Seeking ultimates: an intuitive guide to physics

Peter T. Landsberg9780750306577, 0750306572

Seeking Ultimates takes us on a journey which explores the limits of our scientific knowledge with an emphasis on the gaps which are left. The book starts with everyday concepts such as temperature, and proceeds to energy, the Periodic Table and then to more advanced ideas. Peter Landsberg examines the nature of time and entropy, chaos, the quantum theory, cosmology and some aspects of mathematics, confirming that our understanding is necessarily incomplete. Using references to historical figures in science and thought-provoking illustration, Seeking Ultimates will encourage you to consider your scientific knowledge in a new light. You will be able to reassess your belief in ‘truths’ as presented for example by mathematical theorems and to reconsider philosophical issues of theology and happiness. A comprehensive glossary explains in clear language technical terms so that non-scientists can enjoy the text.
Sir Hermann Bondi of Cambridge University says “… it is splendid to see the whole field of physics presented in one short volume by an author knowledgeable about it all. What makes it particularly attractive is that the historical background is described showing the persons and events through which we came to our current understanding. And all this done without mathematics! Thinking is certainly required, but in a pleasurable … way.”