Other Worlds: Space, Superspace and the Quantum Universe

by Paul C.W. Davies

An inquiry into the nature of the universe draws out the implications of the quantum theory and argues that our universe is only one among many possible universes and that other universes may exist

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Astronomy

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Paul Charles William Davies AM is a British-born physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He has held previous academic appointments at the University of Cambridge, University of London, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Adelaide and Macquarie University. His research interests are in the fields of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology. He has proposed that a one-way trip to Mars could be a viable option.

In 2005, he took up the chair of the SETI: Post-Detection Science and Technology Taskgroup of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Reviews

[White · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can tell the books that have been carried to swimming pools, camping, and hiking through the desert with me. They have sand between the pages, they're a little wavy and the covers show wear and tear. This book was one.

Again, a Davies wonder. This book goes through the nature of electrons, timewarps, the wave and particle debate, and superspace. This is not a book on aliens and such, it is other worlds in our own world of quantum mechanics and vibrating energies that we can't witness except in how it is all manifested.

This is a good one.

[Mohammad Onezat · Rating 5 out of 5]

بمثل هذه الكتب تتغير نظرة الإنسان إلى الحياة.

[Dan Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. The author is at his best when explaining the physics, but I felt he was not particularly insightful on the philosophy. I felt that his explanation of the importance of the observer (a conscious human being) in collapsing the wave function was not convincing, and this is the foundation for much of the second half of the book. Still, a lay reader such as me can get a lot from the descriptions of the experiments and the questions that they raise.

[Summer Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes. This book was science candy for my teen brain.

[Keith Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember a long sleepless night after reading this book at the age of 14. I had been holding on to the Biblical literalism that my parents taught me, in spite of all the evidence in favor of evolution, based on the incredible unlikeliness that the process of life would ever get started by accident. After reading Davies' book I realized that within the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics, given a near infinite number of alternate timelines, any outcome no matter how unlikely was not only possible it was mandatory because everything that can happen does happen in some quantum universe. The chain of events that led to our world being the way it is requires no guiding hand because it had to happen somewhere and this is the universe in which it happened. That fact alone does not prove the "many-worlds" interpretation correct, or disprove intelligent design, but it does offer a valid alternative to a creator designed universe. All of this is not exactly what Paul Davies was writing about, but it is what I took away from it.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Davies is an excellent writer on physics. He can make even difficult ideas comprehensible. This book, first published in 1980, is now somewhat outdated in some aspects -- we have learned a great deal in the past 35 years -- but it's a very good overview of the state of the art at that time. Much of what he explained remains true today although the particle accelerator at CERN, for example, has overturned or at least made possible a greater understanding of some his thoughts on the Big Bang, Black Holes, quantum dynamics, and other subjects. One aspect of subatomic physics that is completely missing here is any talk of String Theory. For those just becoming interested in these topics, I recommend this book as a good intro to some of the mysteries of the subatomic world and the ways in which our understanding defies so-called 'common sense.'

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my physicist Paul Davies' earlier books and is generally underrated, but it helped me finally understand both special relativity AND the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and I feel it deserves recognition for that. Maybe it doesn't cover all the latest and greatest in quantum physics, but it gives you a solid foundation for diving into books that do.

[Maha J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Paul Davies wrote this book for people with minimum background in modern physics and quantum theory in particular. the reader has to have light knowledge of physics to fully comprehend this book, although there is a simple explanation in the book of some quantum theory concepts that the reader would probably need later on in some parts.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1980, so it is somewhat dated. I read it back in the 80s. It was one of the early books in the somewhat metaphysical movement that began in physics and astronomy around that time. Interesting food for thought.

[Ramiro Galleguillos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book amongst many that my wife had bought many years ago and never had the time to read it until 2020, while confined at home by the pandemic of Covid-19. The copy I read was published in 1980, i. e. 40 years ago! The beginning chapters are the best part of the book, they explain typical quantum theory postulates, the doble slit experiment, the behavior of light as waves of photons, the weirdness embedded in quantum mechanics, the wave of probabilities that surround the behavior of matter at the subatomic level and the many probable worlds that the theory seems to predict to the point of the “schizophrenia” ( the authors words). Footnote: the concept of “wave of probabilities” is mentioned severals times that one seems to be inclined to think that quantum mechanics owes its success to advances in probability and statistics, because in spite of the fact that all the atoms, molecules, etc. are acting chaotically in an “undetermined manner”, one can obtain, as scientists and engineers do, the average value of their physical properties and use this to study and develop new technologies. The second part of the book tries to cover a number philosophical aspects such as the anthropic principle, consciousness, the meaning of time, etc. This goes in circles and leads nowhere. Nowadays, there are newer books and public lectures in internet that are significantly better at explaining quantum theory.

[Joshua Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one. At first I thought it was just going to be explaining things I already knew, but there were some interesting new concepts in it. Strange to say but I would have liked slightly less science and logic and more open-mindedness. In the end I agree, we need a more holistic view of the world.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

the subject of the book sounded thrilling but despite its slight size it gets bogged down in drily explained technical details

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly good on the anthropic principal.

[Pippa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too philosophical for someone with my limited knowledge. I'd have preferred a better guide to the basics of quantum mechanics, but this is hardly Davies's fault and, if you know more than I do you may find it brilliant.

[George Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly readable and enjoyable!

[Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

apparently, I didn't understand anything from this book, but I felt that it's a good book, so I tried to finish it and finished it and gave it 3 stars.!!!