Overview

From Canada's leading mind on contemporary physics, a daring new vision of the universe, and the scandals controversies, and questions that will illuminate our future. Quantum physics is the golden child of modern science. It is the basis of our understanding of our world--atoms, radiation, elementary particles, basic forces and the behavior of materials. But for a century it has also been the problem child of science, plagued by intense disagreements between its inventors, strange paradoxes, and implications that seem like the stuff of fantasy.      In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin takes us on a journey through the basics of quantum physics, introducing the stories of the experiments and figures that have transformed our understanding of the universe, before wrestling with the puzzles and conundrums that the quantum world presents. Along the way, he illuminates the existing theories that might solve these problems, guiding us towards a vision of the quantum that embraces common sense realism.      Vibrant and accessible, Einstein's Unfinished Revolution brings us a step closer to resolving one of the greatest scientific controversies of our age.

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Einstein's Unfinished Revolution is at its best when it's laying out these foundations for the realist vs. anti-realist arguments. Smolin's description of how quantum mechanics works is both elegant and accessible using real world examples. . . . If you want to understand the basic issues at hand in these long running debates, as well at least one line of alternative, you will enjoy this book. . . . I deeply enjoyed Einstein's Unfinished Revolution. . . . Smolin so clearly and expertly articulates his position that Einstein's Unfinished Revolution becomes useful whether you agree, disagree or just want to learn some very cool ideas about physics and reality. --Adam Frank, NPR Smolin is never less than an inventive and provocative thinker, as well as an engaging writer. . . . [H]is explanations are especially lucid. --Philip Ball, Physics World A tantalizing glimpse of the theoretical possibilities beyond Einstein's grasp. --Booklist (starred review) [A]mbitious . . .upbeat and, finally, optimistic . . . Smolin is a lucid expositor. --Graham Farmelo, Nature Full of extraordinary ideas . . . For anyone who would like the world to make sense, Lee Smolin's proposition is appealing. --The Times (UK) Smolin elucidates complex science without equations . . . [and] demonstrates there isn't a thing in nature whose 'contemplation cannot be a route to a wordless sense of wonder and gratitude just to be a part of it all.' --Publishers Weekly This is a book about what it's like to treat life as an uncompromising search for the nature of reality. It is about physics, but also our historical moment. Do we essentially know everything already? Are we only cleaning up details and consolidating our powers, or is humanity still mostly ignorant? Smolin starts with a scrupulously fair telling of recent ideas in physics, and then accelerates into a vision of the future of physics. Sentences that are as simple as possible, like elementary particles, populate the closing argument. Read them slowly. They cut deep. --Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget The best explanation yet of what has yet to be explained. --George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral Lee Smolin has written a superb and sweeping book. He takes us to Bohr, Bohm, Everett and far beyond in a masterful assessment, then on to the struggle to go beyond quantum mechanics towards quantum gravity. Einstein's Unfinished Revolution is truly a fine work. --Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe

Einstein's Unfinished Revolution is at its best when it's laying out these foundations for the realist vs. anti-realist arguments. Smolin's description of how quantum mechanics works is both elegant and accessible using real world examples. . . . If you want to understand the basic issues at hand in these long running debates, as well at least one line of alternative, you will enjoy this book. . . . I deeply enjoyed Einstein's Unfinished Revolution. . . . Smolin so clearly and expertly articulates his position that Einstein's Unfinished Revolution becomes useful whether you agree, disagree or just want to learn some very cool ideas about physics and reality. -Adam Frank, NPR Smolin is never less than an inventive and provocative thinker, as well as an engaging writer. . . . [H]is explanations are especially lucid. -Philip Ball, Physics World A tantalizing glimpse of the theoretical possibilities beyond Einstein's grasp. -Booklist (starred review) [A]mbitious . . .upbeat and, finally, optimistic . . . Smolin is a lucid expositor. -Graham Farmelo, Nature Full of extraordinary ideas . . . For anyone who would like the world to make sense, Lee Smolin's proposition is appealing. -The Times (UK) Smolin elucidates complex science without equations . . . [and] demonstrates there isn't a thing in nature whose 'contemplation cannot be a route to a wordless sense of wonder and gratitude just to be a part of it all.' -Publishers Weekly This is a book about what it's like to treat life as an uncompromising search for the nature of reality. It is about physics, but also our historical moment. Do we essentially know everything already? Are we only cleaning up details and consolidating our powers, or is humanity still mostly ignorant? Smolin starts with a scrupulously fair telling of recent ideas in physics, and then accelerates into a vision of the future of physics. Sentences that are as simple as possible, like elementary particles, populate the closing argument. Read them slowly. They cut deep. -Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget The best explanation yet of what has yet to be explained. -George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral Lee Smolin has written a superb and sweeping book. He takes us to Bohr, Bohm, Everett and far beyond in a masterful assessment, then on to the struggle to go beyond quantum mechanics towards quantum gravity. Einstein's Unfinished Revolution is truly a fine work. -Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe

Author Information

LEE SMOLIN, a theoretical physicist of global standing, has made influential contributions to the search for a unification of physics. He is a founding faculty member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. His previous books include Time Reborn, The Trouble with Physics, and Three Roads to Quantum Gravity. He lives in Toronto with his wife and son.

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