Renowned Physicist Don Lincoln's "The Evidence for Modern Physics" is an ambitious endeavor to present the fundamental concepts of particle physics, quantum physics, relativity, and cosmology through the lens of an experimentalist. As an overview of the empirical foundations upholding our current understanding of physics, the book succeeds in covering the key discoveries and techniques of modern physics. However, for readers who have read any popular books on these subjects, Prof. Lincoln's approach contains too little that is substantively new.
Lincoln's book diverges from the traditional approach of explaining scientific concepts chronologically and theoretically. Instead, he briefly introduces well-known theories and then spends far more time discussing the evidence that supports them. The idea is to ground abstract ideas, like relativity, quantum weirdness, and everything in between, in the tangible data that should make us believe. One comes across most modern physics concepts, including those as advanced as time dilation, wave-particle duality, and quantum entanglement. Still, the course rarely explains the concepts well, as the focus is never on them. From Galileo's inclined plane to the Large Hadron Collider, the book is more about the experimental ingenuity that proved them valid.
Unfortunately, the evidence discussed is not new; it's the same data that has been presented in countless other popular science books. The unique selling point here is the focus on evidence as the central argument, but this is a minor positive at best.
For those new to physics, the vast scope attempted means complex concepts like general relativity and quantum field theory are covered hastily, lacking powerful explanations involving everyday analogies, elaborations involving tales, and repetitions to illuminate them fully. Those already familiar with these topics from other popularizers like Brian Greene, Sean Carroll, or Carlo Rovelli are unlikely to encounter anything new.
In distilling a vast field down to its empirical essence, the course is, at best, a consolidator and refresher for its enthusiasts.