and fruitful of all physical theories. Bruce J. Hunt examines the joint work of a group of young British physicists-G. F. FitzGerald, Oliver Heaviside, and Oliver Lodge-along with a key German contributor, Heinrich Hertz. It was these "Maxwellians" who transformed the fertile but half-finished ideas presented in the Treatise into the concise and powerful system now…


Book cover of QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

Basil Mahon Why did I love this book?

How can anyone write a book on quantum electrodynamics without equations? Nobody but Richard Feynman would even have thought of attempting such a thing. Yet he manages to explain the complex behaviour of photons and electrons in a way that people without training in advanced mathematics can understand. It’s not a book for the casual browser – the reader has to think and it can be hard work. But that’s because Feynman has integrity. There’s no skimping – he gives you the full works. And you only have to read one sentence to hear the New York accent and see the grin. Marvellous.

By Richard P. Feynman,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked QED as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the general public. Here Feynman provides a classic and definitive introduction to QED (namely, quantum electrodynamics), that part of quantum field theory describing the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams" instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman clearly and humorously communicates both the substance and spirit of QED to the layperson. A. Zee's introduction places Feynman's book and his seminal contribution to QED in historical context and…


Book cover of Theoretical Concepts in Physics: An Alternative View of Theoretical Reasoning in Physics

Basil Mahon Why did I love this book?

Malcolm Longair’s book is like a course of very good lectures that get behind the equations to reveal the context of their discovery. For example, we learn how Planck, who hated Boltzmann’s statistical approach to the theory of heat, was obliged to adopt it in order to solve the problem of black body radiation, and how this led to the concept of the quantum. There are plenty of equations but each chapter tells a compelling story of people at work, and the presentation all the way through is beautifully clear, with superb illustrations.

By Malcolm S. Longair,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Theoretical Concepts in Physics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this original and integrated approach to theoretical reasoning in physics, Malcolm Longair illuminates the subject from the perspective of real physics as practised by research scientists. Concentrating on the basic insights, attitudes and techniques that are the tools of the modern physicist, this approach conveys the intellectual excitement and beauty of the subject. Through a series of seven case studies, an undergraduate course in classical physics and the discovery of quanta are reviewed from the point of the view of how the great discoveries and changes of perspective came about. This approach illuminates the intellectual struggles needed to attain…


Book cover of The Cosmic Computer: The Physics of the Perennial Philosophy

Basil Mahon Why did I love this book?

Self-published on Amazon, this book is a blast of fresh air. Bold, deep, and engagingly written, it takes an axe to received wisdom in physics. In Timms’ hypothesis, the universe we perceive is one half of a duality, its partner existing deep within atoms and inaccessible to us because of the huge amounts of energy required to probe such small scales. The partners communicate at the atomic scale, where the quantum of action becomes the currency unit of exchange. Timms makes his case elegantly and plausibly, using many quotes from authoritative sources. You may not agree with some of his propositions but it is stimulating, and enjoyable, to have one’s ideas given a good shake-up.

By Gareth Timms,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cosmic Computer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book explores the ultimate information technology of the Cosmic Computer, and how it supports the Perennial Philosophy, the core consensus of all spiritual and mystic experience. Evidence is presented for a dual representation of information at large and small scales in the Universe. This simple idea not only allows science to be reconciled with spirit, but can also make sense of quantum mechanics and other mysteries of physics, and suggest new lines of research. The Cosmic Computer is an update of David Bohm's holistic interpretation of quantum mechanics for the information age. Numerous quotations from physicists and spiritual masters…


Explore my book 😀

The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside: A Maverick of Electrical Science

By Basil Mahon,

Book cover of The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside: A Maverick of Electrical Science

What is my book about?

Oliver Heaviside, born in 1850, invented much of electrical engineering as it is practised today but his name has faded from view. This is a pity: he was not just a genius but a wonderfully eccentric character – always combative, often funny, sometimes infuriating, but never dull. At first, his ideas and methods were ridiculed and he had to fight ignorance and vested interests to get them accepted. Yet now they are so familiar that they are simply taken for granted: almost nobody wonders how they came about. Among many achievements, he showed how to analyse any circuit and how to eliminate distortion from telephone lines. He even wrote the four famous “Maxwell’s equations”. It will be our loss if we fail to revive his memory.

Book cover of Men of Mathematics
Book cover of The Maxwellians
Book cover of QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

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Book cover of Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

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Why am I passionate about this?

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Elizabeth's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Tourists and local residents of St. Augustine will enjoy reading about the secret wonders of their ancient city that are right under their noses. Of course, that includes a few stray corpses and ghosts!

Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Elizabeth Randall, William Randall,

What is this book about?

It is no wonder the ancient city of St. Augustine is steeped in secrets.

St. Johns, the oldest continuously occupied county in America, celebrated its 450th birthday on September 4, 2015. More like a European enclave than an urban landscape, it is a place of cannon fire, street parties, historical reenactments, concerts, and more. From admiring replicas of fine art at Ripley’s Believe or Not, to hunting haunts in restaurants and museums, to eating ice cream from a recipe originated by World War II bombardiers, St. Augustine has it all from beaches, gourmet dining, festivals, and attractions.


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