The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili (PDF)

Description

Quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili offers a fascinating and illuminating look at what physics reveals about the worldShining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself.Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics—quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics—showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality. Using wonderful examples and thought-provoking analogies, Al-Khalili illuminates the physics of the extreme cosmic and quantum scales, the speculative frontiers of the field, and the physics that underpins our everyday experiences and technologies, bringing the reader up to speed with the biggest ideas in physics in just a few sittings. Physics is revealed as an intrepid human quest for ever more foundational principles that accurately explain the natural world we see around us, an undertaking guided by core values such as honesty and doubt. The knowledge discovered by physics both empowers and humbles us, and still, physics continues to delve valiantly into the unknown.Making even the most enigmatic scientific ideas accessible and captivating, this deeply insightful book illuminates why physics matters to everyone and calls one and all to share in the profound adventure of seeking truth in the world around us.

User’s Reviews

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

⭐At the start I really wanted to get a better understanding of physics. I was taking my time, reading and rereading. At first it helped but it was going to take a long time to get through the book. Then as I proceeded, things made less and less sense. Finally I decided the only way through was to just plow on through and hope that some of it stuck. My strategy seems to have worked. While still a meager lay woman, I do feel I have a somewhat better understanding of the subject. I can’t carry on an intelligent conversation about physics but inside my own head I feel I understand matters a bit better.My advice to you is that if you are reading this to get a better understanding of the basics of physics just plunge in. If you need to, you can read areas again as many times as you need.

⭐Jim Al-Khalili is a pleasure to watch and equally to read. I rate his two documentaries, Shock and Awe, and Order and Disorder as amongst the best science communication out there and in the company of Cosmos.The World According to Physics has a similar, ‘take you on a journey’ feel and Jim Al-Khalili is a welcoming guide. The arc of the book is beautifully executed, providing the reader with a sound basis on which predictions and general observations are built. The subject matter is ambitious but the book makes a solid go of covering a lot of ground. There could have easily been another 300 pages but I think the balance of breadth and depth was well made. If you enjoy reading about the wonder, hope and the place of science in human society, you will enjoy this book.Even if your knowledge of physics is already at the leading edge (which mine is not), the discussion in The World According to Physics will give you food for thought about the place of physics in society and how to hold and communicate ideas. If you are not a leading edge physicist then you will find a lot of very well explained ideas to update your physics knowledge. Jim Al-Khalili is an excellent teacher and communicator.As an engineer who studied physics at university, I wish Jim Al-Khalili had been writing and producing 30 years ago to give me some of his enthusiasm and sense of wonder while I tried to penetrate the math and get my assignments done. Physics and science are in good hands with the next generation inspired by teachers and communicators like Jim Al-Khalili.

⭐I was looking for an up to date overview of modern physics, and this book succeeded, mostly.It has been over 40 years since I completed my physics BA, and there have been many new discoveries and theories advanced since then, which I would like to better understand.This book did a good job of surveying the entire field, from quantum to cosmological, without getting bogged down in mathematical detail.Unfortunately, the very first mathematical example it gave, (Figure 1, “Events in spacetime” ), a graph purporting to depict how two observers in relative motion will disagree on distance and duration measurements, yet will calculate the same spacetime interval between two events, is wrong. The graph shows the space and time axes for A, the “stationary” observer, at right angles to each other, and the space and time axes for B, the “moving” observer, also at right angles to each other, and rotated an angle counterclockwise with respect to A’s axes.If this is supposed to represent a “Minkowski diagram”, it is incorrect. In a “Minkowski” rotation, if the moving observer’s space axis rotates counter-clockwise, (upward toward the diagonal 45-degree world-line of a photon), then the moving observer’s time axis also rotates, but in the OPPOSITE direction, clock-wise (also toward that diagonal), not away from it. Both observers measure the same spacetime interval between Events 1 and 2 as “ds squared = (c dt) squared – (dx) squared = (c dt’) squared – (dx’) squared”, because of the Minkowski metric. The author’s diagram suggests that the interval is invariant because both observers measure the same squared Pythagorean distance “ds squared = (c dt) squared + (dx) squared = (c dt’) squared + (dx’) squared”, which is just wrong (don’t take my word for it, check Wikipedia for illustrations correctly showing a “Minkowski rotation”).The author is obviously a well-respected scientist, so maybe the task of diagramming the ideas contained in the text was delegated to someone not qualified, and then not checked. But to encounter such a basic error, so early in the book, nearly put me off from reading the rest, which would have been a shame because I thought the rest of the book was well written and informative.

⭐The book is as good as the documentaries Al-Khalili hosts, especially those on Amazon’s Prime video.The book does not insult your intelligence, nor does it talk beyond the depth of a well educated reader.I only wish the US tv would trash the Nova production team and find a group of presenters like Al-Khalili to personally present the new, exciting science, most of us don’t have the time to track down by ourselves., or even the older science we never got taught because of STEM deficiencies in the US Ed-Biz

⭐Another amazing book by Jim Al-Khalili! A really lovely read for physicists and non-physicists alike; I highly recommend this book. As Jim says, “how can anyone not love physics?”.

⭐Still reading this … over 65% through but have formed some opinions and thought I’d share .I didn’t study physics, but have become fascinated with Quantam Mechanics – this is the first of Jim Al-Kahlili’s books that I’ve read and, mostly, enjoyed. I’ve mostly listened to him on Radio 4’s ‘The Life Scientific’ which is a great programme if you’ve yet to discover it.The book starts off strongly with a real sense of purpose with punchy prose and nice turns of phrase. It has gone ‘off the boil’ somewhat halfway through – by Ch. 6 ‘Thermodynamics and the arrow of time’ it really is making me wonder why it took him a whole chapter to say relatively little. Starting Ch.7 on ‘Unification’ and hoping that it improves – preferably along the lines of Sean B. Carroll’s musings which I am enraptured with/by… witty, insightful and genuinely wonder-inducing.Ultimately this book (so far) isn’t as awe-inspiring as it’s subject matter really should invoke, I don’t know enough about Professor Al-Kahlili’s writing style to know if it’s just me . Nice sized edition, which makes it especially comfortable to hold as it’s hardback.

⭐The author is eminently successful in a difficult balancing act in attempting to cover the vast expanse of fundamental physics in a very concise book, aimed at lay audience, while still having the space to allow for a level of detail that takes into account the very latest thinking in many topics, and weave them together.The author introduces the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics – relativity, quantum theory and thermodynamics.He provides an insight on the physics of cosmic and quantum levels, the speculative frontiers of the field, the attempt to unify the forces of nature, and the physics that underpins our modern technologies.

⭐Jim Al-Khalili is seriously clever. Not only does he understand and work with extremely complicated concepts and theories, he’s also an absolute genius at explaining them in simple enough terms that an idiot like me can (almost) understand them.The World According to Physics is another excellent example of this skill. In it he describes the three pillars of modern physics: relativity, quantum mechanics and thermodynamics. He goes on to discuss space, time, matter and energy, examines the weird world of the quantum and gazes into the black hole of the unknown, considering the theories that are yet to be proven and pondering on discoveries yet to come. In the final chapter he addresses the role of scientific proof in our modern world – where many people prefer to believe something they read on Facebook over an expert.It’s mind-bending, awe-inspiring stuff and as ever Jim Al-Khalili explains it all beautifully.

⭐Jim seems to have a genius for imparting his enthusiasm and clarity of thought to the lay reader. I achieved a depth of understanding of many of the topics far beyond that of which I thought that I was capable, and the text was delightfully scattered with gems of insight, and enhanced by a number of highly entertaining polemical arguments. Excellent in every respect and recommended in the highest terms.

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