Since 2006 the author has run a web site, www.AskThePhysicist.com, where he answers questions about physics. The site is not intended for answering highly technical questions; rather the purpose is to answer, with as little mathematics and formalism as possible, questions from intelligent and curious laypersons. This book is about classical mechanics. Usually 'classical' calls to mind Newtonian mechanics and that is indeed where modern physics started. The bulk of the book is devoted to sections which will contain mainly categorized groups of Q&As from the web site, sort of a Best of Ask the...

This is the second book in the "Ask the Physicist" series. The first book, From Newton to Einstein: Ask the physicist about mechanics and relativity, provides an excellent foundation for this book that covers topics in 'modern' physics. The main emphasis of this volume is providing an accessible introduction to quantum physics, atomic physics, and nuclear physics to anyone with at least high-school physics knowledge.