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hilaritas 's review for:
Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Elusive Structure of the Universe and the Journey to Quantum Gravity
by Erica Segre, Simon Carnell, Carlo Rovelli
This is the most disappointing book I've read by Rovelli, largely because of an excess of polemics in place of science. Rovelli chews up a lot of pages telling boogeyman stories about those dark
days prior to the scientific revolution and waxing eloquent on science as the best tool for understanding the world. He argues that science is possessed of true humility (in contrast to religion). Regardless of the strengths of this position, here it's largely set against strawman arguments, and more damningly, it's boring and repetitive. There are better books about the philosophy of science and epistemology. And that paean here is just a filibuster to run out the clock on already short pages laying out the actual physics that is promised in the title.
The section where Rovelli actually describes quantum gravity is extraordinarily short, and frankly not all that clear in its details. From the 40,000 foot view, it sounds like a very satisfying resolution of the tensions between general relativity and quantum physics. But Rovelli barely acknowledges that his view is far from established in the experimental evidence, and that the question of its triumph over competing theories is still wide open. If this were the first book I'd read by Rovelli, it would probably be the last. Luckily, I've read and been more impressed by some of his other efforts. Don't start here if you're looking to explore his work.
days prior to the scientific revolution and waxing eloquent on science as the best tool for understanding the world. He argues that science is possessed of true humility (in contrast to religion). Regardless of the strengths of this position, here it's largely set against strawman arguments, and more damningly, it's boring and repetitive. There are better books about the philosophy of science and epistemology. And that paean here is just a filibuster to run out the clock on already short pages laying out the actual physics that is promised in the title.
The section where Rovelli actually describes quantum gravity is extraordinarily short, and frankly not all that clear in its details. From the 40,000 foot view, it sounds like a very satisfying resolution of the tensions between general relativity and quantum physics. But Rovelli barely acknowledges that his view is far from established in the experimental evidence, and that the question of its triumph over competing theories is still wide open. If this were the first book I'd read by Rovelli, it would probably be the last. Luckily, I've read and been more impressed by some of his other efforts. Don't start here if you're looking to explore his work.