Kosmologiczne koany. Podróż do serca rzeczywistości fizycznej

by Anthony Aguirre, Tomasz Lanczewski (Translator)

Czy może istnieć cywilizacja na drobince pyłu? W jaki sposób pojawia się ruch, jeśli czas składa się z chwil, a każda chwila jest pozbawiona ru­chu?

Anthony Aguirre, wybitny fizyk i kosmolog, zabiera nas w niezwykłą intelektualną podróż do granic nauki. Punktem wyjścia do każdego z przystanków tej podróży jest koan – krótka, oparta na paradoksie przypowieść, wywodząca się ze starożytnej tradycji zen. Istotą koanu jest przełamywanie schematów myślenia, a jego celem uzyskanie świeżego spojrzenia na omawiany problem.

Autor, tworząc własne, kosmologiczne koany, prezentuje najważniejsze koncepcje współczesnej fizyki i podejmuje wielkie pytania naukowych gigantów – od Arystotelesa, przez Galileusza po Heisenberga, a następnie koncentruje się na związanych z nimi problemach i paradoksach.

Kosmologiczne koany to zaproszenie do pięknej naukowej przygody, dzięki której możemy zgłębić tajemnice Wszechświata, a także porzucić utarte sposoby myślenia i odkryć możliwości własnego umysłu.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Buddhism, Unfinished, Spirituality

399 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 2019

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The format of this book suggests the author is trying a bit too hard to be different, which is a shame as it contains plenty of good material. At first sight, the approach of using (pseudo) 'Zen koans' as a linking theme is reminiscent of awful past titles that attempt to show parallels between Eastern philosophies and physics (think, for example, of The Tao of Physics or, even worse, The Dancing Wu Li Masters). But this isn't really the case - Anthony Aguirre is, rather, using the approach of presenting a short passage that makes you think (the koan) as an entry point to fifty connected essays on physics.

Having said that, the theme can seem a little heavy handed. To complicate the format even further, as well as the koans, each essay fits into a journey in time and space, which in the introduction Aguirre describes as historical fiction: but sometimes this seems to be unnecessarily distorted to match the 'Zen koans' theme. So, for example, the very first essay is based on Zeno's arrow paradox, yet for some reason Aguirre chooses to set it not in Ancient Greece but in seventeenth century Japan, which is just odd, and off-putting.

I think the approach would have worked better if the content being presented was very high concept, fluffy descriptive stuff about the life of a scientist, but in just a few essays Aguirre has moved onto the topic of world lines, which need good illustrations and careful exposition (it's where many people got lost in Hawking's A Brief History of Time). Here the almost illegibly small diagrams and the confusion caused by the format make the whole thing inaccessible. It's style over accessibility. We get onto some quite deep aspects of physics before moving on to topics which are more issues of philosophy (these might appeal more to some general readers), but I can't help but feel that anyone who would be attracted by the format would have been put off by that content by about essay 10. It has the feel of a book that will be bought but not read.

The reader has to ask what the point of the novel structure and the koans is. The hope, I assume, was that it would help communicate the science, but in practice the effect is to obscure it. There is plenty of good physics in here, but the format does not help.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful presentation of many findings and theories of modern physics, told through the conceit of the narrator traveling from Europe through Asia at the dawn of the Renaissance who encounters djinn and many historical figures. Each chapter presents a koan and they build upon one another.

I found some of it very challenging, as ideas in high energy physics tend to be. But I did get my best understanding yet of relativity.

I read it at the same time as I read The Universe Speaks in Numbers. Good way to reinforce the concepts.

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find the overall idea in the book very interesting. However, the author tries to explain physical concepts by using analogies which only contribute to make the subject more confusing than it needs to be, like when he tries to explain wave interference by assigning phases to pilgrims in a temple. Or when he compares different regions in a desert with different macrostates a system can assume. Furthermore, he uses formulas that relate quantities like "effort" and "difficulty," which have no clear physical meaning. Many such concepts as described in the book can only be grasped by people with a minimum background in physics. However, if the author is assuming the reader already has such a background he didn't have to go to such lengths trying to explain these concepts. The topic in itself is fascinating but if the reader doesn't grasp the basic ideas they will never realize how fascinating it is.

[Erik Molnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very thought provoking topics. Not sure I enjoyed the way it was put together.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking book, with an innovative way of presenting important concepts, ideas, and questions in physics. Enjoyed it.

[David Dinaburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opportunities for coincidence expand at every moment of every day that you do anything. It is exponential. It boggles the mind. That it only takes a tenuous connection for two things to feel like kismet, well, the sheer quantity of connections—between big things, small things, all things—keep stacking up and up and up. At a certain point, any quirky series of events can probably be explained with math.

It is weird to think about how these weird moments only stick when, say, I take a break from reading Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality to scroll through twitter, see a cool article from Ars Technica about Magic the Gathering being classified a Turing Machine, text it to my friend, and then return to Cosmological Koans only to flip the page and see, “It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence.” That’s a quote from Alan Turing. Whoa.

Yeah, that’s amazing. Then again, how many articles do I blithely scroll past that would relate perfectly to the book I’m reading—or literally any activity in which I am then engaged—but they don’t even register in my brain because they aren’t about a subject matter in which I have an active text chain? Probably a lot!

[ Read the rest of this review at DinaburgWrites.com ]

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Zen analogies (and chapter leads) are useful in illuminating the author's philosophical approach. Overall, though, I found the book quite dense, and not the easiest read. Its partly a matter of style - his is not my favorite sort of writing, others may like it.

[R B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I wouldn't consider them to be authentic koans (more like snippets of an overarching story cut up and arranged in different ways), I did like how each chapter was introduced by a "koan" and a quote that tied in with the concept being discussed.

I also liked how the "koans" added up to an overarching story by the end. In my opinion it helped keep the book more interesting and did a great job with tying everything up nicely together in the end.

I also appreciated the depth of scientific knowledge discussed. I am by no means an expert in the field, but I have a fairly solid basic understanding of physics, so many books are either way too simple or too difficult for me to fully understand. This book did a great job of walking that middle ground of delving deeply into concepts but in a way that was easier to understand. There were a lot of metaphors used to help explain, which I read that some people didn't think were necessary, but I found them to be helpful.

Overall, it was an interesting and unique way to learn about the physics involved in the universe, and although I may not fully agree with everything stated, I did find it to be an enjoyable read and will likely read it again.

[Will Towne · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

I got 100 pages in and realised Aguirre simply isn't a good enough writer to carry this thing.

Even with my layman's fascination and understanding of quantum physics, the little I read of Cosmological Koans was frustrating and unnecessarily complicated; the analogies (NOT koans) beginning every chapter obfuscated rather than clarified the concepts and theories, Aguirre's explanations flowed like mud, and his writing style smacked of "I want to be Douglas Hofstadter" while lacking the latter's skill and fun. Aguirre obviously wants to convey the beauty and mysteries of physics to the reader but he's hamstrung by writing that can't decide whether it wants to be poetic or elucidating, thus achieving neither. A simpler pop-sci book on relativity, quantum physics, etc. sans the whole ham-fisted analogy shtick would have been much more enjoyable, if less novel.

I hate abandoning books, especially those about intriguing topics, but I realised I'd only be finishing CK to add another notch on my Read list. Not recommended.

[Mishehu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A profoundly interesting work of popular physics. The use of koans (‘real’ and ‘invented’) was novel and interesting/thought-provoking, though it may have been more a spur to the writer’s imagination than it was to this reader’s. Be that as it may, to the extent the koans served as launchpads for discussions of complex physical concepts, they did this well. Aguirre does a splendid job of making seriously abstruse ideas/math intelligible (to the extent feasible) to a non-specialist readership. Time and again, he explains things in ways that struck this reader (an avid consumer of books in this genre) as novel. Conceptually, the going gets rough in places. But the ideas throughout are exciting to grapple with regardless of how well the details can be grasped (absent mathematical sophistication) by a non-specialist reader. I greatly enjoyed this book.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book frustrating. The analogies were not terribly helpful, partly because things on the quantum level don't act like things we observe in our day-to-day lives and partly because there are so many analogies you lose track of what he's actually talking about. It doesn't help that the book bounces back and forth between topics. I think it would have been more effective if it were more linearly, even if that diminished the poetry of it.

[Zosia]

I only leave books unfinished once or twice a year, and this one's gotta be that guy. The subject is interesting, right down my alley, and delightfully presented, but I couldn't get through it and I can't tell you why. It felt like I was being being forcibly opposed with each page turn. I'll come back to it another time!

[Max Duijsens · Rating 2 out of 5]

What started out with an interesting idea, an interesting *approach*, sadly turned into quite UNscientific babbling about "the" multiverse and buddhistic nonsense.
And really, the structuring, with non-chronological stories, quotes and speculation from the author really doesn't work for the comprehensibility - at all.

[Suresh Rangarajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit too winding a path taken to explain 'relatively' simple concepts. Some of the koans assume that you have well rounded knowledge in Buddhism and monasteries.

While the intention and technique are good, not really easy to read.

[r · Rating 3 out of 5]

“physics, like the world it describes, is a matter of great depth and subtlety, with secret passages and hidden rooms if you push in the right places.”

“If this book succeeds, you will understand much more yet also far less of what there *is* to understand, than you do now.”

[Jarkko Lehti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened this as audio book and it was a pain because it included some maths and numbers which was hard to keep up by listening. Also examples used in the book was quite hard to follow for some reason.

[Carmelo Valone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wildly inventive way to look at the past, fables and present cosmology and how they are all connected i.e. time and space are simply nonlinear and well ideas....ideas simply repeat not unlike cleverly reworded algorythms.

[Savelevat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Немного затянуто к концу, но в целом интересное и необычное чтение. Вряд ли ее можно использовать для первого знакомства с современными проблемами физики, но можно именно для размышления о них, так что форма соответствует содержанию.

[Don Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed with this book. Wasn’t that well written or it may be that it’s not in the style of writing that I’m used to. Anyway, had to finish as I started it but it was hard as it was a 400 pager!!!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Philosophy used to explain cosmology and quantum physics. Some chapters made good sense and some were extremely confusing. This would not be my first choice of books to help explain quantum physics and relativity to non-physicists.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Formidable.

[Zachary Haddenham · Rating 4 out of 5]

It got a little woo-ey for my tastes toward the end, but was absolutely a good read.

[Daniel Lauzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Delightful.
Zen, and the Science of Modern Physics!

[Bdiddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting approach to explain some concepts in physics but overall felt like its execution was lackluster.

[Kailey Kraus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not actual Zen koans, and it feels a bit disingenuous that the author felt he could come up with his own koans which were really segmented analogies in order to explain scientific thought/theories.

[DRugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to play with fundamental concepts of reality and the world around us.

[Karina · Rating 1 out of 5]

95% physics. 5% Koan.

[Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an enjoyable read. Aguirre steps away from the traditional examples of physical reality that our professors gave us in college and has a go at introducing the concepts using a different theme. It's not math heavy and the format is accessable.

It would have been nice to have this text when I first started studying physical chem.

[Roy Kenagy]

DMPL RESERVE 6/17/21 Chapter 44 ROVELLI Helgoland, n. 58 - meditation on information as form
EXAMINED 7/8/21 READ1
Interesting, but not direct enough for first-level study