Uncle Fred: An Omnibus

Uncle Fred, spreading sweetness and light, had been one of P.G. Wodehouse's endearing creations whose exploits will leave the readers rocking in laughter through each and every chapter. Called upon to solve the most intricate of problems, be it counselling the eccentric Earl of Emsworth on the safety of his beloved sow, the Empress of Blandings, from the impending clutches of the ill-tempered Duke of Dunstable Alaric or helping his nephew Pongo evading burly creditors or making the wedding bells ring for four pairs of hearts by a series of perilously precarious twists, through his genius of playing confidence trick. Infact sometimes he takes upon himself to become the match maker, and a breaker all at the same time based on what his futuristic vision predicts. The omnibus edition contains the novels

• Uncle Fred in the Springtime
• Uncle Dynamite
• Cocktail Time

A most refreshing volume, Uncle Fred remains an outstanding creation of Wodehouse whose tricks, though leaves the victims in a baffled state of mind, but the absence of malice makes him nothing less than lovable and I sincerely long for an uncle of this class.

The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein

Truly a biography of physics is this book, with the signature style of humble humour that characterizes Gamow in all his greatness. Starting from the birth of science in the ages before Galileo, he sketches the evolution past Einstein and thus maintains a balance in justifying the name of the book which focuses mainly on physics and the way it was shaped by the masters through the ages with a hint to what the future might hold on the science. With accompanying anecdotes to the serious science, the tough theories could never seem more fun to understand. Definitely, it will not be a layman's book if the term is defined strictly but if we remember the basics of the secondary level, the book will not just be adorable but enticing to take up physics to solve the fascinating mysteries that surrounds it in its various dimensions. With illustrations as delightful as the text itself, the book will remain a classic in the genre of popular physics along with biography category though the term is more reserved for the living world. But, after going through the essays, physics will surely be felt as throbbing and as lively as life itself. In this book, the teacher in Gamow has excelled while the storyteller in him has marvelled to give the readers a literary treasure blended with science. Gamow never got a Nobel in physics, but after going through several of his literary works, my only question to the nominators, had he ever been considered for the Prize in literature?