Preface
FIRST LESSON:
The Most Beautiful of Theories
SECOND LESSON:
Quanta
THIRD LESSON:
The Architecture of the Cosmos
FOURTH LESSON:
Particles
FIFTH LESSON:
Grains of Space
SIXTH LESSON:
Probability, Time and the Heat of Black Holes
IN CLOSING:
Ourselves
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‘Rovelli invites his readers to marvel at the splendours of modern physics, to be enchanted by the beauty and the open-ended nature of the quest’ David Kaiser, Guardian
‘Bite-sized but big on ideas: Carlo Rovelli’s Seven Brief Lessons on Physics … makes the mysteries of the universe almost comprehensible’ Katie Law, Evening Standard Books of the Year
‘Brief but masterful … If you want to understand what gets physicists out of bed in the morning, there is no better guide than Rovelli’ Michael Brooks, New Statesman
‘Rovelli belongs to a great Italian tradition of one-culture science writing that encompasses the Roman poet Lucretius, Galileo, Primo Levi and Italo Calvino. The physics here is comprehensible and limpid, and Rovelli gives it an edge through his clear-eyed humanistic interpretations’ Peter Forbes, Independent Books of the Year
‘There is one significant way in which bestselling theoretical physicist-turned-author Rovelli differs from his predecessors… there is a good chance people who start his book will actually finish it’ Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year
‘Feeling daunted by even attempting to scale Mount Einstein? This Italian bestseller, now translated into English, may be for you. Physicist Carlo Rovelli pulls off the trick of vividly capturing everything from elementary particles to dark matter in 78 pages. It’s not just for novices: there are also heady pages on loop quantum gravity’ New Scientist Books of the Year
‘A surprise bestseller … the most interesting of the year’s science books’ Nicholas Blincoe, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year
‘An understanding of the world requires a basic understanding of physics; something which has just become a little easier thanks to a cult book by an Italian academic … Not since Stephen Hawking’s (admittedly hard-going) Brief History of Time has there been such a consensual success’ Ian Thomson Spectator
‘There have been plenty of attempts in recent years to explain the basic concepts of physics to us, but few as elegant and concise as Carlo Rovelli’s’ Nick Rennison Daily Mail
‘Rovelli moves elegantly between illustrative metaphors, without ever mixing or belabouring any of them … The book’s triumph lies not only in presenting some of the headiest stuff science has produced in so few pages, but also in giving real insight into how science treats those ideas’ Economist
‘Brief but eloquent … The slim volume is stereotypically the province of poetry, but this beautifully designed little book shows that science, with its curiosity, its intense engagement with what there really is, its readiness to jettison received ways of seeing, is a kind of poetry too’ Neville Hawcock, Financial Times
‘Utterly blown away by the concise beauty of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli. Science as poetry. Awe inspiring’ Michael Bhaskar, author of The Content Machine
‘No one should hold office unless they have read Carlo Rovelli’s Seven Brief Lessons on Physics’ Nick Harkaway, author of The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker
‘Delightful … The metaphors are vivid, the visions dramatic’ Nature
These lessons were written for those who know little or nothing about modern science. Together they provide a rapid overview of the most fascinating aspects of the great revolution that has occurred in physics in the twentieth century, and of the questions and mysteries which this revolution has opened up. Because science shows us how to better understand the world, but it also reveals to us just how vast is the extent of what is still not known.
The first lesson is dedicated to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, ‘the most beautiful of theories’. The second to quantum mechanics, where the most baffling aspects of modern physics lurk. The third is dedicated to the cosmos: the architecture of the universe which we inhabit; the fourth to its elementary particles. The fifth deals with quantum gravity: the attempts which are underway to construct a synthesis of the major discoveries of the twentieth century. The sixth is on probability and the heat of black holes. The final section of the book returns to ourselves, and asks how it is possible to think about our existence in the light of the strange world described by physics.
The lessons are expansions of a series of articles published by the author in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. I would like to thank in particular Armando Massarenti, who can be credited with opening up the cultural pages of a Sunday paper to science, and allowing light to be thrown on the role of this integral and vital aspect of our culture.