modern physics and antiphysics
by Adolph Baker
On This Page
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
A friendly introduction to the puzzling topics of modern physics, or a comfortable and amusing read for someone familiar with the concepts already.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books in the bibliography of Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
97 works; 3 members
Author Information
2 Works 49 Members
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- modern physics and antiphysics
- Original publication date
- 1970
- People/Characters
- Scientist; Poet
- Epigraph
- I do not know what I may appear to the world
but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy
playing on the seashore, and diverting myself
in now and then finding a smoother pebble
or a prettier shell than ordin... (show all)ary,
whilst the great ocean of truth
lay all undiscovered before me.
-- SIR ISAAC NEWTON
Brewster's Memoirs of Newton, Vol. II,
Chap. XXVII - Dedication
- To the Lindas and Joels and Dannys and Ellies who will soon inherit the earth in any case, one way or the other.
- First words
- No one knows when Linda started hating physics.
- Quotations
- People were still wedded in those days to the comfortable believe in their own objectivity. Truth was always presented sooner or later in neat clean packages by a solicitous providence. In science as in human relations ever... (show all)ything was sharply defined. There were waves and there were particles, there was right and there was wrong, reality and illusion, art and artlessness, freedom-loving democracies and imperialist dictatorships. In plays and motion pictures one could tell the "good guys" from the "bad guys". Children respected their elders, minded their manners, saluted the flag, took oaths of allegiance, worshipped their gods, and knew who they were. People either obeyed the governments in peace and war or overthrew and replaced them with systems they considered more appropriate to the changing times. But always there was a rigid structure, even when it brought a new way of life, with new doctrines, new ideals, and new slogans to replace the old. In many ways it was a good time to be alive, for people knew all the answers, even if they were different. They had not yet discovered that the answer depends on the question, and that reality sometimes has many faces and speaks with many voices.
The first step in finding an answer is to understand the question. And when we say, "What is the stewardess' velocity with respect to nothing?" we do not ourselves know what the question means. We might as well look ver... (show all)y earnest and ask, "What is her predestinality?" We may even form a club consisting of people who incant this word periodically, throw their arms around each other, and insist that only they understand. But when asked to explain what they mean, they will say, "It is self-evident," or define it in terms of other words which are equally obscure. ... Now there may be nothing wrong with belonging to such a club. Its members may have something important or pleasant or useful to themselves; they may even be ahead of their time. But whatever it is, it probably cannot be communicated in the usual manner, through use of words. They are employing an idea which they are unable to define operationally. And the least one should ask is that they become aware that this is so. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)For it would be a pity to have to start all over again, and even the young grow old too quickly.
- Publisher's editor
- Lazarus, David (Consulting Editor)
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 47
- Popularity
- 623,661
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
- ASINs
- 1
