A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down

Laughlin, Robert

ISBN 10: 0465038298 / ISBN 13: 9780465038299

Published by Basic Books, 2006

About this Item

2006. New Ed. Paperback. A Different Universe is a truly mind-bending book that shows us why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change. Num Pages: 272 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: PDZ; PH. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 203 x 135 x 20. Weight in Grams: 320. Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down. 272 pages, Illustrations. Takes us into a universe where the vacuum of space has to be considered a kind of solid matter, where sound has quantized particles just like those of light, where there are many phases of matter, and where metal resembles a liquid while superfluid helium is more like a solid. This book shows readers a mysterious world. Cateogry: (G) General (US: Trade). BIC Classification: PDZ; PH. Dimension: 203 x 135 x 20. Weight: 264. . . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780465038299

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465038298
• ISBN 13: 9780465038299
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In this age of superstring theories and Big Bang cosmology, we're used to thinking of the unknown as impossibly distant from our everyday lives. But in A Different Universe , Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin argues that the scientific frontier is right under our fingers. Instead of looking for ultimate theories, Laughlin considers the world of emergent properties-meaning the properties, such as the hardness and shape of a crystal, that result from the organization of large numbers of atoms. Laughlin shows us how the most fundamental laws of physics are in fact emergent. A Different Universe is a truly mind-bending book that shows us why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change.

About the Author

Robert Laughlin is the Robert M. and Anne Bass Professor of Physics at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1985. In 1998 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the fractional quantum Hall effect. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He lives in Palo Alto, California.