The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
Vol. 1: SPACE, TIME, AND MOTION
Vol. 2: QUANTA AND FIELDS
The goal of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe is to bridge the gap between popular-science treatments of modern physics and true expert knowledge. This is the real stuff -- equations and all -- presented in a way that presumes no prior knowledge other than high-school algebra. Readers will come up to speed about exactly what professional physicists are talking about, with an emphasis on established knowledge rather than speculation.
Volume One, Space, Time, and Motion (September 2022), covers the domain of classical physics, from Newton to Einstein. We get introduced to Spherical Cow Philosophy, in which complications are stripped away to reveal the essence of a system, and the Laplacian Paradigm, in which the laws of physics take us from initial conditions into the future by marching through time. We learn the basic ideas of calculus, where we can calculate rates of change and how much of a quantity has accumulated. We think about the nature of space and time, separately and together. Finally we are introduced to the mysteries of non-Riemannian geometry and Einstein's theory of curved spacetime, culminating into a dive into black holes.
Volume Two, Quanta and Fields (May 2024), covers quantum physics, including particle physics and quantum field theory. We learn about the startling shift from a classical view of the world to the quantum picture, in which systems are described by entangled wave functions, and measurements have dramatic effects on what is being measured. Modern physics is based on quantum field theory, and we use Feynman diagrams to calculate interactions. We then discuss the many intricacies of quantum fields, including gauge symmetries and their associated forces, symmetry breaking and confinement, and the connection between spin and statistics. At the end we have a complete understanding of the particles and forces that make up the Periodic Table and the world we see around us.
Space, Time, and Motion hardcover:
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Space, Time, and Motion audiobook:
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Quanta and Fields hardcover:
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Quanta and Fields audiobook:
Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He received his PhD in 1993 from Harvard University. Recently, Carroll has worked on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, and the emergence of complexity. His other books include From Eternity to Here: the Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time, The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World, The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, and Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, as well as the textbook Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity.
Carroll has been awarded prizes and fellowships by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Sloan Foundation, the Packard Foundation, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of London, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Carroll has appeared on The Colbert Report, PBS’s NOVA, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, and he frequently serves as a science consultant for film and television. He has been interviewed by various NPR shows, Scientific American, Wired, and The New York Times. He has given a TED talk on the multiverse that has more than one million views, and he has participated in a number of well-attended public debates concerning material in his new book. He is the host of the popular weekly podcast Mindscape.