"The Trouble with Physics" is a groundbreaking account of the state of modern physics: of how we got from Einstein and Relativity through quantum mechanics to the strange and bizarre predictions of string theory, full of unseen dimensions and multiple universes. Lee Smolin not only provides a brilliant layman's overview of current research as we attempt to build a 'theory of everything', but also questions many of the assumptions that lie behind string theory. In doing so, he describes some of the daring, outlandish ideas that will propel research in years to come.
The Trouble with Physics
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"A splendid, edifying report from the front lines of theorectical physics . . . A wonderful gift." The San Francisco Chronicle
" "An uncommonly clear and confident account . . . Even those who differ with many of Smolin's contentions can applaud his bringing physicists' anguished night thoughts into the clear light of day."--Tim Ferris
"If you want to think in new ways about the interconnected universe around you, read Lee Smolin's provocative, inspiring book."--Margaret Geller
"The best book about contemporary science written for the layman that I have ever read ... Read this book. Twice."
The Times of London
" "An uncommonly clear and confident account . . . Even those who differ with many of Smolin's contentions can applaud his bringing physicists' anguished night thoughts into the clear light of day."--Tim Ferris
"If you want to think in new ways about the interconnected universe around you, read Lee Smolin's provocative, inspiring book."--Margaret Geller
"The best book about contemporary science written for the layman that I have ever read ... Read this book. Twice."
The Times of London
About the Author
Lee Smolin is a theoretical physicist who is a leading pioneer of the field of quantum gravity and cosmology. He is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and two popular books, LIFE OF THE COSMOS (1997) and THREE ROADS TO QUANTUM GRAVITY (2001).
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First Sentence
FROM THE BEGINNING of physics, there have been those who imagined they would be the last generation to face the unknown. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
FROM THE BEGINNING of physics, there have been those who imagined they would be the last generation to face the unknown. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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90 of 93 people found the following review helpful
By Charlie T.
Format:Hardcover
Lee Smolin is one of those rare physicists who writes a good story about his subject. He is also unusual because he works in an unfashionable area of physics, dauntingly known as "loop quantum gravity," and has avoided jumping on the string bandwagon. Most physicists today think that string theory is the ultimate "theory of everything," and Smolin claims that it is hard to get taken seriously if you don't ride this bandwagon. But he also thinks it is being ridden up a dead end, and that physics has made a fundamental wrong turning.
There's no sour grapes in any of this. He just wants people to be more open minded anbd look at other possibilities, not necessarily loop quantum gravity. And he does a brilliant job of explaining string theory itself. I particularly like his discussion of how there are an infinite number of solutions to the single theory of general relativity, and the infinite number of string "theories" ought really to be regarded as solutions to a single underlying theory we have not yet discovered.
But there's as much sociology as science in the book, and Smolin gloomily confesses that he can't see any reason why "an intellectually ambitious young person with an original and impatient mind" would want to be "limited to working in any of the current research programmes." If anything can inspire such people and get their imagination working "outside the box" this is the book to do it.
There's no sour grapes in any of this. He just wants people to be more open minded anbd look at other possibilities, not necessarily loop quantum gravity. And he does a brilliant job of explaining string theory itself. I particularly like his discussion of how there are an infinite number of solutions to the single theory of general relativity, and the infinite number of string "theories" ought really to be regarded as solutions to a single underlying theory we have not yet discovered.
But there's as much sociology as science in the book, and Smolin gloomily confesses that he can't see any reason why "an intellectually ambitious young person with an original and impatient mind" would want to be "limited to working in any of the current research programmes." If anything can inspire such people and get their imagination working "outside the box" this is the book to do it.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Theoretical physicist Lee Smolin notes, "One question that has bedeviled the [quantum] theory from the beginning is the question of the relationship between reality and the formalism", that is, between the real material world and our ideas about it. Smolin backs materialism against idealism, writing, "It cannot be that reality depends on our existence."
He attacks the idea that it is 'as though the universe had been designed to accommodate us'. The universe has evolved in a way that has produced the conditions that make our lives possible. This does not mean that it was designed, still less that it was designed for us.
Smolin tells the story of how the American physicist Freeman Dyson in 1947 read Einstein's efforts to construct a unified-field theory and decided that they were junk. Unfortunately he didn't have the nerve to tell Einstein this - but he should have done, because it might have helped Einstein to do better.
Currently, string theory is the leading paradigm in physics. But its research programme has found no grounding in experimental results or mathematical formulation. As one of its pioneers, Daniel Friedan, later wrote, "String theory cannot give any definite explanations of existing knowledge of the real world and cannot make any definite predictions. The reliability of string theory cannot be evaluated, much less established. String theory has no credibility as a candidate theory of physics." Smolin writes, "the existence of a population of other universes is a hypothesis that cannot be confirmed by direct observation; hence, it cannot be used in an explanatory fashion."
Fortunately, there are approaches other than string theory, new theoretical and experimental developments, like doubly special relativity, which claims that in the early universe the speed of light was faster.
Smolin argues that there was continual progress in physics between 1780 and 1980, but none since. University physics departments have become dominated by conventional research programmes, threatening both academic freedom and progress. Original minds are dismissed as 'too intellectually independent'.
He argues that physics needs a revolution questioning the basic assumptions of relativity, quantum theory and the foundations of space and time. He ends by urging young people never to let others do their thinking for them.
He attacks the idea that it is 'as though the universe had been designed to accommodate us'. The universe has evolved in a way that has produced the conditions that make our lives possible. This does not mean that it was designed, still less that it was designed for us.
Smolin tells the story of how the American physicist Freeman Dyson in 1947 read Einstein's efforts to construct a unified-field theory and decided that they were junk. Unfortunately he didn't have the nerve to tell Einstein this - but he should have done, because it might have helped Einstein to do better.
Currently, string theory is the leading paradigm in physics. But its research programme has found no grounding in experimental results or mathematical formulation. As one of its pioneers, Daniel Friedan, later wrote, "String theory cannot give any definite explanations of existing knowledge of the real world and cannot make any definite predictions. The reliability of string theory cannot be evaluated, much less established. String theory has no credibility as a candidate theory of physics." Smolin writes, "the existence of a population of other universes is a hypothesis that cannot be confirmed by direct observation; hence, it cannot be used in an explanatory fashion."
Fortunately, there are approaches other than string theory, new theoretical and experimental developments, like doubly special relativity, which claims that in the early universe the speed of light was faster.
Smolin argues that there was continual progress in physics between 1780 and 1980, but none since. University physics departments have become dominated by conventional research programmes, threatening both academic freedom and progress. Original minds are dismissed as 'too intellectually independent'.
He argues that physics needs a revolution questioning the basic assumptions of relativity, quantum theory and the foundations of space and time. He ends by urging young people never to let others do their thinking for them.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am a eighteen year old about to embark (hopefully!) on a degree in theoretical physics. I found this book very refreshing as it addresses the fact that it is becoming impossible to distingush the legimately scientific and the plain crazy in scientific journals today. Smolin addresses some key issues that I have been having trouble with since embarking on my wider reading around the subject.
This book is articulate and the arguements are compelling, it is definitely worth reading for anyone with even a mild interest in physics.
This book is articulate and the arguements are compelling, it is definitely worth reading for anyone with even a mild interest in physics.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic Introduction. The rest of the book isn't bad either!
I graduated in Physics in 1975 but didn't choose this speciality for my career. At the time, I thought the subject too confusing and couldn't see any clear goals ahead, as well as... Read more
Published 12 days ago by R Christopher
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Trouble with Physics
The trouble with this physics book is 'they' say it's ok for the layman. Me. And I found it a little too 'clever', even though I have an interest in string theory and have read... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Tiggy
5.0 out of 5 stars
fantastic read but a little out of date
This is a great read and it is very well written by Lee Smolin as he has taken a lot of time making what can be a rather odd subject understandable. Read more
Published 5 months ago by GUT1967
5.0 out of 5 stars
A clever bloke says it like it is
Lee Smolin has a clear overview of all aspects of physics (unlike many specialists) and really delivers a damning assessment of the current state of research. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ben Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent wide ranging book
Smolin's book is an excellent read from two different perspectives. First it provides a historical perspective on developments in particle physics and quantum gravity from 1975 to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Robert Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lynching Of String Theorists?
This book describes the 30 year stagnation in modern physics,as apparently useless-in-a-physical-sense string theory supplants everything else. Read more
Published 21 months ago by G. Fowler
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books ever on contemporary physics
Smolin's effort is outstanding. He managed to write an excellent book. Contemporary physics is explained in a simple but brilliant way. Read more
Published 23 months ago by UI designer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Timely reminder of the need for revolutionary thinkers
This is an important book. A timely reminder to support the visionaries of which Einstein was probably the most famous. I learned something which shocked me. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mr. M. J. Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent informative read
I got this book not long after it came out, and I've read it several times since. It's really rather good, and not too difficult to understand for anyone with some basic knowledge... Read more
Published on 18 May 2011 by W. Young
5.0 out of 5 stars
We're in trouble
I have been acquainted with Lee Smolin's work primarily through his contribution to the research in loop quantum gravity. Read more
Published on 6 April 2011 by Dr. Bojan Tunguz
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