The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe - Couverture rigide

Penrose, Roger

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0224044478 ISBN 13 : 9780224044479

Editeur : Jonathan Cape, 2004

Synopsis

The Road to Reality, some 1000 pages long, aims to provide a comprehensive account of our present understanding of the physical universe, and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory. No particular mathematical knowledge on the part of the reader is assumed - the early chapters providing the essential mathematical background for the physical theories described in the remainder of the book. The aim is to convey something of an overall understanding - a feeling for the deep beauty and philosophical connotations of the subject, as well as of its intricate logical interconnections. Clearly, a work of this nature is challenging, but there is enough descriptive material to carry the less mathematically inclined reader through, as well as some 450-500, mostly hand-drawn, figures. The book provides a feeling for all the key issues and deep current controversies, and counters the common complaint that cutting-edge science is fundamentally inaccessible. The topics covered in this book include: the roles of different kinds of numbers and of geometry in physics; the ideas - and magic - of calculus and of modern geometry; notions of infinity; the physics and mathematics of relativity theory; the foundations and controversies of quantum mechanics; the standard model of particle physics; cosmology; the big bang; black holes; the profound challenge of the second law of thermodynamics; string and M theory; loop quantum gravity; twistors; fashions in science; and new directions.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He has received a number of prizes and awards, including the 1988 Wolf Prize for physics which he shared with Stephen Hawking for their joint contribution to our understanding of the universe.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Jonathan Cape
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0224044478
• ISBN 13: 9780224044479
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 1136
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible