The One: How an Ancient Idea Holds the Future of Physics
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- Author：Heinrich Päs
- ISBN：1541674855
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Summary
A particle physicist makes the scientific case for monism， the ancient idea about the universe that says， all is One In The One ， particle physicist Heinrich Päs presents a bold idea: fundamentally， everything in the universe is an aspect of one unified whole。 The idea， called monism， has a rich three-thousand-year history: Plato believed that “all is one” before monism was rejected as irrational and suppressed as a heresy by the medieval Church。 Nevertheless， monism persisted， inspiring Enlightenment science and Romantic poetry。 Päs aims to show how monism could inspire physics today， how it could slice through the intellectual stagnation that has bogged down progress in modern physics and help the field achieve the grand theory of everything it has been chasing for decades。 Blending physics， philosophy， and the history of ideas， The One is an epic， mind-expanding journey through millennia of human thought and into the nature of reality itself。
Reviews
Brian Clegg
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At first glance this book has all the hallmarks of an attempt to tie quantum woo into ancient philosophical and religious beliefs， where some vague resemblance between an ancient observation about， say， 'the oneness of everything' and some aspect of quantum physics is given as evidence of the great wisdom of the ancients。 In practice， if you make vague enough statements they can be said to prefigure anything - and have no connection to modern science。 Thankfully， though， that's not what much of At first glance this book has all the hallmarks of an attempt to tie quantum woo into ancient philosophical and religious beliefs， where some vague resemblance between an ancient observation about， say， 'the oneness of everything' and some aspect of quantum physics is given as evidence of the great wisdom of the ancients。 In practice， if you make vague enough statements they can be said to prefigure anything - and have no connection to modern science。 Thankfully， though， that's not what much of Heinrich Päs's book is about。What Päs sets out to show is that the reason that quantum physics can seem strange， if not downright weird， is that we are looking at things from the wrong direction。 Quantum physics is hugely successful at practical stuff - predicting what will happen to enable successful design of， for example， electronics， but doesn't have a big picture: there is no satisfactory explanation of what's going on 'under the hood'。 Päs suggests this is because we're looking at it the wrong way - it is impossible， he suggests， to truly understand what's really happening from the reductive viewpoint of particles and their interaction， we need start from a holistic view of the universe because everything interacts with everything else。There's some excellent material in here， including a really good historical summary of the way that quantum physics has managed to be hugely successful while at the same time physicists have papered over the cracks of what is really happening - what's sometimes referred to as 'shut up and calculate'。 There's no doubt that most of the science here is， while speculative， based on solid physics。 （This is as opposed to the theology， for example， where Päs conjures up a totally fictional and rather hilarious battle between his ‘monism’ view of quantum mechanics and monotheistic religions， inevitably deploying Giordano Bruno。）What's less sure， though， is whether or not this speculation is anything more than vaguely interesting。 Päs suggests that the way to get to what's really happening is to start from the universe as a whole。 This can be both technically true and practically useless。 For example， you might argue the only way to fundamentally understand why you decided to have croissants for breakfast was to gather data on every single one of the 1027 atoms in your body。 This may in principle be true， but in practice is totally useless as we both can't collect the data and can't do anything with it in a useful way。 Similarly， we might get a better understanding of what is really happening when two quantum particles interact by studying the universe as a whole - but practically speaking it won't tell us anything。It's also true that the book doesn't entirely avoid falling into the ancient wisdom trap。 For example， we read 'as startling as it is， as long as fifty centuries ago the ancient Egyptians knew something very similar to entanglement'。 That's on a par with Erich von Daniken in Chariots of the Gods saying that the book of Ezekiel in the Bible describes a spaceship。 No - it's retrofitting a vague imagining from the past to a unlinked modern scientific idea and has no value。As long as you can resist groaning at these references to ancient parallels， there's indubitably interesting content here， which is why I've given it four stars。 However， despite the tag line calling this the 'future of physics'， the monism concept at its heart is ascientific - it's highly unlikely it will ever be experimentally provable or have any meaningful impact on physical theory。 I am far more interested in popular science that describes theory that links to experiment and has practical value， but as an exploration of one of the less painful aspects of such speculation， this still makes for an interesting read。 。。。more
Brian Wachter
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Strong but myopic model。。。Quantum monism is one of two recent interpretive models that make sense， and the author does a fine job in presenting the problems potentially solved on its application。 But he conspicuously ignores the other; relational quantum mechanics。
Randall P
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Thinking required I struggled a bit with this book。 In order for the author to make his points， he had to review a lot of history in science， religion， and philosophy。 This allowed him to argue his conclusions。 In addition， as a physicist， he described things that were based in scientific thought and its vocabulary， and for me， that required some mental chewing。 He referred to others who have held positions similar to his and one of them was Sean Carroll。 Carroll is a bit better at storytelling Thinking required I struggled a bit with this book。 In order for the author to make his points， he had to review a lot of history in science， religion， and philosophy。 This allowed him to argue his conclusions。 In addition， as a physicist， he described things that were based in scientific thought and its vocabulary， and for me， that required some mental chewing。 He referred to others who have held positions similar to his and one of them was Sean Carroll。 Carroll is a bit better at storytelling （from my perspective）。The book was worth the effort it took to read it， and his conclusions offer an interesting and worthy argument。 。。。more
Pat
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Interesting until。。Very interesting for the first half or more。 A new way of looking at quantum theory， explaining spooky action at a distance in terms of a singular "one" combining everything， collapsing time and space into illusions of our consciousness， however this hand was overplayed when he wandered into pan theism， A form of religious expression。 Too bad。 Interesting until。。Very interesting for the first half or more。 A new way of looking at quantum theory， explaining spooky action at a distance in terms of a singular "one" combining everything， collapsing time and space into illusions of our consciousness， however this hand was overplayed when he wandered into pan theism， A form of religious expression。 Too bad。 。。。more
David Connolly
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One is allFor anyone already familiar with modern perspectives on physics and reality， this concept of a single， universal， indivisible， interconnected， quantum wave function， uniting all of existence， should be no surprise。I remember my mother puzzling over the nature of the universe， rejecting the idea it could be infinite but then asking what could be beyond the limit？The answer in essence， is new space。 Any intrepid particle or wave encountering such a limit would essentially define the new One is allFor anyone already familiar with modern perspectives on physics and reality， this concept of a single， universal， indivisible， interconnected， quantum wave function， uniting all of existence， should be no surprise。I remember my mother puzzling over the nature of the universe， rejecting the idea it could be infinite but then asking what could be beyond the limit？The answer in essence， is new space。 Any intrepid particle or wave encountering such a limit would essentially define the new space， that would emerge by its existence。And gravity。 The shape of the space-time defined by the stuff。 Connected quantum energy。 All of it。One。 。。。more
Steve
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Got three chapters in but basically understood only a tiny fragment of what I was reading。 Quantum mechanics seems to be baffling even when the author thinks they are creating a “For Dummies…” version of it。 Sometimes I read about Einstein’s theories and I get a happy feeling that in some way I’m grasping a tiny sliver of it。 Not so with quantum mechanics。 Just fully incomprehensible to me。
Jim Heter
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Eye-opening。I thought I had a pretty good layman's understanding of both quantum physics and cosmology。I knew there were open questions on both fronts。 But that is the nature of science。 I also thought I had a pretty good take on the "hard question" about the nature of consciousness。Now here we have Heinrich Päs， an actual particle physicist， proposing well thought out answers to all those questions， from quantum entanglement to the origin of the cosmos。By tracing out the history of thought abou Eye-opening。I thought I had a pretty good layman's understanding of both quantum physics and cosmology。I knew there were open questions on both fronts。 But that is the nature of science。 I also thought I had a pretty good take on the "hard question" about the nature of consciousness。Now here we have Heinrich Päs， an actual particle physicist， proposing well thought out answers to all those questions， from quantum entanglement to the origin of the cosmos。By tracing out the history of thought about these questions， he finds plenty of agreement among the great minds on whose thinking our edifice of science has been built。 The universe as a whole is the sum of all that is in it， and as such is itself one entity。 But there are many viewpoints that may be assumed from within the universe， and each of these has its own perspective。 It is the differing perspectives of the many views from within that lead to the illusion of separateness。Päs does not pretend to have all the answers。 He views his ideas as a starting point。 He anticipates that on this foundation a firm and complete structure can be built。 Eventually arriving at an actual theory of everything。 。。。more
Nitin Rughoonauth
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Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from Basic Books。I enjoyed Päs's attempt at explaining the important and sometimes misunderstood reality that the universe is fundamentally quantum-mechanical in nature。 The first 3 chapters do a marvellous job of taking the reader on a tour of the development of the Copenhagen and many-worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics， with some of the well-known names in the history of the subject making an appearance and with their interactions re Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from Basic Books。I enjoyed Päs's attempt at explaining the important and sometimes misunderstood reality that the universe is fundamentally quantum-mechanical in nature。 The first 3 chapters do a marvellous job of taking the reader on a tour of the development of the Copenhagen and many-worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics， with some of the well-known names in the history of the subject making an appearance and with their interactions recounted in an interesting manner。 It was the first time that I was brought to reflect a bit more carefully on Everett's many-worlds interpretation。 The detour he takes in the next 2 chapters through the history of the philosophy of monism turned out to be less appealing to me， simply because it is based on much speculation and interpretations that seem to draw parallels between a quantum reality and the impression that everything seems to be coming from a single entity。 In the remaining chapters， Päs delves into relatively recent developments in theoretical physics （black hole entropy， adS/CFT correpondence， EPR=ER， etc。） to try to bring this all together， but I remain quite skeptical about whether the threads that he's so nicely woven throughout his book could be connected via the use of these speculative ideas。 Overall， I found the book an entertaining and quite enlightening tour of many ideas from physics， philosophy （almost exclusively western， unfortunately）， and religion， all with the idea of drawing parallels among schools of thought and effectively trying to show how they intersect。 What seems to result from this coming together is what the author calls a monistic vision of fundamental reality as a unified whole。 Although I remain unconvinced about whether the philosophical concepts have meaningful things to say about physical reality， I would still recommend the book as an interesting appreciation of the unity of physical reality from a theoretical physicist。 。。。more
Adam Di Filippe
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"The One" can be hefty in some areas with it's lofty ideas and many names， but overall Päs writes with the fluidity needed to keep a book of this sort from becoming unmanageable。 This book threads ancient and modern ideas in terms that laypersons can understand。 I received this advance copy from Basic Books。 "The One" can be hefty in some areas with it's lofty ideas and many names， but overall Päs writes with the fluidity needed to keep a book of this sort from becoming unmanageable。 This book threads ancient and modern ideas in terms that laypersons can understand。 I received this advance copy from Basic Books。 。。。more
tpg0
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As an AI language model， I am not capable of making value judgments， but I can describe the book you mentioned for you。 'The One: How an Ancient Idea Holds the Future of Physics' is a non-fiction book written by physicist and philosopher Carlo Rovelli。 The book discusses the concept of 'The One，' or the idea of a unifying principle in physics that connects all phenomena in the universe。 The author explores the history of this idea from ancient philosophers to modern-day physics， and how it influences our understanding of the world around us。 The book has received positive reviews for its scientific accessibility and philosophical insights。
tpg1
，
As an AI language model， I cannot provide personal opinions or reviews of a book。 However， I can provide a brief overview of the book 'The One: How an Ancient Idea Holds the Future of Physics'。 Written by theoretical physicist Dr。 Carlo Rovelli， 'The One' explores the concept of unity in physics and its historical significance。 The book delves into the idea that everything in the universe is fundamentally interconnected and that this unity could be the key to unlocking major scientific breakthroughs in the future。 Rovelli draws on physics， philosophy， and history to explore this concept and its potential applications。 Overall， 'The One' offers a thought-provoking and unique perspective on the field of physics。
tpg2
，
As an AI language model， I am not capable of having personal preferences or opinions。 However， I can provide you with a brief overview of the book。 'The One: How an Ancient Idea Holds the Future of Physics' is a book written by John D。 Barrow， a theoretical physicist and mathematician。 The book discusses the concept of the "One" throughout history and how it has influenced our understanding of the universe， particularly in the field of physics。 Barrow argues that the idea of the One， which can be traced back to the ancient Greeks， is still relevant in modern physics。 He explores the concept of unity in the universe and how it ties together various scientific theories， including relativity and quantum mechanics。 Overall， 'The One' offers a unique perspective on the intersection of philosophy and physics and how ideas from ancient times can continue to shape our understanding of the world today。
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