The Character of Physical Law

Why read it

• You will see what a physical law looks like when a leading scientist explains it plainly, using gravitation as the example
• You will understand why conservation and symmetry matter in physics and how they simplify a complicated world
• You will learn how scientists guess at new laws and then test those guesses

Who it is for

• A curious reader with no physics background
• An engineer or analyst who wants to think like a scientist
• A student bored by formulas who wants the big ideas

Contents

1. Introduction
2. 1 The Law of Gravitation, an example of Physical Law
3. 2 The Relation of Mathematics to Physics
4. 3 The Great Conservation Principles
5. 4 Symmetry in Physical Law
6. 5 The Distinction of Past and Future
7. 6 Probability and Uncertainty – the Quantum Mechanical view of Nature
8. 7 Seeking New Laws

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