A poetically beautiful distillate of the book essence appears on the cover ..."The Lightness of Being reveals a universe where matter is the hum of strange music, mass doesn't weigh, and empty space is a multilayered, multicolored, superconductor."
The writing of the author exudes intelligence: it is simple but profound, concise, clear and witty. The book, however, is not an easy reading because it is inherently conceptually difficult and counterintuitive. As the author elegantly explains human beings evolved (in the Darwinian sense) to cope in our own level of measure to enable us to survive and procreate and not to react to the weird microcosmos of the quantal wave function that is at distances 10 in the minus 14 cm and times at 10 in the minus 24 second.
The book presents the nature of physical reality as revealed in the last 25 years of research which the author contributed in defining. Additionally it traces the evolution in Physics and its landmarks from the seventeenth century revolution and Isaac Newton's mathematical laws of motion and gravity; to the publication of Maxwell's equations in 1864 reconciling electric and magnetic fields;to the 1899 theory of quanta by Max Planck; to Einstein's theory of special relativity in 1905 postulating symmetry that is that the laws of physics should take the same form after boosting everything appearing in them by the same constant velocity; a major result of which is that there is a limiting velocity:the speed of light;to Einstein's 1917 general theory of relativity, essentially a field-based theory of gravity;to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the version of electrodynamics incorporating quantum theory and to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory that describes the activity of color gluon fields, including their responses to color charges and currents. We are also intimated of the role of particle accelerators in detecting exotic particles, the concept and role of symmetry and supersymmetry and its predictive value in particle physics and the attempt at the unification of the forces of nature namely the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism and gravity;the last being the obstacle to unification because of its feebleness compared to the other forces and productive ways in overcoming it.
The primary reality is what was previously conceived as empty space which the author names the Grid and which in fact is teeming with activity, spawning everything else, of which matter is a secondary manifestation. The primary physical reality is a multifaceted concept:
The primary ingredient of physical reality, from which all else is formed, fills space and time. Each fragment, each space-time element, has the same basic properties as every other fragment. The primary ingredient of reality is alive with quantum activity. Quantum activity has special characteristics. It is spontaneous and unpredictable. And to observe quantum activity, you must disturb it. The primary ingredient of reality also contains enduring material components. These make the cosmos a multilayered, multicolored, superconductor. The primary ingredient of reality contains a metric field that gives space-time rigidity and causes gravity. The primary ingredient of reality weighs, with a universal density.
With the aid of elegant equations and powerful computers is was possible to determine precisely the mass of protons and neutrons that form atomic nuclei from quarks and gluons that are massless (gluons) or nearly so (quarks). The equations of QCD Output Mass without Mass.
Protons and neutrons form atomic nuclei which have positive charge and account for more than 99.99% of the mass though they have a radius of 10 in the minus 5 of atoms which are formed with the addition of negatively charged electrons.
Protons, neutrons, electrons and photons comprise normal matter that is the matter of the visible universe.
Normal matter is about 5% of the mass of the universe as a whole;the remaining 95% contains at least two components, called dark energy and dark matter. Dark energy contributes about 70% of the mass. It is observed through the gravitational influence on the motion of normal matter. Dark energy seems to be uniformly distributed throughout space, with density that is also constant in time. Dark matter contributes 25% of the mass. It too has been observed through its gravitational influence on the motion of normal matter. Dark matter is not uniformly distributed in space, nor its density constant in time. Around every galaxy there is an extended halo of dark matter. Its density is typically a million times less than that of normal matter.
In conclusion the book is profoundly important and exceptionally well written combining deep insight, clarity, economy, and an unmistakeable sense of the essential reflecting the profound, original and penetrating intellect of its author.
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Top reviews from other countries
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JOSE ANTONIO GARCIA BARRETOReviewed in Mexico on 7 September 2021
Excelente libro para fisicos interesados en el tema del origen de la masa
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RobertoReviewed in Italy on 7 September 2023
Faticoso da leggere, ma non per il contenuto....
- Prof.Reviewed in India on 13 December 2021
Excellent inside description of our existence within the universe
- John VerdonReviewed in Canada on 9 July 2018
Certainty in the face of uncertainty.
- CMReviewed in Australia on 13 December 2023
Explains the deep quantum reality in a user friendly manner
