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lbrex 's review for:
Reality is Not What it Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
by Carlo Rovelli
From what I can tell as someone in the humanities, this book does a very good job explaining quantum mechanics, Einstein's theory of general relativity, and the idea of quantum gravity. The books is concise and clear in many instances, which I appreciated. Many of the chapters would be useful if assigned along with fiction in a science fiction course. Two things, however, might be improved. First, the discussion of the shape of the universe and the 3-sphere was inadequate and very hard to follow. Maybe I don't know enough about topology? Anyone have a recommendation for a good explanation of this? Either way, Rovelli or his translator could have worked on this section. Second, the book contains a few chapters that involve a lot of pontificating about religion--both in terms of the ways that the historical development of Christianity downplayed important (and accurate!) developments in physics and the way that Christianity has given us the wrong impression of the universe. While I would appreciate a book that considers that question, it doesn't seem to be the purpose of _Reality is Not What it Seems_ and feels too polemical for the kind of work that Rovelli is doing in other chapters. Overall, though, this is a good source for the layperson who want to learn more about physics.