Frank Wilczek

If I devoted the rest of my natural (and unnatural) life to study of quantum physics, I might be within an order of magnitude (one-tenth) of what Frank Wilczek has forgotten about it. A pioneer of quantum chromodynamics in the 1970s and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, Wilczek, in The Lightness of Being, tries to take intensely complicated ideas such as gluon fields and supersymmetry and make them understandable to the lay person. For the most part, he succeeds (the mere fact that show more I could remember what those were called without opening the book is a feat in and of itself). Wilczek walks the reader through the history (and even some pre-history) of quantum physics, stopping along the way to talk about the current theoreticians and their (inevitably) quirky personalities.

All in all, I liked this book. I didn’t immediately glaze over when he wrote about mu leptons at length, and I could even wrap my head around the fact that color charge doesn’t mean the object has color, and I even stuck with it when he started in on the Grid and Mass without Mass. There were quite a few illustrations, but I wished there were more. The problem is that most of the visual aids of quantum physics are math and equations, and those would serve to further complicate the book. If you’ve got a free day and are done with vapid fiction, then try this book out. If not, then just watch an episode of NOVA and call it a day. show less

Funny and accessible particle physics but i’m still not sure i understand everything. AND i was hoping to find out where mass comes from but i did not despite Wilczek’s assurances that he would reveal that nugget.

Nonetheless, the range of topics covered in this conversational heavy physics book quenched some of my thirsts for more knowledge on the subject. I now feel i better understand quarks and some of the underlying principles of subatomic particles and gravity. Wilczek also provides show more anecdotes of him conversing and jockeying with other physics including the great Feynman himself. It was very interesting to see that SUSY (supersymmetry theory) comes very, very close to unifying gravity with the other fundamental forces and to learn about the metric field which Wilczek dubs “the Grid” because calling it “the Matrix” would demean it just like the last two movies did the first.

He’s a funny man and, like i said, makes this heady stuff as easily accessible as might be possible. He even refrains from using mathematical formulae to flesh out his tale unlike many others thus he did not lose me. I don’t think…

The appendices and glossary were wonderful and eminently useful additions.

The book covers the constituent particles of matter and how they fit together to form our universe. It explains or describes where it cannot explain what the subatomic and subnuclear world looks like and how it operates. One of the most interesting pieces of information to come out of this book for me was the existence of and functioning of ultrastroboscopic nanomicroscopes - of which, the LHC is one. Because we can’t use our eyes to see in the miniscule wavelengths needed to peer inside nuclear particles, we have to use interference patterns between electrons and photons bouncing off and through those particles. He provides a still photo of a fluctuating cube if gluon fields within a proton that he calls “deep reality.” empty space isn't really empty and here's a snapshot of it not being empty.

Odd, fascinating, and profound but readable and understandable to anyone with a grasp of basic science, i think. show less

In 21st century physics, there is no such thing as truly empty space. What we envision as “empty” is a multiplicity of space-filling ethers or fields, where virtual particles pop in and out of existence. The theory of all that activity is called quantum chromodynamics, or QCD. Frank Wilczek, a Nobel Prize winning professor of physics at MIT and one of the developers of QCD, attempts to describe that arcane subject in The Lightness of Being.

Wilczek tackles the profound issues of what is show more matter and from whence does mass arise. In the process, he introduces us to the details of the most current theories of particle physics. He tells us that the existence of many types of exotic particles was first predicted from the governing equations before those particles were ever observed in a laboratory. The actual equations from which the predictions followed are a bit too advanced for a book of this type. He tries to impart the importance to scientists of a unified field theory that could unite the four known forces found in nature into a single overarching set of equations. Alas, although significant progress along those lines has been made, we still lack a way of combining the force of gravity with the other three forces.

Wilczek is a lucid writer with a deft sense of humor, and he avoids all but the simplest equations. His explanation of Einstein’s special theory of relativity is as terse and clear as I have read. Moreover, he provides the reader with a comprehensive glossary that itself would constitute a challenging and fairly thorough introduction to the subject. Nevertheless, the subject matter is TOUGH. I found the first eight chapters (out of 21) pretty easy to understand, but I started to get lost when the book delved into the combinetrics of quarks and gluons.

(JAB) show less

I’ve read several books about particle physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, cosmology, etc., all intended for laypeople of course, and I have fully understood none of them. In fact, all of them have huge sections that leave me befuddled. But actually, this book had a much better ratio than most, I probably sort of felt like I “got” three-quarters of it. Maybe Wilczek has better explanations? Maybe he just skips over the hardest parts? Whatever it is, if you like this kind of stuff show more but would like to imagine that you are comprehending say 3/4 of the book instead of 1/4, then I recommend this one. I truly enjoyed it.

Wilczek is a good writer, but not a fabulous one. But you can tell he wants to include the reader in his world, and his style kind of charmed me, and as a Nobel prize winning physicist, the guy certainly knows what he’s talking about! show less