Helgoland
The Strange and Beautiful Story of Quantum Physics
Published on 1. September 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-14-199327-0 (ISBN)
Description
The instant Sunday Times bestseller -- a beautiful story of rebellion and science
'A triumph. . . We are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical' Financial Times
In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, had retreated to the treeless, wind-battered island of Helgoland in the North Sea in order to think. Walking all night, by dawn he had wrestled with an idea that would transform the whole of science and our very conception of the world.
In Helgoland Carlo Rovelli tells the story of the birth of quantum physics and its bright young founders who were to become some of the most famous Nobel winners in science. It is a celebration of youthful rebellion and intellectual revolution. An invitation to a magical place.
Here Rovelli illuminates competing interpretations of this science and offers his own original view, describing the world we touch as a fabric woven by relations. Where we, as every other thing around us, exist in our interactions with one another, in a never-ending game of mirrors.
A dazzling work from a celebrated scientist and master storyteller, Helgoland transports us to dizzying heights, reminding us of the many pleasures of the life of the mind.
Translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell
Chosen as a Book of the Year by The Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and Prospect
Shortlisted for the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize
'A triumph. . . We are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical' Financial Times
In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, had retreated to the treeless, wind-battered island of Helgoland in the North Sea in order to think. Walking all night, by dawn he had wrestled with an idea that would transform the whole of science and our very conception of the world.
In Helgoland Carlo Rovelli tells the story of the birth of quantum physics and its bright young founders who were to become some of the most famous Nobel winners in science. It is a celebration of youthful rebellion and intellectual revolution. An invitation to a magical place.
Here Rovelli illuminates competing interpretations of this science and offers his own original view, describing the world we touch as a fabric woven by relations. Where we, as every other thing around us, exist in our interactions with one another, in a never-ending game of mirrors.
A dazzling work from a celebrated scientist and master storyteller, Helgoland transports us to dizzying heights, reminding us of the many pleasures of the life of the mind.
Translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell
Chosen as a Book of the Year by The Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and Prospect
Shortlisted for the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize
Reviews / Votes
Popular science has rarely been so good * Prospect * The greatest populariser of physics today. . . We are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical. A triumph -- Julian Baggini * Financial Times * Theoretical physics often feels rather mystical. This mind-bending, lively book by the bestselling physicist Carlo Rovelli reinforces that other-wordly feeling. . . unforgettable * The Times * Rovelli is often called the poet of physics. He writes elegant, wondering, enlarging books on time and quantum theory, much in the spirit of a priest bringing the word of God to his congregation, and I've found it good for my soul to be confronted with how little I understand the world and everything in it -- Sarah Perry * Guardian * One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline. . . A momentous book -- John Banville * Wall Street Journal * His most beautiful book yet. . . leaves an unforgettable impression of its author as a man struggling at the furthest limits of human comprehension -- James Marriot * The Times * A deep-thinking, restlessly inquiring spirit. . . His books continue a tradition of popular scientific writing from Galileo to Darwin that disappeared in the academic specialisations of the past century -- Ian Thomson * Observer * Another brilliant book by Rovelli. . . You'll have fun -- Clive Cookson * Financial Times * If anyone can make sense of the topsy-turvy, counterintuitive world of quantum physics, it is Carlo Rovelli, the most poetically minded of today's science communicators * The Times * A remarkably wide-ranging new meditation on quantum theory. . . With the light touch of a skilled storyteller. . . Rovelli is not afraid to mix quantum physics and eastern philosophy -- Manjit Kumar * Guardian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
158 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-199327-0 (9780141993270)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2021
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€10.99
Available for download
Persons
Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique theorique in Marseille, France. His books Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Helgoland, Reality Is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time are international bestsellers which have been translated into forty-three languages.