What is our universe made of? How did it get here, and how will it end? Why are many scientists currently so excited about these questions? And why is everybody else so scared of the one subject physics that promises to give us all the answers?
This book is here to help. Its main aim is to explain a remarkable new idea that has arisen in recent years, that tells us all of our current theories of nature are much more closely related than previously thought possible. It will tell you where these theories come from, why understanding them has traditionally been so difficult, and about the tantalising new hints that our understanding of nature is about to significantly change.
More than this, the book will explain quite why it is so important that more people join the greatest pursuit of knowledge that our species has ever seen. Practical advice is given on how to become a scientist, so that people from all backgrounds may be inspired to become the leading thinkers of the future.
Contents:
Preface
About the Author
Prologue
Twinkle Twinkle
The Most Obvious Things Aren't True
The Light of the Charge Brigade
Nothing Is Absolute
Little by Little
Everything Is Made of Fields
A Weighty Subject
Intermission
When Particles Collide
The Double Copy: Gravity from Gluons
The Square Root of a Black Hole and Other Curiosities
The Double Copy in the Sky
Where Next?
How to Become a Scientist
Epilogue
Index
Readership: This book is suitable for all members of the general public interested in science. It will be particularly useful for teenagers at secondary or high school level considering a career in science, as well as their parents and teachers. Key Features:
This is a popular science book on very new and exciting research results, that have garnered significant global attention
Provides a motivational chapter on why physics has a diversity problem, and what can be done about it
Explains all our current theories of the universe plus our new results in accessible terms
Provides a final chapter on how to pursue a scientific career, giving the kind of advice that is missing in all popular science books aimed at high school students