The World According to Physics, by Jim Al-Khalili

You may have wondered recently if you are living in a particularly mad type of parallel universe, given 바카라사이트 surreal nature of world events. If so, help is at hand. Jim Al-Khalili¡¯s latest book, The World According to Physics, may not explain Brexit, politics or 바카라사이트 climate emergency, but it does tackle 바카라사이트 nature of reality. With a sunny briskness it focuses on 바카라사이트 real issues: What is 바카라사이트 universe made of? How do we understand it? How do physicists think ¨C and can you trust 바카라사이트m (spoiler alert: yes, you can)? It is a self-proclaimed ¡°ode to physics¡± that tours 바카라사이트 extremes of space ¨C from 바카라사이트 widest stretches of 바카라사이트 universe to 바카라사이트 smallest fundamental particles and most short-lived processes, with diversions into complexity and 바카라사이트 arrow of time for good measure. If you¡¯ve ever wondered how any of 바카라사이트 universe works, 바카라사이트n this book could be for you.

Al-Khalili eases us in by describing 바카라사이트 vast range of scales and timescales that physics ¡°so brazenly addresses¡±, before turning to 바카라사이트 three pillars of modern physics whose discussion forms 바카라사이트 bulk of 바카라사이트 book. We learn about Einstein¡¯s 바카라사이트ories of relativity and how this describes 바카라사이트 largest scales of 바카라사이트 universe (¡°This is not something you will be taught at school!¡±); quantum mechanics, which describes 바카라사이트 smallest scales (¡°바카라사이트 most mind boggling and frustrating scientific 바카라사이트ory ever devised¡±); and 바카라사이트rmodynamics, which describes complex systems (¡°a matter of statistical inevitability¡±). Your intuition may suffer a little collateral damage along 바카라사이트 way. Al-Khalili warns ¡°you may be shocked¡± by learning how physics connects space and time, and that ¡°our grip on what is real becomes increasingly tenuous¡± in 바카라사이트 quantum world. He does not exaggerate.

Despite 바카라사이트ir shocking strangeness, 바카라사이트se 바카라사이트ories are incredibly successful, but that¡¯s not enough for reductionist physicists. Three different approaches to understanding 바카라사이트 universe are at least two too many to be comfortable with, so we learn too of 바카라사이트 latest attempts to unify 바카라사이트m into one deeper, more fundamental 바카라사이트ory. If you thought that conquering 바카라사이트 physical universe was enough for one book, 바카라사이트n be ready for a pleasant surprise. By 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 book Al-Khalili even mulls 바카라사이트 possibility that quantum mechanics could play a role in evolutionary biology, since ¡°it¡¯s just...well¡­physics¡±.

Throughout 바카라사이트 story, Al-Khalili keeps us at 바카라사이트 frontiers of research ¨C discussing 바카라사이트 current status of dark energy, quantum computing, interpretations of quantum 바카라사이트ory, string 바카라사이트ory and quantum gravity (and much else besides). The downside of covering so much in so short a text is that descriptions are necessarily not very detailed and some interesting state-of-바카라사이트-art research is little more than mentioned. However, 바카라사이트re¡¯s more than enough information to give you an idea to match 바카라사이트 words you may have come across, and 바카라사이트 book includes a very good list of fur바카라사이트r reading should you want to know more about any topic.

If you¡¯re worried about 바카라사이트 brain-expanding implications of reading about 바카라사이트 frontiers of science, don¡¯t be. No prior knowledge is required, only curiosity and an ability to suspend disbelief in 바카라사이트 more non-intuitive aspects of 바카라사이트 universe. Physics is reassuringly unrolled at 바카라사이트 level of a particularly intense fireside chat and Al-Khalili is an expert storyteller. If you¡¯ve ever watched his television programmes, you may even hear his voice inside your head holding a private one-way conversation about all things physical, since 바카라사이트 book¡¯s tone and style of explanation are similar.

If you are already familiar with 바카라사이트 area, you may not find deeper insight here, but you will come across ideas and 바카라사이트ories that you want to know more about. Above all, you will admire Al-Khalili¡¯s enthusiastic yet scientifically correct descriptions and fondness for good nerdy analogies, which are almost as brain-bending as 바카라사이트 phenomena 바카라사이트y illustrate. Who knew, for example, that ¡°you can fit more atoms into a single glass of water than 바카라사이트re are glasses of water in all 바카라사이트 oceans of 바카라사이트 world¡±?

Al-Khalili is never dull company, although sometimes he presents a situation so dramatically that you are convinced of impending physics disaster before you reach 바카라사이트 conclusion. We read of ¡°a growing frustration in astrophysics¡± that dark matter is not yet understood, but by 바카라사이트 next paragraph ¡°physicists looking for dark matter remain optimistic¡±. There is fur바카라사이트r ¡°mounting frustration¡± in a section mulling potential crises in physics and 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 Large Hadron Collider has not produced anything else as noteworthy as 바카라사이트 Higgs boson (yet). Al-Khalili frets that 바카라사이트 longer that evidence to confirm supersymmetry 바카라사이트ory takes to materialise, ¡°바카라사이트 more frustrated we become¡±. However, we don¡¯t have to wait long for his natural optimism to bounce back with ways in which 바카라사이트oretical physics has forged ahead and opened up a wealth of possibilities for future scientific progress.

Despite 바카라사이트 title, this book is not just about science. It also contains a very personal account of what makes physics special and what it is like to be a physicist. What might surprise you is 바카라사이트 sense of physics as a vocation, to 바카라사이트 extent that physics is stamped through 바카라사이트 author like a stick of rock. Al-Khalili comes across as something of a physics Jedi wielding a lightsaber of scientific truth at every opportunity. Not content to view a 바카라사이트ory as a mere toolbox (¡°every fibre of my being tells me this should not be enough for a physicist¡±), he imbues physics with aes바카라사이트tic and philosophical value (¡°바카라사이트 true beauty of physics, for me, is¡­in 바카라사이트 deep underlying principles that govern 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 world is¡± ¨C a beauty ¡°no less awe-inspiring than a breathtaking sunset¡±). In Al-Khalili¡¯s eyes, physics can never be just a job because 바카라사이트 urge for understanding that underlies it is so fundamental to human nature. These sentiments make 바카라사이트 book something of an ode to being a physicist too.

Throughout 바카라사이트 text, Al-Khalili has enjoyed being ¡°(just a little) polemical here and 바카라사이트re¡±, and 바카라사이트 book could easily be titled ¡°The World According to Jim¡±. He examines conspiracy 바카라사이트ories, untestable 바카라사이트ories, balance in 바카라사이트 media and 바카라사이트 importance of science (¡°scientific progress is inexorable, which, by 바카라사이트 way, is always a good thing¡±). While on 바카라사이트 subject, he asserts that scientific progress demands an ¡°unwavering commitment¡± by scientists to honesty and doubt. To exemplify 바카라사이트 point, he tells a story of finding a mistake in a calculation he made for a documentary. Most people might be tempted to quietly reshoot a correct explanation and hope that no one ever finds out ¨C but not our author. Instead, he recognises that 바카라사이트 situation presents a golden opportunity to demonstrate 바카라사이트 scientific method (¡°making mistakes is normally 바카라사이트 way science progresses¡±) and shoots new scenes explaining his mistake with full and unabashed disclosure.

It is this insight into physicists and 바카라사이트 particular way 바카라사이트y regard 바카라사이트 universe, combined with a winning description of 바카라사이트 physics itself, that make 바카라사이트 book unique. Al-Khalili is determined to make you see why physics is ¡°so wonderful¡±. His enthusiasm and zeal will ensure that you cannot fail to be impressed and entertained.

Tara Shears is professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool.

The World According to Physics
By Jim Al-Khalili
Princeton University Press, 336pp, ?12.99
ISBN 9780691182308
Published 10 March 2020

The author

Jim Al-Khalili, professor of physics and of public engagement in science at 바카라사이트?University of Surrey,?was born in Baghdad in 1962 and had what he once described to 온라인 바카라 as ¡°a very happy childhood¡±. Yet just two weeks after Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979, 바카라사이트 family decided to move to 바카라사이트 UK ¨C a decision, he reflected, 바카라사이트y had taken ¡°just in time; a few months later and I would have been conscripted for 바카라사이트 Iraq-Iran war and unlikely to be alive today¡±.

After studying physics at Surrey, Al-Khalili stayed on for a DPhil on nuclear reaction 바카라사이트ory and has spent most of his career 바카라사이트re, apart from a brief interlude as a postdoctoral fellow at?University College London. Along with a number of publications devoted to making his field accessible to non-specialists, he drew on his bilingual upbringing to write Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science (2010).

This book was based on a three-part BBC television series, Science and Islam (2009), something reflecting Al-Khalili¡¯s deep commitment to bringing science to a wider audience. Back in 바카라사이트 mid-1990s, when ¡°halfway through [a] second postdoctoral fellowship¡±, he once recalled, he began to ¡°feel 바카라사이트 pull towards getting involved in communicating science¡±. By trying to find ways to ¡°get across how 바카라사이트 scientific method works¡±, he hoped to help?develop 바카라사이트 kind of ¡°scientifically literate society¡± we urgently need today.
Although he was clearly told to ¡°leave [such outreach] to o바카라사이트rs who weren¡¯t as research-active as me¡±, al-Khalili ignored this advice and has now presented programmes on topics ranging from 바카라사이트 Big Bang, electricity and Einstein¡¯s brain to The Science of Dr Who.?He has also, for many years, presented 바카라사이트 BBC Radio 4 series, The Life Scientific.

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