Longing for the Harmonies

Themes and Variations from Modern Physics

By: Frank Wilczek, Betsy Devine

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Paperback | 8 January 2010 | Edition Number 1

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Devoted to sharing their own delight and awe before the fundamental mysteries of the cosmos, Frank Wilczek (winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics) and science writer Betsy Devine also have a serious purpose: to reveal to the lay reader how a heightened perception can respond to timeless themes of the physical universe. For example, they show that even the most exotic theories always confirm that physical laws are precisely the same throughout the universe, and they explain how we have learned that the most massive molten stars and the tiniest frozen particles are in physical harmony. In their descriptions of the workings of the half-known universe, Wilczek and Devine bring all of us face to face with the beauty of eternal order and the inevitability of rational ends and beginnings.

Industry Reviews

From MacArthur fellowship-winner/physicist Wilczek and coauthor Devine, an uncommon and uncommonly good exposition of contemporary quantum physics. The authors use music as a metaphor, elaborating numerous themes and variations that liken the vibrations of elementary matter to strings and sounding boards. The metaphor also recalls the work of Pythagoras and the elevation of number (and hence mathematics) as the key to understanding nature. These historical and contemporary modes help clarify the mysteries at the heart of quantum mechanics: the dual nature of photons, electrons, and other fundamental units as waves and particles. This fresh approach to themes that have inspired dozens of popularizations in recent years takes on a distinctly personal cast as Wilzcek describes his odyssey in developing "asymptomatically free theories" through the application of certain mathematical constructs. In essence, the theory explains why the strong force, which binds protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, seems opposed to common sense: The force is weak when the particles are close, growing stronger as the particles move farther apart. Finally, Wilzcek's and Devine's vision of themes and harmonies inevitably lead them from the infinitesimally small to the universe itself, making the leap from atoms to galaxies, from accelerator collisions to the Big Bang. Not all of this is easy-going; one could wish for a little more mathematical explanation in terms, say, of the group theory behavior of quarks. But there are plenty of moments of enlightenment to cheer lay readers who want yet another version - or vision - of ultimate reality. (Kirkus Reviews)

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Non-Fiction Science Science in General Arts & Entertainment Music Theory of Music & Musicology Physics Applied Physics Astrophysics

Introduction
Acknowledgments
Reply to Keats (on the Rainbow)	p. 3
The Nature of Color: We Are All Color-Blind	p. 6
Spectra: Music of the Spheres	p. 12
Earth-Stuff and Star-Stuff	p. 16
Rhapsody on N (the World Between)	p. 20
Radical Conservatism	p. 25
The Cosmic Order of Galaxies	p. 29
Doppler Shift	p. 34
Expansion and Uniformity	p. 38
Inferno and Afterglow	p. 41
Three Ages	p. 49
Treiman's Theorem	p. 55
New Star	p. 58
The Weak Interaction	p. 62
Ego and Survival	p. 71
Levels of Equilibrium	p. 75
Universal Chemistry (or, the Battle Between Entropy and Energy)	p. 78
Cooking with Gobar (or, the Energy Strikes Back)	p. 84
Explosions and Fluorescence (or, Entropy's Revenge)	p. 89
In the First Circle	p. 99
Light as Waves	p. 102
Light as Lumps	p. 109
Laves	p. 113
Branching Worlds	p. 119
Frustration and Uncertainty	p. 130
A Quantum Lottery	p. 133
Back to Pythagoras	p. 137
The Indistinguishable	p. 143
Fields	p. 155
Maxwell Redux	p. 165
The Search for Depth	p. 173
Antimatter	p. 177
Quarks: a Peculiar Chemistry	p. 189
Colour	p. 196
Gluons	p. 200
How Asymptotic Freedom Discovered Me	p. 207
Asymptotic Freedom	p. 218
In Praise of Qcd	p. 226
Relative and Absolute	p. 231
Interchangeable Worlds	p. 235
More Perfect Worlds	p. 240
A Suggested Unity	p. 247
Coda: About the Table	p. 259
Salt Mine	p. 261
A Little Matter	p. 265
Genesis Machines	p. 279
Horizons	p. 285
Inflation	p. 290
No Firm Foundation	p. 303
Families	p. 306
Dark Matter	p. 315
Hidden Harmonies	p. 335
Notes	p. 343
Index	p. 349
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Longing for the Harmonies

Themes and Variations from Modern Physics

Industry Reviews

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How to return your order

Defective items

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