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Gravity Does Not Exist: A Puzzle for the 21st Century
Every scientific fact was born as an opinion about the unknown - a hypothesis. Opinion gradually becomes fact as evidence piles up to support a theory. But what if there are two theories, each of which has produced a myriad of things that correspond perfectly to the phenomena but can't be combined into one? One theory replaced the mystery of gravity with a precise model of space and time. The other theory replaced the mystery of matter with a description of quantum particles.
As we understand our universe, we keep each in its own space and time for very large things, particles for the very small ones. However, 13.8 billion years ago, those two incompatible domains belonged to a single realm. Who in the current or future generations of physicists will crack this seemingly impossible puzzle? This, contends the author, is not just a big question, but the biggest question in physics in our century.
Combining Ickes's first-hand knowledge with a robust argument and intellectual playfulness, this fascinating book succeeds in making a notoriously difficult subject accessible to all readers interested in a better grasp of our universe.
As we understand our universe, we keep each in its own space and time for very large things, particles for the very small ones. However, 13.8 billion years ago, those two incompatible domains belonged to a single realm. Who in the current or future generations of physicists will crack this seemingly impossible puzzle? This, contends the author, is not just a big question, but the biggest question in physics in our century.
Combining Ickes's first-hand knowledge with a robust argument and intellectual playfulness, this fascinating book succeeds in making a notoriously difficult subject accessible to all readers interested in a better grasp of our universe.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2014
5 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Vincent Icke
20 books5 followersVincent Icke (Utrecht, 23 juli 1946) is een Nederlandse hoogleraar theoretische sterrenkunde aan de Universiteit Leiden en bijzonder hoogleraar kosmologie aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Hij studeerde theoretische natuurkunde en sterrenkunde aan de Universiteit Utrecht en promoveerde in 1972 aan de Rijksuniversiteit Leiden bij Hendrik C. van de Hulst. De titel van zijn proefschrift was Formation of galaxies inside clusters.
Hij deed postdoctoraal onderzoek in Sussex, Cambridge en bij het California Institute of Technology.
Hij deed postdoctoraal onderzoek in Sussex, Cambridge en bij het California Institute of Technology.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 7, 2021
Tsja, dit raakte me gewoon net niet. Het voelde te ingewikkeld om geschreven te zijn voor een breed publiek, maar niet interessant genoeg voor mensen met een achtergrond in natuurkunde. Wat ik uit boeken over de grenzen van onze huidige kennis hoop te halen is verbeelding en enthousiasme ('ohh, wat is de wereld toch bizar', zoiets), nu was ik een beetje naar het eind toe aan het lezen. Vond de chronologie wel erg boeiend! Boeken over kosmologie beginnen vaak bij Einstein, maar daarvoor is natuurlijk ook al enorm veel gebeurd!
November 25, 2018
The best non-mathematical explaination of modern physics that I have read so far.
The role of symmetry, the nature of great experiments and the importance of "thinking about the same phenomenon in different ways has led to many milestone-discoveries. It is also a nice history of relativity and quantum physics.
That mathematics has evolved just like language is a hypothesis that I was not really convinced of after reading the rather small part on the role of mathematics in physics. Perhaps this can be said about the mathematical languages but I doubt that this is true for the fundamrntal mathematical objects, such as networks, the symmetries of N-space and prime numbers.
The role of symmetry, the nature of great experiments and the importance of "thinking about the same phenomenon in different ways has led to many milestone-discoveries. It is also a nice history of relativity and quantum physics.
That mathematics has evolved just like language is a hypothesis that I was not really convinced of after reading the rather small part on the role of mathematics in physics. Perhaps this can be said about the mathematical languages but I doubt that this is true for the fundamrntal mathematical objects, such as networks, the symmetries of N-space and prime numbers.
January 7, 2017
Rather different from what I expected. If you don't describe general relativity as a gravity theory, it makes sense to say 'gravity doesn't exist'.
I quite liked the writing style of Vincent Icke, he provides a clear explanation although I did not particularly care for the bits on quantum mechanics.
I quite liked the writing style of Vincent Icke, he provides a clear explanation although I did not particularly care for the bits on quantum mechanics.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews