The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature’s Deepest Secrets by Graham Farmelo (PDF)

Description

How math helps us solve the universe’s deepest mysteriesOne of the great insights of science is that the universe has an underlying order. The supreme goal of physicists is to understand this order through laws that describe the behavior of the most basic particles and the forces between them. For centuries, we have searched for these laws by studying the results of experiments. Since the 1970s, however, experiments at the world’s most powerful atom-smashers have offered few new clues. So some of the world’s leading physicists have looked to a different source of insight: modern mathematics. These physicists are sometimes accused of doing ‘fairy-tale physics’, unrelated to the real world. But in The Universe Speaks in Numbers, award-winning science writer and biographer Farmelo argues that the physics they are doing is based squarely on the well-established principles of quantum theory and relativity, and part of a tradition dating back to Isaac Newton. With unprecedented access to some of the world’s greatest scientific minds, Farmelo offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the blossoming relationship between mathematics and physics and the research that could revolutionize our understanding of reality.A masterful account of the some of the most groundbreaking ideas in physics in the past four decades. The Universe Speaks in Numbers is essential reading for anyone interested in the quest to discover the fundamental laws of nature.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Will pure mathematics prevail over dogged experiments in investigating the physical world? Is the fulfillment of the Pythagorean dream of a mathematical universe finally at hand? Mr. Farmelo, deeply impressed with the accomplishments of Einstein, Dirac and string theorists, is optimistic.”―Wall Street Journal”Farmelo shows that theoretical physics and pure mathematics thrive best together.”―Scientific American “These are brilliant successes of the mathematical approach, and Farmelo leads us through them adeptly, with a mixture of contemporary accounts and scientific insight.”―Nature”Despite the difficulties of writing about such specialised technical material, Farmelo has succeeded in writing a book for the general reader that gives insights into the motivation behind a theory developed by many of today’s leading thinkers. His book provides as clear an account of the subject as I can imagine for a non-specialist reader.”―Times Higher Education (UK) “Mathematics here becomes a brilliant laser beam illuminating the very frontiers of science!”―Booklist STARRED”A riveting account of one of the greatest stories of our time. Graham Farmelo has delved deep into this fascinating subject, combining original scholarship and lively interviews with leading contemporary theorists at the forefront of the field. The result is a masterful book, which gives us, for the first time, a behind-the-scenes look at how physicists and mathematicians, driven by their pursuit of ultimate Truth, have been drawn into common territory by mysterious intellectual forces seemingly beyond their control.”―Nima Arkani-Hamed, professor, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton”A thought-provoking look at a fierce, ongoing controversy over the future of theoretical physics.”―Kirkus”Crisply-written, entertaining and extraordinarily well-informed. The most popular and elegant theories of what makes the cosmos tick are becoming harder—even impossible—to test directly but Graham Farmelo argues in this tour de force that they’re still taking us deep into the mathematical heart of reality.”―Roger Highfield, author, journalist, and Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum, London”This fascinating, splendidly readable, extensively researched, and remarkably up-to-date book takes readers from the days of Newton to the forefront of modern theoretical physics and shows how current research has reshaped the fields of physics and mathematics to the enrichment of both.”―Jeremy Gray, emeritus professor, Open University”Farmelo expertly narrates the history of the dynamic dance between mathematics and theoretical physics, from Newton to Einstein to string theory and beyond. This book will be a must-read for anyone interested in either subject’s history or present for many years ahead.”―Jacob Bourjaily, associate professor of physics, Niels Bohr International Academy, Copenhagen University “A superbly written, riveting book. In elegant prose, and using virtually no equations, Farmelo describes the ongoing quest of great thinkers to understand the bedrock nature of reality, from the microworld to the cosmos.”―Martin Rees, astronomer royal, emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics, University of Cambridge “I am overcome with admiration for its range and profundity. An amazing achievement.”―Michael Frayn About the Author Graham Farmelo is the author of several books, including The Strangest Man, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Farmelo is a Fellow at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, an Affiliated Professor at Northeastern University, and is a regular visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He lives in London.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Not much technical detail; it’s intended for readers with minimal knowledge of physics. But a worthwhile introduction to the longstanding debate in the physics community about the relative roles for experimental observation and “pure” mathematics.

⭐Finally I got to see how all the ‘dots’ of modern developments in particle physics and string theory are connected.As a busy physicist working in other fields – I’ve lived and worked through this era – and picked-up bits and pieces of the Particles/Strings stories, but never fully appreciated the ‘big picture’ and its modern components. Now I have a much more complete appreciation of the fascinating key-steps achieved these past 50+ years.Thank you Graham Farmelo.

⭐` Recently, several books have been published on this subject.This one stands out as one where the author is able to portray the people and events that have led to our present knowledge, and lack of knowledge, on physics. The role of mathematics in physics is carefully examined in a way that one comes to understand what Wigner called the “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.” And there is also an acknowledgement of the role that experimentation has played and will play in physics. The two intertwined can give a better world.

⭐I will be honest. I knew nothing of Tensor theory, and I was not too firm on gauge theory. This book provides an excellent look into the theoretical mathematics that makes quantum physics a force in the universe. This book provides an excellent look at the intrinsic beauty of physics and the story of mathematics in physics as a story of a David who became a Goliath.

⭐Without using equations, except a few times mostly for aesthetic reasons, Farmelo explains how math has affected both discoveries in physics and the directions it has taken. He also shows why physicists have resisted high-level math in the past (and even sometimes now) and discusses the relation (or lack of it) between higher math in theoretical physics and actual and possible experiments. The discussion suggests both the promise and limitations of physics to explain the world. Both the non-physicist and non-mathematician can learn much from this book, even if some explanations slip over the reader’s head.

⭐I thought this book was going to live up to its title and show how math reveals nature. Instead it was a narrative history if the intersection of advanced math and physics. Don’t get me wrong , it’s an interesting story, but it’s a story , not a technical book. It talked about things like gauge theory, but it didn’t make an effort to explain what gauge theory is all about. Oh well.

⭐An excellent book ! Well-written and pitched at the right level for those who know some physics but who want to know more. I rank this in the top-10 of all modern physics / cosmology books I have read in the past few years.

⭐As stated by many, mathematics is a discovery of the principles that run the universe rather than a human invention.It’s not a terribly exciting history of science, but it is a serious book with many examples where purely abstract mathematical lucubrations are subsequently found to elucidate a particular aspect of some model of the world.

⭐Bought this on the back of the author’s biography of Paul Dirac which I really enjoyed. I was expecting something of similar quality. I didn’t get it. For a book about the importance of maths to physics I found it strange that it contain next to no maths at all. Not a single mathematical equation for example. Furthermore, the whistlestop tour through 2000 years of science takes about two pages. It is all superficial and lacking any originality. It really doesn’t tell you anything. Hugely disappointing.

⭐This is a truly amazing book spanning over 2,500 years of the critical players and key moments of physical law discovery from Plato to the 21st century. The unifying insight across almost every major discovery is the “unreasonably effectiveness of mathematics in the natural world” (Eugene Wigner, 1960). After reading this book one can sense the feeling that we can now see the possibility that ‘pure mathematics and theoretical physics will, as Dirac tentatively suggested in his 1939 Scott lecture, “ultimately unify” ‘ [p237].It is difficult to imagine a more challenging task than to explain to the general public, cutting edge modern ‘pure’ mathematics living in multi-dimensional and highly abstract worlds, as well as cutting edge fundamental physics also living (interestingly) in multi-dimensional and highly abstract worlds. Yet, Farmelo has delivered on this with an unusual capability of combining beautiful prose, enlivened historical analysis together with a careful balance between the technicalities of the process of discovery and the deep underlying principles revealed by the discovery.I believe, that I am a typical reader, with a science degree (okay, only computer science!) and a genuine interest in the new world of physics which is increasingly revealing to us the hidden truth and beauty of the natural world. Based on the above, I enthusiastically recommend: if you are going to read one popular science book this year on physics or mathematics – make it this one. This book is likely to become one of the key books in the development of our understanding of the Natural World. It will change forever your outlook on these subjects in the most macro way possible and move you one giant step closer to a truly unified world.

⭐I bought the book on the strength of the authors biography of Dirac and a review in one of the Sunday papers. I was very disappointed.I was expecting a book on physics but in fact it’s a history and does not really explain things. For examplt it mentions that Maxwell was interested in topology but more or less leaves it at that.The second half of the book discusses the history of gauge theory and string theory. Lots of people are mentioned (with details of their contributions to the theories) but the theories themselves are never really discussed.It would be a good book for someone starting a graduate course in gauge theory or string theory who wanted to know who was responsible for which parts of the theory.

⭐Fascinating study of the development of these theories. How many individuals contributed to these researches? What level of maths that most of us mere mortals have never even heard of. Wonderful. Very readable.

⭐What is the relationship between theoretical physics and mathematics? In this book the author examines this question in gravity and quantum theory. Easy to read with many historical nuggets.

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