Reviews
"We can only rejoice in this glorious account of mankind's striving over the centuries to unravel the whole grand story of existence, from Plato, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Aristotle through Copernicus , Kepler and Newton to Einstein and Bhr, recounted here with French enlightenment andpassion for the telling point."--John Archibald Wheeler, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Princeton University, "This book surveys a number of issues in physics, the history of physics and the philosophy of science for the reader without a sophisticated background in any of these fields. The material is organized around the overall theme of science as engaged in a pursuit of a unified understanding ofthe nature of the world. Chapter 1 surveys a number of attempts among the ancient Greek philosophers to discover unity in the diversity of nature . . . Chapter 2 takes up early modern physics . . . Chapter 3 surveys some of the history of physics . . . Chapter 4 discusses quantum mechanics . . .Chapter 5 discusses how science . . . tends to subdivide into distinct disciplinary sub-specialties . . . Finally, in Chapter 6, the dream of unification is discussed as a scientific ideal. . . . It is . . . suggested that one ought to find the true unity in science, more, perhaps, in a unity ofmethod than in some ultimate ontological unity."--Mathematical Reviews, "This book surveys a number of issues in physics, the history of physicsand the philosophy of science for the reader without a sophisticated backgroundin any of these fields. The material is organized around the overall theme ofscience as engaged in a pursuit of a unified understanding of the nature of theworld. Chapter 1 surveys a number of attempts among the ancient Greekphilosophers to discover unity in the diversity of nature . . . Chapter 2 takesup early modern physics . . . Chapter 3 surveys some of the history of physics .. . Chapter 4 discusses quantum mechanics . . . Chapter 5 discusses how science. . . tends to subdivide into distinct disciplinary sub-specialties . . .Finally, in Chapter 6, the dream of unification is discussed as a scientificideal. . . . It is . . . suggested that one ought to find the true unity inscience, more, perhaps, in a unity of method than in some ultimate ontologicalunity."--Mathematical Reviews, "Probably the best way to describe [this book] is to say that it is a popular history of the various attempts to find unified accounts of the physical world, ranging all the way from the pre-Socratic philosophers to the modern search for a 'Theory of Everything'. As such, it is more a bookabout the philosophy of physics than about physics itself, putting heavy emphasis on the contrast between the human desire for unity and the (apparent?) complex multiplicity of the world in which we live. . . . there's a lot about mathematics and mathematicians here too. In fact, our current dreamsof unity are really about a mathematical description of the world in which the bewildering variety of things lies over a fundamental and simple mathematical unity. The authors are quite skeptical of such a view, and their account, at times fascinating and at times pretentious, will get peoplethinking."--The Mathematical Association of America, "The Quest for Unity is a refreshing look at [the] tension between unityand diversity in physics, and places it in a useful historical perspective. Thebook touches on many issues of interest in the philosophy of science, forexample the relation between the eternally valid laws of universal applicationadn the passage of time in changing physical systems possessing a uniqueidentity; also, the way in which the abstract mathematical reasoning thatunderlies physics can form a foundation for venturing beyond the tested factsto new ways of understanding nature, which seems to be patterned inamathematical way at a fundamental level."--Nature, "We can only rejoice in this glorious account of mankind's striving overthe centuries to unravel the whole grand story of existence, from Plato,Heraclitus, Parmenides and Aristotle through Copernicus , Kepler and Newton toEinstein and Bhr, recounted here with French enlightenmnet and passion for thetelling point."--John Archibald Wheeler, Professor Emeritus of Physics,Princeton University, "The Quest for Unity is a refreshing look at [the] tension between unity and diversity in physics, and places it in a useful historical perspective. The book touches on many issues of interest in the philosophy of science, for example the relation between the eternally valid laws of universalapplication and the passage of time in changing physical systems possessing a unique identity; also, the way in which the abstract mathematical reasoning that underlies physics can form a foundation for venturing beyond the tested facts to new ways of understanding nature, which seems to bepatterned ina mathematical way at a fundamental level."--Nature, "We can only rejoice in this glorious account of mankind's striving over the centuries to unravel the whole grand story of existence, from Plato, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Aristotle through Copernicus , Kepler and Newton to Einstein and Bhr, recounted here with French enlightenment and passion for the telling point."--John Archibald Wheeler, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Princeton University"Probably the best way to describe [this book] is to say that it is a popular history of the various attempts to find unified accounts of the physical world, ranging all the way from the pre-Socratic philosophers to the modern search for a 'Theory of Everything'. As such, it is more a book about the philosophy of physics than about physics itself, putting heavy emphasis on the contrast between the human desire for unity and the (apparent?) complex multiplicityof the world in which we live. . . . there's a lot about mathematics and mathematicians here too. In fact, our current dreams of unity are really about a mathematical description of the world in whichthe bewildering variety of things lies over a fundamental and simple mathematical unity. The authors are quite skeptical of such a view, and their account, at times fascinating and at times pretentious, will get people thinking."--The Mathematical Association of America"The Quest for Unity is a refreshing look at [the] tension between unity and diversity in physics, and places it in a useful historical perspective. The book touches on many issues of interest in the philosophy of science, for example the relation between the eternally valid laws of universal application and the passage of time in changing physical systems possessing a unique identity; also, the way in which the abstract mathematical reasoning thatunderlies physics can form a foundation for venturing beyond the tested facts to new ways of understanding nature, which seems to be patterned ina mathematical way at a fundamental level."--Nature"This book surveys a number of issues in physics, the history of physics and the philosophy of science for the reader without a sophisticated background in any of these fields. The material is organized around the overall theme of science as engaged in a pursuit of a unified understanding of the nature of the world. Chapter 1 surveys a number of attempts among the ancient Greek philosophers to discover unity in the diversity of nature . . . Chapter 2 takes upearly modern physics . . . Chapter 3 surveys some of the history of physics . . . Chapter 4 discusses quantum mechanics . . . Chapter 5 discusses how science . . . tends to subdivide into distinctdisciplinary sub-specialties . . . Finally, in Chapter 6, the dream of unification is discussed as a scientific ideal. . . . It is . . . suggested that one ought to find the true unity in science, more, perhaps, in a unity of method than in some ultimate ontological unity."--Mathematical Reviews, "Probably the best way to describe [this book] is to say that it is apopular history of the various attempts to find unified accounts of the physicalworld, ranging all the way from the pre-Socratic philosophers to the modernsearch for a 'Theory of Everything'. As such, it is more a book about thephilosophy of physics than about physics itself, putting heavy emphasis on thecontrast between the human desire for unity and the (apparent?) complexmultiplicity of the world in which we live. . . . there's a lot aboutmathematics and mathematicians here too. In fact, our current dreams of unityare really about a mathematical description of the world in which thebewildering variety of things lies over a fundamental and simple mathematicalunity. The authors are quite skeptical of such a view, and their account, attimes fascinating and at times pretentious, will get people thinking."--TheMathematical Association of America
Synopsis
Quantum physicist Etienne Klein and astrophysicist Marc Lachieze-Rey present and comment on the successive unifications that have marked the fundamental advances in physics. A good deal of modern theoretical physics is lightly and gracefully explained, rooted in a philosophical examination of the motivations that drive physicists and physics. The book is a discourse on the nature of elegance and beauty in physics, seeking to explain how and why beauty is a reliable guide in the ongoing search for Truth in physics., What could quantum mechanics have in common with the philosophical musings of the ancient Greeks? In our age of multimillion-dollar supercolliders, it's hard to imagine that modern physics owes anything to thinkers who predate Descartes. But French physicists Etienne Klein and March Lachieze-Rey see an unbroken thread running from antiquity to the present--an ongoing search, throughout the history of science, for unity. In The Search for Unity the authors reveal how the quest for the One has driven all the great breakthroughs in science. They show how the Greeks searched for the fundamental element in all things; how Galileo unified the earth with the heavens, by discovering valleys and mountains on the moon; and how Newton created a single theory to describe the motion of the celestial bodies. With unequaled clarity, they explore the work of the most famous unifier of all, Albert Einstein, who melded space and time into a combined space-time concept, and then embarked on an unsuccessful search for a single theory to explain all the physical laws of the universe. Throughout the book, the authors stress the esthetic motives of scientists, how they recognize truth through apprehension of mathematical beauty. And in tracing the quest for unity up to the present day, they illuminate the bizarre workings of quantum mechanics and the sticky definition of reality itself at the subatomic level. A grand unification of all interactions still awaits discovery--but as Klein and Lachieze-Rey show, the search itself is as fascinating as the end result may ever be., In The Search for Unity the authors reveal how the quest for the One h as driven all the great breakthroughs in science. They show how the Gr eeks searched for the fundamental element in all things; how Galileo u nified the earth with the heavens, by discovering valleys and mountain s on the moon; and how Newton created a single theory to describe the motion of the celestial bodies. With unequaled clarity, they explore t he work of the most famous unifier of all, Albert Einstein, who melded space and time into a combined space-time concept, and then embarked on an unsuccessful search for a single theory to explain all the physi cal laws of the universe. Throughout the book, the authors stress the esthetic motives of scientists, how they recognize truth through appre hension of mathematical beauty. And in tracing the quest for unity up to the present day, they illuminate the bizarre workings of quantum me chanics and the sticky definition of reality itself at the subatomic l evel., Quantum physicist Etienne Klein and astrophysicist Marc Lachieze-Rey present and comment on the successive unifications that have marked the fundamental advances in physics from Newton's theory of gravitation unifying celestial and terrestrial mechanics, through Faraday and Maxwell's unification of electromagnetism and the unification of electromagnetism with the weak nuclear force by Salam, Weinberg and Glashow to the current search for a theory of quantum gravitation that would bring about the unification of all known forces in a theory of everything. A good deal of modern theoretical physics is lightly and gracefully explained, rooted in a philosophical examination of the motivations that drive physicists and physics. The book is a rather poetic discourse on the nature of elegance and beauty in physics, seeking to explain how and why beauty is a reliable guide in the ongoing search for Truth in physics.
