A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
Ratings12
Average rating3.7
From renowned physicist and creator of the YouTube series “Science without the Gobbledygook,” a book that takes a no-nonsense approach to life’s biggest questions, and wrestles with what physics really says about the human condition.
Not only can we not currently explain the origin of the universe, it is questionable we will ever be able to explain it. The notion that there are universes within particles, or that particles are conscious, is ascientific, as is the hypothesis that our universe is a computer simulation. On the other hand, the idea that the universe itself is conscious is difficult to rule out entirely.
According to Sabine Hossenfelder, it is not a coincidence that quantum entanglement and vacuum energy have become the go-to explanations of alternative healers, or that people believe their deceased grandmother is still alive because of quantum mechanics. Science and religion have the same roots, and they still tackle some of the same Where do we come from? Where do we go to? How much can we know? The area of science that is closest to answering these questions is physics. Over the last century, physicists have learned a lot about which spiritual ideas are still compatible with the laws of nature. Not always, though, have they stayed on the scientific side of the debate.
In this lively, thought-provoking book, Hossenfelder takes on the biggest questions in Does the past still exist? Do particles think? Was the universe made for us? Has physics ruled out free will? Will we ever have a theory of everything? She lays out how far physicists are on the way to answering these questions, where the current limits are, and what questions might well remain unanswerable forever. Her book offers a no-nonsense yet entertaining take on some of the toughest riddles in existence, and will give the reader a solid grasp on what we know—and what we don’t know.
Reviews with the most likes.
I enjoyed the topics that are raised by the author in this book. They are indeed existential questions; some of them are also questioned by me, usually at 2 AM, contemplating the meaning of life :') ...sorry, I got distracted.
Some chapters are more interesting than others, so it has ups and downs throughout the book. Not all the topics (chapters) are ended up with existential crises. The author actually answers and explains it very well with our current understanding of physics. A bit anti-climatic, I suppose, but that is better than exaggerated mumbo-jumbo pseudoscience.
I love the way the author writes the book. To the point and straightforward. Her mindset is always scientifically oriented, but it doesn't make her hostile to religious points of few. I was impressed when she said that “God hypothesis is not wrong, it is just a scientific, just like unobservable multiverse theory (at least for the time being).” Well, that is a non-mainstream opinion compared to most authors of popular science books, ...which is great!