The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics

Description

'This is a book about wizardry. It will reveal the secrets of the wizard's art, and how you, too, can learn to follow them. It is a history of magic' Condensed matter physics is what happens when atoms cluster together to make something of a size we can understand - something like a car, say, rather than a galaxy. It's what makes things hover in mid-air (magnetic levitation) or crystals glow (thermoluminescence). It's also what we mean by magick. Join Felix Flicker on an empirical adventure in condensed matter physics, the scientific mechanism behind the mysteries of alchemy, transmogrification, and much more. This is the one-stop guide on how to harness the enigmatic workings of the natural world to become a thoroughly modern wizard. From the laws of thermodynamics to the seven bridges of Konigsberg, The Magick of Matter is a journey of discovery which will upend everything you think you know about witchcraft, wizardry, and condensed matter physics.

Felix Flicker lectures at the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. Formerly the Astor Junior Research Fellow of Physics at New College Oxford and a Lindemann Trust Fellow at U.C. Berkeley, he holds a masters in Theoretical Physics from the Perimeter Institute and a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from the University of Bristol. He is also the former British Champion of Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling).

'Playful, profound and penetrating: an exhilarating gallop through the mystical world of matter' - Charles Foster, author 'The Magick of Matter is a fascinating, enlightening, and altogether delightful book. Once you fall under its spell, you will find it hard to put it down.' - Fritjof Capra, author 'A must-read for anyone wanting to understand how the spells of physics have transformed our world. Felix Flicker not only sees the magic in the ordinary but can explain the extraordinariness of magic too' - Femi Fadugba, author 'EXTRACT: This is a book about wizardry. It will reveal the secrets of the wizard's art, and how you, too, can learn to follow them. It is a history of magic. How, by a process of observing the world, wizards deduced the spells they cast, and how modern wizards continue to develop new magic to transform the world before our very eyes.' - The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics