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The cover of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli, 2014

A physicist's compact tour of the ideas that reshaped our picture of reality, from Einstein's curved spacetime to quantum mechanics, black holes, and the still unsolved puzzle of time itself.

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8 parts, about 20 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Explains general relativity through one idea, that the gravitational field is space itself, and the predictions that followed
  • Sketches loop quantum gravity, where space comes in grains, time vanishes from the equations and the Big Bang may be a bounce
  • Ends on human questions: whether we are free, what it means to know, and how we belong to nature

Who it is for

  • Readers with no science background who want the big ideas
  • Curious readers who want modern physics in a short book
  • Readers who enjoy philosophy alongside science

What the summary covers

  1. Why these lessons1 min
  2. The most beautiful of theories3 min
  3. Quanta3 min
  4. The architecture of the cosmos2 min
  5. Particles2 min
  6. Grains of space3 min
  7. Probability, time, and the heat of black holes3 min
  8. Ourselves3 min

Recommended by

  • Alan AldaAmerican actor and filmmaker
    Plain words can be utterly beautiful when they tell a thrilling story. Carlo Rovelli’s words take us on a great adventure as the human mind reaches out to understand the universe. The book is a joy.
  • Philip PullmanEnglish author of His Dark Materials
    Wonderfully clear and vivid. Carlo Rovelli manages to convey the mystery of very large things and very small things with brilliant effect.
  • Lee SmolinTheoretical physicist at the Perimeter Institute
    This brief and beautiful introduction to a few key discoveries of modern physics reminds us that the roots of science are curiosity and wonder.
  • Paolo GiordanoItalian novelist with a PhD in physics
    Rovelli has found a new way to talk about science, simple and keen. His seven lessons are as graceful, terse and dreamy as only poetry can sometimes be.
  • Nick HarkawayBritish novelist
    No one should hold office unless they have read Carlo Rovelli’s Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
  • Jenann IsmaelPhilosopher of physics
    This is a beautiful and moving book that will make you see the world with different eyes. It is soulfully human and yet full of the wonder of the natural universe.

About the author

  • Carlo RovelliItalian theoretical physicist and writer
    • Born in Verona, Italy, on 3 May 1956.
    • Took a degree in physics at the University of Bologna in 1981 and a PhD at the University of Padova in 1986.
    • Was on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh from 1990 to 2000.
    • Has been a professor at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Aix Marseille University in France since 2000.
    • With Lee Smolin and Abhay Ashtekar, introduced loop quantum gravity in 1988.
    • Writes for Italian newspapers, including the cultural supplements of Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore and La Repubblica.
    • Named among the 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine and among the world's top 50 thinkers by Prospect magazine.

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