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Reality is not what it seems the journey to quantum gravity
"A closer look at the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are the elementary ingredients of the world? Do time and space exist? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions. He tells us how our understanding of reality has c...
| Main Author: | Rovelli, Carlo, 1956- (Author) |
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| Other Authors: | Carnell, Simon, 1962- (Translator), Segre, Erica (Translator) |
| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English Italian |
| Published: |
New York :
Riverhead Books,
2017.
|
| Edition: | First American edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
"A closer look at the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are the elementary ingredients of the world? Do time and space exist? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions. He tells us how our understanding of reality has changed over the centuries and how physicists think about the structure of the universe today. In elegant and accessible prose, Rovelli takes us on a wondrous journey from Democritus to Albert Einstein, from Michael Faraday to gravitational waves, and from classical physics to his own work in quantum gravity. As he shows us how the idea of reality has evolved over time, Rovelli offers deeper explanations of the theories he introduced so concisely in Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. This book culminates in a lucid overview of quantum gravity, the field of research that explores the quantum nature of space and time, seeking to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity. Rovelli invites us to imagine a marvelous world where space breaks up into tiny grains, time disappears at the smallest scales, and black holes are waiting to explode--a vast universe still largely undiscovered."--Dust jacket. |
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| Item Description: |
Originally published in Italian under the title: La Realtà non è come ci appare. English translation published in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK. |
| Physical Description: |
280 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780735213920 0735213925 |
| Author Notes: |
His postdoctoral positions included University of Rome, Trieste, and Yale University. He is head of the quantum gravity group at the Aix-Marseille University, Centre de Physique Theorique and is an affiliated Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Pittsburgh. His recent books include Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (2016), a New York Times bestseller, and The Order of Time (2018). (Bowker Author Biography) |