@BT: I couldn't find it, and I looked through twice. :

I forgot how well Czerski explains surface tension and viscosity. I remember thinking the first time around that this was going to be a boring chapter, but it isn't. It's not riveting, but she draws a vivid picture of the tug-a-war going on between all the H2O molecules, and this in turns makes the explanation of capillary action totally understandable. I know have an image in my head of a towel and tiny little water molecules all lined up behind each other, each being tugged up by the one in front of it.

Chapter 4 was slightly less interesting for me, except for the parts about earthquakes. Holy cripes I'm glad I don't live in Taiwan. Or, Mexico City, and speaking of, Czerski talks about why the Mexico City earthquake in the mid 80's was so horrifically devastating; I wonder if the same frequency problem caused the same problems in the earthquake last year?

Storm in a teacup has another edition with a better cover!
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Teacup-Physics-Everyday-Life/dp/0393355470?SubscriptionId=0BZQ5SJTYZCHFG60RT02&tag=nosearch-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0393355470

I like it!

Reply to post #18 (show post):
Me too. Too bad I bought the book last year and have one of the bland cover. :( ;)

Reply to post #17 (show post):
Now that is much better!

Reply to post #19 (show post):
I feel this way about The Invention of Nature ... I got the 'boring' cover, and I want the black one!

No stress JL - life happens. :) Those three suggestions are all very solid - I hope you'll let us know what everyone ends up choosing.