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mikusa 's review for:
Reality is Not What it Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
by Carlo Rovelli
I was very skeptical going into this that Loop Quantum Gravity could actually bridge the gap between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. And though I'm hardly qualified to evaluate whether or not that gap has been bridged, Rovelli presented a plausible and compelling case for the coherence of LQG in a field that for 80 years has valued the exotic over the intelligible. The current alternative, String Theory, suggests 10-26 dimensions for reality; LQG just the usual 3, or 4 if you consider time to be one. String Theory fiddles with infinities, an absurdity in reality; LQG needs no infinities. I'm not a believer yet, but I'm going to turn my chair Rovelli's way and grab some popcorn, because this could be good.
The book ends with a chapter beautifully written about the mysteries of discovery, of doubt, and progress, and gently but sagaciously warns against dogmatism and authoritarianism. I found it quite moving.
*Second reading
The second time through I still enjoyed this book a lot, especially Rovelli's eloquence, but I changed my rating from 5 stars to 4 because parts are unnecessarily opaque and cryptic (wtf are clouds of improbabilities but abstractions?). Still, there was so much in here that I'd forgotten, and the discussion on heat and information theory was articulate and, from my perspective and learnings over the last year, still relevant.
Here's to doubt and discovery.
The book ends with a chapter beautifully written about the mysteries of discovery, of doubt, and progress, and gently but sagaciously warns against dogmatism and authoritarianism. I found it quite moving.
*Second reading
The second time through I still enjoyed this book a lot, especially Rovelli's eloquence, but I changed my rating from 5 stars to 4 because parts are unnecessarily opaque and cryptic (wtf are clouds of improbabilities but abstractions?). Still, there was so much in here that I'd forgotten, and the discussion on heat and information theory was articulate and, from my perspective and learnings over the last year, still relevant.
Here's to doubt and discovery.