Stories by Jearl Walker

The spectra of streetlights illuminate basic principles of quantum mechanics

Funny things happen when drops of oil or other substances are placed on water

Looking into the ways of water striders, the insects that walk (and run) on water

Thinking about physics while scared to death (on a falling roller coaster)

Caustics: mathematical curves generated by light shined through rippled plastic

In which simple equations show whether a knot will hold or slip

The physics of the follow, the draw and the masse (in billiards and pool)

What causes the color in plastic objects stressed between two polarizing filters?

What causes the "tears" that form on the inside of a glass of wine?

How lenses can be made out of ice, and what happens when coke is brewing in the ibrik

How to analyze a city traffic-light system from the outside looking in

Thermal oscillators: systems that seesaw, buzz or howl under the influence of heat

Simple and vivid demonstrations of advanced concepts in physics

What happens when water boils is a lot more complicated than you might think

Simple optical experiments in which spatial filtering removes the "noise" from pictures

Delights of the "wobbler," a coin or a cylinder that precesses as it spins

When different powders are shaken, they seem to have lives of their own

Walking on the shore, watching the waves and thinking on how they shape the beach

In which a Lifesaver lights up in the mouth and light takes funny bounces through a lens

The essence of ballet maneuvers is physics

What makes you sound so good when you sing in the shower?

"Floaters": visual artifacts that result from blood cells in front of the retina

Motors in which magnets attract other magnets in apparent perpetual motion

The "speckle" on a surface lit by laser light can be seen with other kinds of illumination