Description
Book Synopsis''Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory ever formulated. The only problem with it, argues Lee Smolin, is that it is wrong ... a fount of provocative ideas ... lucid, upbeat and, finally, optimistic'' Graham Farmelo, Nature
Human beings, says Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble With Physics, have always had a problem with the boundary between reality and fantasy, confusing our representations of the world with the world itself. Nowhere is this more evident than in quantum physics, which forms the basis for our understanding of everything from elementary particles to the behaviour of materials.
While quantum mechanics is currently our best theory of nature at an atomic scale, it has many puzzling qualities - qualities that preclude realism and therefore give an incomplete description of nature. Rather than question this version of quantum mechanics, however, whole groups of physicists have embraced it as correct
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A masterful exposition on the state of quantum physics ... spellbinding * Financial Times *
Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory ever formulated. The only problem with it, argues Lee Smolin, is that it is wrong. He attempts to examine other options for a theory of the atomic world ... a fount of provocative ideas ... lucid, upbeat and, finally, optimistic * Nature *
An inventive and provocative thinker, as well as an engaging writer ... lucid, searingly honest, impassioned, inspiring * Physics World *
Full of extraordinary ideas ... a new theory of everything ... Smolin's promised solution, when it comes, is just comprehensible enough for us to see that it's beautiful * The Times *
A superb and sweeping book ... masterful
As the latest entry into the conversation, Smolin's book feels the most immediate and personal. Here is no detached narrator, but an active participant in the fray who perceives the debate over the nature of reality in personal terms. . . While the way forward remains elusive, Smolin and others who seek to illuminate how physics got to where it is today are at least making the quest for answers a bit less costly * Globe and Mail *
Smolin is an extremely creative thinker who has been a leader in theoretical physics for many years. He is also a gifted writer who manages to translate his own insights about how science works into engaging language and compelling stories . . . Smolin's description of how quantum mechanics works is both elegant and accessible * NPR *
The best explanation yet of what has yet to be explained. -- George Dyson, author of Turing’s Cathedral
