Einstein's Unfinished Revolution

Einstein's Unfinished Revolution PDF Author: Lee Smolin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698169131
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
A daring new vision of quantum theory from one of the leading minds of contemporary physics Quantum physics is the golden child of modern science. It is the basis of our understanding of atoms, radiation, and so much else, from elementary particles and basic forces to the behavior of materials. But for a century it has also been the problem child of science: it has been plagued by intense disagreements between its inventors, strange paradoxes, and implications that seem like the stuff of fantasy. Whether it's Schrödinger's cat--a creature that is simultaneously dead and alive--or a belief that the world does not exist independently of our observations of it, quantum theory challenges our fundamental assumptions about reality. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin provocatively argues that the problems which have bedeviled quantum physics since its inception are unsolved and unsolvable, for the simple reason that the theory is incomplete. There is more to quantum physics, waiting to be discovered. Our task--if we are to have simple answers to our simple questions about the universe we live in--must be to go beyond quantum mechanics to a description of the world on an atomic scale that makes sense. In this vibrant and accessible book, Smolin takes us on a journey through the basics of quantum physics, introducing the stories of the experiments and figures that have transformed our understanding of the universe, before wrestling with the puzzles and conundrums that the quantum world presents. Along the way, he illuminates the existing theories that might solve these problems, guiding us towards a vision of the quantum that embraces common sense realism. If we are to have any hope of completing the revolution that Einstein began nearly a century ago, we must go beyond quantum mechanics to find a theory that will give us a complete description of nature. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, Lee Smolin brings us a step closer to resolving one of the greatest scientific controversies of our age.

Einstein's Unfinished Revolution

Einstein's Unfinished Revolution PDF Author: Lee Smolin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698169131
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

Get Book Here

Book Description
A daring new vision of quantum theory from one of the leading minds of contemporary physics Quantum physics is the golden child of modern science. It is the basis of our understanding of atoms, radiation, and so much else, from elementary particles and basic forces to the behavior of materials. But for a century it has also been the problem child of science: it has been plagued by intense disagreements between its inventors, strange paradoxes, and implications that seem like the stuff of fantasy. Whether it's Schrödinger's cat--a creature that is simultaneously dead and alive--or a belief that the world does not exist independently of our observations of it, quantum theory challenges our fundamental assumptions about reality. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin provocatively argues that the problems which have bedeviled quantum physics since its inception are unsolved and unsolvable, for the simple reason that the theory is incomplete. There is more to quantum physics, waiting to be discovered. Our task--if we are to have simple answers to our simple questions about the universe we live in--must be to go beyond quantum mechanics to a description of the world on an atomic scale that makes sense. In this vibrant and accessible book, Smolin takes us on a journey through the basics of quantum physics, introducing the stories of the experiments and figures that have transformed our understanding of the universe, before wrestling with the puzzles and conundrums that the quantum world presents. Along the way, he illuminates the existing theories that might solve these problems, guiding us towards a vision of the quantum that embraces common sense realism. If we are to have any hope of completing the revolution that Einstein began nearly a century ago, we must go beyond quantum mechanics to find a theory that will give us a complete description of nature. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, Lee Smolin brings us a step closer to resolving one of the greatest scientific controversies of our age.

About Time

About Time PDF Author: P. C. W. Davies
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684818221
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Examines the ramifications of Einstein's relativity theory, exploring the mysteries of time and considering black holes, time travel, the existence of God, and the nature of the universe.

The Trouble with Physics

The Trouble with Physics PDF Author: Lee Smolin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618551057
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
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How Einstein Ruined Physics

How Einstein Ruined Physics PDF Author: Roger Schlafly
Publisher: Roger Schlafly
ISBN: 1458065359
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
Einstein is considered the world's greatest genius for creating the theory of relativity. How Einstein Ruined Physics explains relativity, how it was discovered, and how it fits into a long history of trying to understand motion and symmetry. The book shows that Einstein's role is badly misunderstood.Modern physics books often describe a fantasy world that has less and less to do with reality. They tell of alternate universes, cosmic singularities, and extra dimensions. When they lack evidence for these ideas, they argue that they are following Einstein's example and looking for the next revolution.Einstein's example is detailed. He is famous for uniting space and time in the theory of relativity, and for revolutionizing science with pure thought. In fact, his famous relativity paper merely postulated what had previously been proved, and he did not even understand why space and time were being united. The essentials of relativity are explained, along with how they were discovered.The crucial ideas behind relativity are motion and symmetry, and these are the most basic ideas on all of science. Relativity was the culmination of an ancient quest to understand the motion of the Earth. The story takes us from ancient Greeks like Aristotle, through medieval debates over Copernicus and Galileo, and up to the modern search for dark matter and energy.Somehow it has become fashionable in physics to try for some sort of abstract Einsteinian revolution instead of explaining observable realities. This book dispels the myths about physics progressing by pure thought, and shows that following Einstein's dream is an entirely bad idea. Published by Dark Buzz.

God and the New Physics

God and the New Physics PDF Author: P. C. W. Davies
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0671528068
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Argues that the discoveries of twentieth-century physics--relativity and the quantum theory--demand a radical reformulation of the fundamentals of reality and a way of thinking, that is closer to mysticism than materialism.

The Second Kind of Impossible

The Second Kind of Impossible PDF Author: Paul Steinhardt
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 147672993X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
*Shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize* One of the most fascinating scientific detective stories of the last fifty years, an exciting quest for a new form of matter. “A riveting tale of derring-do” (Nature), this book reads like James Gleick’s Chaos combined with an Indiana Jones adventure. When leading Princeton physicist Paul Steinhardt began working in the 1980s, scientists thought they knew all the conceivable forms of matter. The Second Kind of Impossible is the story of Steinhardt’s thirty-five-year-long quest to challenge conventional wisdom. It begins with a curious geometric pattern that inspires two theoretical physicists to propose a radically new type of matter—one that raises the possibility of new materials with never before seen properties, but that violates laws set in stone for centuries. Steinhardt dubs this new form of matter “quasicrystal.” The rest of the scientific community calls it simply impossible. The Second Kind of Impossible captures Steinhardt’s scientific odyssey as it unfolds over decades, first to prove viability, and then to pursue his wildest conjecture—that nature made quasicrystals long before humans discovered them. Along the way, his team encounters clandestine collectors, corrupt scientists, secret diaries, international smugglers, and KGB agents. Their quest culminates in a daring expedition to a distant corner of the Earth, in pursuit of tiny fragments of a meteorite forged at the birth of the solar system. Steinhardt’s discoveries chart a new direction in science. They not only change our ideas about patterns and matter, but also reveal new truths about the processes that shaped our solar system. The underlying science is important, simple, and beautiful—and Steinhardt’s firsthand account is “packed with discovery, disappointment, exhilaration, and persistence...This book is a front-row seat to history as it is made” (Nature).

The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time

The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time PDF Author: Roberto Mangabeira Unger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107074061
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 567

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Book Description
Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Lee Smolin argue for a revolution in our cosmological ideas. Ideal for non-scientists, physicists and cosmologists.

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity PDF Author: Asghar Qadir
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527545180
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
This book takes a historical approach to Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and shows the importance that geometry has to the theory. Starting from simpler and more general considerations, it goes on to detail the latest developments in the field and considers several cutting-edge research areas. It discusses Einstein’s theory from a geometrical and a field theoretic viewpoint, before moving on to address gravitational waves, black holes and cosmology.

The Ascent of Gravity

The Ascent of Gravity PDF Author: Marcus Chown
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681775948
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Why the force that keeps our feet on the ground holds the key to understanding the nature of time and the origin of the universe. Gravity is the weakest force in the everyday world yet it is the strongest force in the universe. It was the first force to be recognized and described yet it is the least understood. It is a "force" that keeps your feet on the ground yet no such force actually exists. Gravity, to steal the words of Winston Churchill, is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." And penetrating that enigma promises to answer the biggest questions in science: what is space? What is time? What is the universe? And where did it all come from? Award-winning writer Marcus Chown takes us on an unforgettable journey from the recognition of the "force" of gravity in 1666 to the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015. And, as we stand on the brink of a seismic revolution in our worldview, he brings us up to speed on the greatest challenge ever to confront physics.

What Is Real?

What Is Real? PDF Author: Adam Becker
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096069
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
"A thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science." --New York Times Book Review An Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review Longlisted for PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing Longlisted for Goodreads Choice Award Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's solipsistic and poorly reasoned Copenhagen interpretation. Indeed, questioning it has long meant professional ruin, yet some daring physicists, such as John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett, persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth. "An excellent, accessible account." --Wall Street Journal "Splendid. . . . Deeply detailed research, accompanied by charming anecdotes about the scientists." --Washington Post