This book makes for a great introduction of particles & fields for the layman who is inclined to take on a book which surpasses the completely qualitative & popular (non-technical/historical) books that one can easily find at your local bookstore. I should clarify that this book might be seen as somewhat more than an easy introduction by the kind of reader who enjoys reading, for example, Paul Davies, John Gribbon, Steven Hawking, and Michio Kaku's popular expositions on science (physics & cosmology). From a popular science reader's perspective it could said that this book has a technical element to it in that the mathematics are present however I believe they are at an approachable level (i.e. there are no daunting calculus derivatives, integrals or other scary looking formulas). Here, let's have the author speak for himself from the preface:

"In this book I have tried to present those basic concepts of particles and fields and of space and time, as illustrated by modern physics, very much as a professional physicist understands them. I believe that these concepts are accessible to the nonprofessional - that which I can't explain to an interested layman, I must not understand properly myself. Which is not to say the ideas are so trivial that they can be understood by physicists or layman with the "attentive mind"...
The text is nonmathematical, though on occasion simple relations are expressed in algebraic forms that should be known to anyone with a high-school education. Some more complex relations that seem to be especially interesting are presented in the extensive set of footnotes. Though few of these require mathematical sophistication beyond that taught in the first few weeks of a high-school algebra course, mathematical simplicity does not translate into conceptual simplicity, and these presentations often require careful and time-consuming thought. Once written, a book has a life of it's own independent of the author's control; however I suggest that the mathematical footnotes be samples rather than consumed. There are those who can "read" mathematics like a novel, but for most of us so compact an information transfer cannot be assimilated easily and the time required to penetrate the arguments interrupts the narrative flow excessively."

Some of the nice features of "The Great Design" include plenty of intuitive examples, illustrated figures (with some decent Feynman Diagrams), important graphs and tables. I always enjoy when an author includes famous quotes at the chapter headings as Dr. Adair does. I think that you can see into the author's mind just a little more. As promised in the authors preface I quoted above, there are a generous amount of end of chapter notes referenced throughout the main text by number. Many of these offer slightly more rigorous (and technical) mathematical elucidation of the subject or just a deeper peek at the heart of the matter. So, if you are a layman like myself, I would warn you that this book might pose a challenge but a rewarding challenge nonetheless. Based on my experience with other books I have to say that a glossary would have been nice in this book but I did without.
Finally, I thought you might like a peek at the Table of Contents:

Preface.
Contents:
1. Concepts in Physics.
2. Invariance and Conservation Laws.
3. Covariance, Scalars, Vectors, and Tensors.
4. The Discrete in Nature - The Atoms of Demokritos.
5. The Continuum in Nature - Faraday's Fields.
6. The Nature of Space and Time - The Special Theory of Relativity.
7. The Equivalence Principle and the Theory General Theory of Relativity.
8. The Electromagnetic Field - The First Unified Field Theory.
9. The Problem of Change - The Second Law of Thermodynamics.
10. Quantum Mechanics - Determinism to Probability.
11. The Atom - A Quantum Laboratory.
12. Fundamental Particles and Forces - An Introduction.
13. Symmetries and Conservation Laws - CPT.
14. The Strong Interactions.
15. The Weak Interactions.
16. Cosmology - The World's Beginning and End.
17. Gauge Invariance - The Unification of Fields.
18. To the Ultimate Theory - Through a Glass Darkly.
Index.

I've really enjoyed this humble book and benefited from its comprehensive & comprehensible exposition of particle & field physics. It served my wants & needs very well. My hat is off to the author expanding my appreciation and understanding of the subject. A fantastically well-written book which is similar yet smaller (wonderfully succinct & concise) and has less mathematics is "In Search of the Ultimate Building Blocks" by Gerard 't Hooft. If you want a more popular book (no mathematics) you might want to look at "The God Particle" by Lederman & Teresi. As a final suggestion, I am compelled to insist that "The Force of Symmetry" by Vincent Icke would complement "The Great Design" very well! I've written a review of "The Force of Symmetry" as well.

Pick up a copy of "The Great Design" quickly before it goes out of print and enjoy your pursuit of knowledge (it's a wonderful adventure)!
Ciao!
IndiAndy
p.s. remember to read the other reviews as well as the book description & editorial reviews above my review.

This is the finest overview of physics for the layman or beginning physics student I have seen yet. This is not the usual history or biography based introduction but a good low-level mathematical expository on just about every current physics concept.

Perhaps the most lucid introduction to the quantum and touches of cosmology I have yet read. You can take it to many levels and go with the author and his sometimes clever, understated manner. Provides the MOST UNDERSTANDABLE explanation of the twin paradox of any of the (32) books I've read.

I thought this book was good for the most part. It gives great discussions on topics like bat types and different pitches (curve, fastball, etc). It dispells myths about corked bats (they don't really help) and rising fastballs (they don't rise).

Most results of his studies are presented in tabular format, so it will be easy to get the basics of the book even if you don't understand all of the physics. Personally, I had trouble understanding the sections about curve balls. I think this is more of a personal hang-up. Even though I have an engineering degree, I have never quite grasped the physics of spinning objects.. Otherwise, I thought this was a good book. Just not quite great to earn a 5 Star..

Ever wondered why a curve ball curves? Why major leaguers stretching for third often take a wide turn between first and second? Why bats seem to break much more often than they used to? This wonderful book contains the answers. Written by a Yale physicist, it contains well-documented but sometimes densely worded explanations of why and how a baseball, a bat and even the players behave as they do. Any serious fan of baseball will finish this book with an enhanced appreciation for the game. Not to mention the ability to speak intelligently about how grip and mechanics differ between pitchers throwing curves and sliders. The author has wisely chosen to address the questions posed most frequently by baseball lovers who aspire to higher knowledge. His only failure is his heavy reliance on technical academic language and somewhat mysterious graphs. It makes for a very enlightening but slow read.

Before my wife and I married, she had to pass the "basketball" test by sitting through a University of Illinois game in a crowded bar and at least feigning interest. The first nights of our honeymoon were taken up with the World Series (luckily for her, the winning team swept the series). I thus consider myself a sports fan (I am obviously a reader). Accordingly, I was delighted to receive for a recent birthday Robert K. Adair's The Physics of Baseball. The book itself, however, did not quite meet expectations. I encountered two key problems. First, Adair writes in the dry, passive-voice-laden prose of the scientist lacking a good editor. Second, much of the scientific analysis was simply beyond me. What I enjoyed -- and found useful -- were the qualitative discriptions of the game: how and why curveballs curve; how far a batted ball can be hit; the differences between metal and wood bats. While I could not follow each step of his scientific description, the general, non-technical account which he also gave was clear and persuasive. From henceforth, I will watch the game somewhat differently.