Overview

“Fundamentals might be the perfect book for the winter of this plague year. . . . Wilczek writes with breathtaking economy and clarity, and his pleasure in his subject is palpable.” —The New York Times Book Review One of our great contemporary scientists reveals the ten profound insights that illuminate what everyone should know about the physical world In Fundamentals, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek offers the reader a simple yet profound exploration of reality based on the deep revelations of modern science. With clarity and an infectious sense of joy, he guides us through the essential concepts that form our understanding of what the world is and how it works. Through these pages, we come to see our reality in a new way--bigger, fuller, and stranger than it looked before. Synthesizing basic questions, facts, and dazzling speculations, Wilczek investigates the ideas that form our understanding of the universe: time, space, matter, energy, complexity, and complementarity. He excavates the history of fundamental science, exploring what we know and how we know it, while journeying to the horizons of the scientific world to give us a glimpse of what we may soon discover. Brilliant, lucid, and accessible, this celebration of human ingenuity and imagination will expand your world and your mind.

Full Product Details

9780735223790

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is an exuberant, gorgeously crafted, and intellectually thrilling book, written by one of our greatest living scientists yet hospitable to all. To be reminded that time and space, mystery and order, are so much stranger and more generous than we can comprehend--this is a gift to public life and moral imagination in a young century where what is visible and tangible feels chaotic and constricting. This book is also unexpectedly spiritually thrilling. Wilczek makes the remarkable move of picking up and evolving the classic scientists' faith that their investigations would reveal the mind of our maker, as well as Einstein's self-described 'cosmic spiritual sensibility.' What began as an exposition, as Wilzcek writes, 'grew into a contemplation.' The result is a profoundly enriched understanding, accessible to the religious and non-religious alike, of what it means to be human--and what we might be pointing at when we use the word God. --Krista Tippett, host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise This is a book about deep ideas, not passing fancies. It will teach you profound principles, not dry lists of facts. It's a rare treat indeed to get a glimpse into the mind of one of the world's leading physicists, presented in an engaging style that will be enjoyed by anyone at all. --Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden Frank Wilczek is not only one of the world's greatest physicists; he's also one of its greatest explainers. Fundamentals is lucid, beautiful, and revelatory. --Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics, Cornell University, and author of Infinite Powers Beguiling . . . Wilczek manages to convey advanced physics without overtaxing lay readers with complexities and knotty concepts, and does so by sticking closely to lucid accounts of the experiments and calculations scientists perform to establish how the world works, and by using straightforward but evocative descriptions of natural phenomena . . . a stimulating and very readable scientific tour of the cosmos. --Publishers Weekly, starred review All of the technical aspects are presented in accessible language, and Wilczek blends in relatable examples, anecdotes, quotes, and bits of humor, taking pains to differentiate between fact and theory. --Booklist, starred review A breathtaking feat . . . the narrative is a mind-bender of the first order--in the best way possible--but what makes it so engrossing is that the author does far more than just present the facts and speculations, however fascinating; on every page, readers will glean his exhilaration and joy in discovery . . . Another winner from Wilczek, who invites us to be born again into a richer, deeper understanding of the world. --Kirkus, starred review

Author Information

"Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student. He was among the earliest MacArthur fellows, and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing including the 2022 Templeton Prize. He is the author of A Beautiful Question, The Lightness of Being, Fantastic Realities, Longing for the Harmonies, and hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His ""Wilczek's Universe"" column appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founding director of the T. D. Lee Institute and chief scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center in Shanghai, China, and a distinguished professor at Arizona State University and Stockholm University."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available