|  | Author: Frank Wilczek
Publisher: Basic Books
List Price: $26.95
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Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 35794
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 292
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0465003214
Dewey Decimal Number: 531
EAN: 9780465003211
ASIN: 0465003214
Publication Date: August 25, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-28 of 28
 Making Advanced Nuclear Particle Physics Fun and Accessible September 19, 2008
Brad VanAuken (Honeoye Falls, NY United States)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
I am not a physicist but I have been fascinated by cosmology, general relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, multi-dimensional theories, black holes, grand unified theory (GUT), etc. since my college days in the mid-to-late seventies. I have read many books on these topics and many are very difficult reads given that I am not grounded in the advanced mathematical models and approaches that underpin the theories. Having said that, this book is a very easy read for the layman (as easy as a book on this topic can be) and is written in a highly entertaining way. Frank Wilczek has a wonderful sense of humor. I find that I don't have to read any sentence twice to understand the concept. I get it the first time around. It takes true brilliance to convey very complicated concepts simply and with great clarity. I sat down and read this book from cover to cover without putting it down. It covers the evolution of thinking on matter and space from the earliest thinking to today's speculation and theories. The concept of space as a dynamic grid is fascinating. Dr. Wilczek even includes a glossary of terms in the back of the book in case you don't understand the meaning of a particular word or phrase. I highly recommend this book to people who want to keep abreast of the latest thinking on this area of physics. It is an informative and engaging read.
 The Lightness Of Being September 19, 2008
Rita Grolitzer (New York City)
11 out of 45 found this review helpful
Without a good basic science knowledge you are likely
to find this book incomprehensible.
A must read for physics buffs August 24, 2008
Paul McCord (Macon, GA, USA)
64 out of 65 found this review helpful
Anyone with more than just a passive interest in physics and the nature of the universe will enjoy this book. The title caught my attention, and the first chapter drew me in. Before I realized an afternoon had passed, I had finished the book in a single sitting and found myself eagerly flipping back to previous chapters!
Frank Wilczek may be a Nobel Prize winner (2004), but you don't have to be a physicist to read his book. He writes clearly (and occasionally humorously), with only minimal use of numbers and equations, allowing the text to have a smooth flow so the reader can absorb the complexity of it all. (He even provides a glossary for clearer understanding of the topics discussed.)
Almost from the first page, this is fascinating read, offering insights that literally contradict past theories that were once thought to be irrefutable. For example, perfectly "empty" space is unstable and can actually spawn tiny particles, so we really can get something from nothing!
And then there's what Wilczek calls the Grid, a sort of upgrade over the old ether idea, although it's really something entirely different. The Grid offers an explanation for, among many other things, the spontaneous activity in what appears to be empty space.
The Lightness of Being is about more than just particle physics. It's about connecting theories old and new, from particle physics to cosmology, to bring us many steps closer not only to understanding how the forces of nature work together to form a life-sustaining universe, but also to understanding what "nature" really is.
Showing reviews 26-28 of 28
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