1,329 research outputs found
Reality is not what it seems: the journey to quantum gravity
No full textFrom the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new book about the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries. From Aristotle to Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday to the Higgs boson, he takes us on a wondrous journey to show us that beyond our ever-changing idea of reality is a whole new world that has yet to be discovered
Lettore, fratello : La fisica narrata da Carlo Rovelli
No full textAlta divulgazione e tecniche narrative nei testi recenti del fisico teorico Carlo Rovelli, un autore che ha inciso significativamente nel panorama editoriale degli ultimi anni. Un'idea di scienza in rapporto alle creazioni artistiche
General Relativity: The Essentials
No full textInternational audienceIn this short book, renowned theoretical physicist and author Carlo Rovelli gives a straightforward introduction to Einstein's General Relativity, our current theory of gravitation. Focusing on conceptual clarity, he derives all the basic results in the simplest way, taking care to explain the physical, philosophical and mathematical ideas at the heart of “the most beautiful of all scientific theories”. Some of the main applications of General Relativity are also explored, for example, black holes, gravitational waves and cosmology, and the book concludes with a brief introduction to quantum gravity. Written by an author well known for the clarity of his presentation of scientific ideas, this concise book will appeal to university students looking to improve their understanding of the principal concepts, as well as science-literate readers who are curious about the real theory of General Relativity, at a level beyond a popular science treatment
The order of time
No full textFrom the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a concise, elegant exploration of time.Why do we remember the past and not the future? What does it mean for time to "flow"? Do we exist in time or does time exist in us? In lyric, accessible prose, Carlo Rovelli invites us to consider questions about the nature of time that continue to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike.For most readers this is unfamiliar terrain. We all experience time, but the more scientists learn about it, the more mysterious it remains. We think of it as uniform and universal, moving steadily from past to future, measured by clocks. Rovelli tears down these assumptions one by one, revealing a strange universe where at the most fundamental level time disappears. He explains how the theory of quantum gravity attempts to understand and give meaning to the resulting extreme landscape of this timeless world. Weaving together ideas from philosophy, science and literature, he suggests that our perception of the flow of time depends on our perspective, better understood starting from the structure of our brain and emotions than from the physical universe.Already a bestseller in Italy, and written with the poetic vitality that made Seven Brief Lessons on Physics so appealing, The Order of Time offers a profoundly intelligent, culturally rich, novel appreciation of the mysteries of time
Evolution and Revolution: The Dynamics of Corruption
No full textCristina Bicchieri and Carlo Rovelli. Evolution and Revolution: The Dynamics of Corruption
Book review: The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
No full textCarlo Rovelli’s new book covers a plethora of different perspectives on time. Included are scientific, philosophical, mundane, historical and cultural viewpoints. The Order of Time is written in an enthusiastic, lively manner. Rovelli wrote the original version in Italian, and it was translated to English by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre
Temps et espace: de l'antiquité à nos jours
No full textDes visions du cosmos dans la Grèce ancienne aux théories récentes sur la gravité quantique, Carlo Rovelli explore les métamorphoses de la notion d'espace et de temps. Une approche lumineuse de l'histoire des sciences par le biais de ces "coordonnées fondamentales de notre description du monde". Au terme de ce voyage, qui fait la part belle aux recherches actuelles, se dessine un Univers fascinant fait de " grains d'espace", où le temps pourrait n'être qu'un effet de notre ignorance des lois du monde
Métaphoriser la physique : autour du bestseller de Carlo Rovelli en anglais et français
No full textInternational audienceMétaphoriser la physique : autour du bestseller de Carlo Rovelli en anglais et françai
The first scientist: Anaximander and his legacy
No full textCarlo Rovelli, a leading theoretical physicist, uses the figure of Anaximander as the starting point for an examination of scientific thinking itself: its limits, its strengths, its benefits to humankind, and its controversial relationship with religion. Anaximander, the sixth-century BC Greek philosopher, is often called the first scientist because he was the first to explain that order in the world was due to natural forces, not supernatural ones. He is the first person known to rnunderstand that the Earth floats in space; to believe that the sun, the moon, and the stars rotate around it--seven centuries before Ptolemy; to argue that all animals came from the sea and evolved; and to posit that universal laws rncontrol all change in the world. Anaximander taught Pythagoras, who would build on Anaximander's scientific theories by applying mathematical laws to natural phenomena. rnrnIn the award-winning Anaximander and the Birth of Scientific Thought, Rovelli restores Anaximander to his place in the history of science by carefully reconstructing his theories from what is known to us and examining them in rntheir historical and philosophical contexts. Rovelli demonstrates that Anaximander's discoveries and theories were decisive influences, putting Western culture on its path toward a scientific revolution. Developing this connection, rnRovelli redefines science as a continuous redrawing of our conceptual image of the world. He concludes that scientific thinking--the legacy of Anaximander--is only reliable when it constantly tests the limits of our current rnknowledge
Quantum mechanics and Alexander Bogdanov's worldview: A conversation
No full textInternational audienceAbstract This paper is a transcript of the dialogue between Carlo Rovelli and Mike Jackson after Rovelli's delivery of the 2021 Annual Mike Jackson Lecture, hosted by the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull. The dialogue covers a range of topics, including how Rovelli developed a sense of curiosity in his youth; the connection between his interests in science and politics; the pathology of disciplinary divisions in academia; the value of Bogdanov's transdisciplinarity; Rovelli's theory of quantum gravity; the notions of granularity, indeterminism and relationality underpinning quantum mechanics; the role of the observer; mistaken uses of quantum mechanics; relational and network views of the world; how the discipline of Physics is becoming more systemic; the concept of levels of analysis in relation to nature and human inquiry; and the future for humanity
- …
