A remarkable and readable account of modern physics even if its ultimate positions remain unconvincing.
A radical revision of modern physics offers profound spiritual implications for human life.
According to debut author Capapas, people’s interpretation of the world has been radically revised by the “triumph of quantum theory,” the “most accurate among all theories that physical science has ever advanced.” But the current state of modern physics still suffers from two grand, interrelated problems: one is the obsessive quest for an “elusive theory of everything,” a “prolonged, futile search based on particle physics.” Secondly, at the heart of contemporary cosmology is a schism between “scientific discoveries and everybody’s shared experience of reality,” or to put it differently, between “scientific rationality and the wisdom gained from experience.” To this end, the author provides a panoramic survey of the fundamental principles of modern physics and culls her own theory of reality. She begins with the common ground of all things: vibration (“Everything vibrates”). As a result, all things have a recordable frequency and these frequencies dictate the “harmonic order” that readers ultimately experience as phenomenal objects of perception, including space and time itself as well as gravity. Moreover, that vibration constitutes the unity of all things, the “unfathomable singularity of pure light.” That pure frequency can also be understood as love, the “pure vibration that holds us all as one,” “the fundamental energy,” the “one infinite light permeating everything.” Capapas furnishes an uncommonly accessible, almost informally storylike account of the intellectual drama that ultimately spawned quantum theory as well as an erudite summary of the history of pre-modern cosmology, which, she argues, anticipates it. In addition, the author astutely points out the many ways in which, despite its extraordinary success, quantum theory still fails to capture the wholeness of human life. Capapas is not a physicist but rather a physician, and ultimately takes some scientific leaps based on her “gut.” Even if she’s right about the “vibratory interconnectedness” of all things, it’s never empirically clear why this means love is the lynchpin of the universe or why “consciousness is the fundamental element of the universe.” These are intriguing and even inspiring conclusions, but that’s not the same thing as being persuasive.
A remarkable and readable account of modern physics even if its ultimate positions remain unconvincing.Pub Date: May 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5469-2729-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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