Helgoland: The Sunday Times bestseller

Description

The Number One bestselling author of The Order of Time is back with a stunning book about the enigma of quantum physics In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, retreated to a small, treeless island in the North Sea called Helgoland. It was there that he came up with one of the most transformative scientific concepts- quantum theory. Almost a century later, quantum physics has given us many startling ideas - ghost waves, distant objects that seem magically connected to each other, cats that are both dead and alive. At the same time, countless experiments have led to practical applications that shape our daily lives. Today our understanding of the world around us is based on this theory. And yet it is still profoundly mysterious. In this enchanting book, Carlo Rovelli, one of our most celebrated scientists, tells the extraordinary story of quantum physics and reveals its deep meaning- a world made of substances is replaced by a world made of relations, each particle responding to another in a never ending game of mirrors. Shifting our perspective once again, Rovelli takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better understand our place in it.

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique theorique in Marseille, France. His books Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Helgoland, Reality Is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time are international bestsellers which have been translated into forty-three languages.

Another triumph by quantum physicist Rovelli, who makes his own field of science approachable without losing a sense of authority. He mixes history with contemporary research to describe a "relational" universe in which nothing is permanent or absolute and everything depends on interactions between objects. * Financial Times, Best Books of the Year * In this masterly work, Rovelli embraces and explores the mysteries and contradictions of quantum theory * The Times, Best Books of the Year * Carlo Rovelli takes on the mystery of quantum theory. He conjures a bewildering world, where objects are defined by whatever they interact with... * Guardian, Books of the Year * Popular science has rarely been so good * Prospect * Theoretical physics often feels rather mystical. This mind-bending, lively book by the bestselling physicist Carlo Rovelli reinforces that other-wordly feeling. . . unforgettable * The Times, Best Books to Read This Summer * Travelogue meets biography meets a masterful explanation of quantum theory in this warm and fascinating account * Guardian Summer Reads * A great tonic for long-isolated minds . . . a thrilling story, written with Rovelli's accustomed wit and panache. After reading him, you'll look at the grains of beach sand between your toes with an entirely new eye -- John Banville * Irish Independent * My other great love these days is for Carlo Rovelli, who is often called the poet of physics. He writes elegant, wondering, enlarging books on time and quantum theory, much in the spirit of a priest bringing the word of God to his congregation, and I've found it good for my soul to be confronted with how little I understand the world and everything in it -- Sarah Perry * Guardian * The greatest populariser of physics today. . . Rovelli's clarity of exposition would be enough to make the book a triumph. What elevates it even more is the deep humanity he brings to his subject . . . we are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical -- Julian Baggini * Financial Times * It is the genius of Carlo Rovelli - in my opinion the most poetic and lucid popular science writer since Richard Dawkins - to evoke the mystical aspect of physics. . . His new book, Helgoland is his most beautiful yet. . . leaves an unforgettable impression of its author as a man struggling at the furthest limits of human comprehension -- James Marriott * The Times * Another brilliant book by Rovelli, who is emerging as the most approachable yet authoritative contemporary writer about quantum physics. . . you'll have fun -- Clive Cookson * Financial Times Summer Books * Rovelli is a deep-thinking, restlessly inquiring spirit. . . His books continue a tradition of popular scientific writing from Galileo to Darwin that disappeared in the academic specialisations of the past century -- Ian Thomson * Observer * One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline... A momentous book -- John Banville * Wall Street Journal * If anyone can make sense of the topsy-turvy, counterintuitive world of quantum physics, it is Carlo Rovelli, the most poetically minded of today's science communicators * The Times * A remarkably wide-ranging new meditation on quantum theory. . . With the light touch of a skilled storyteller. . . Rovelli is not afraid to mix quantum physics and eastern philosophy -- Manjit Kumar * Guardian * Inspiring. . . Without mathematics or experiment, by page 81 your thoughts are at the frontier of quantum theory, and it's time for your second brain-cudgelling walk -- Alexander Masters * Spectator * A delight . . . it is a pleasure to travel in Rovelli's company * New Statesman * Explained with uncanny insight and lyrical grace * Time * Rovelli's is a new vision, one with a remarkable power in delivering new answers to old quantum riddles, and it is conveyed lucidly in this original and graceful book -- Jenann T. Ismael * TLS * Bracing and refreshing. . . Rovelli is offering a new way to understand not just the world but our place in it, too * NPR * Carlo Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator. . . What I love about his writing is that it always comes back to people -- people interacting with other people, who are interacting with their world. This is the place where science comes to life -- Neil Gaiman When life feels strange, Rovelli's books remind me that there is beauty in the strangeness -- Johny Pitts Rovelli is a brilliant and lucid teacher who uses his understanding of theoretical physics and the quantum world to talk about the complexity of our everyday reality -- Russell Brand Carlo Rovelli's imaginative rigour, his lively humour and his beautiful writing are inspiring -- Erica Wagner Rovelli opens windows onto the imagination for all of us -- Antony Gormley I always find with Carlo Rovelli's books that there are moments when you get a real hit of understanding -- a jigsaw in your mind that just falls into place -- Robin Ince Helgoland is a wonderful guide to the most extraordinary story in physics. It will reset your view of the universe -- Marcus du Sautoy The old, solid world, if you believed in it at all, breaks into a glorious shimmer of limitless potential -- Brian Morton * Tablet * Rovelli has an uncanny knack for instilling wonder and explaining complex theories in plain, entertaining ways * Irish Times * I'm keen for everyone to read Helgoland: a wonderfully lucid and poetic account of the foundations of quantum physics. It combines a compelling history with Rovelli's own intriguing - and for me very appealing - views about the basis of all things -- Anil Seth, author of Being You It was with great joy that I discovered and consumed Carlo Rovelli's latest offering. . . Helgoland hooked me so hard I read the entire book in one sitting. And then twice more -- Lisa Feldman Barrett * Chronicle of Higher Education *