[HN Gopher] A crash course on our boundlessly bizarre universe
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       A crash course on our boundlessly bizarre universe
        
       Author : Vigier
       Score  : 24 points
       Date   : 2021-08-19 04:43 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (theamericanscholar.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (theamericanscholar.org)
        
       | FridayoLeary wrote:
       | Nice font but it doesn't work.
        
       | ttonkytonk wrote:
       | Review of the book _Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum
       | Revolution_ by Carlo Rovelli.
       | 
       | According to the review the author proposes that there is no
       | essence to things but only relations, but doesn't explain his
       | theory completely.
        
         | JadeNB wrote:
         | > According to the review the author proposes that there is no
         | essence to things but only relations, but doesn't explain his
         | theory completely.
         | 
         | As someone who loves science popularisers and reads a lot of
         | them, that seems consistent with my experience of _The order of
         | time_ --which I couldn't even finish.
         | 
         | On the other hand, take my perspective with a grain of salt: I
         | was also very much turned off by Hawking and Mlodinow's _The
         | grand design_ , which I think is otherwise very well received.
         | I love Sean Carroll and Brian Greene as popularisers of what
         | can be _very_ inaccessible physics. (Oh, and it was a long time
         | ago, but I loved Lederman 's _The God particle_ , much as he
         | regretted his own naming later.)
        
         | noblethrasher wrote:
         | That's also the gist of the Wolfram Physics Project:
         | https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-h...
        
       | Magodo wrote:
       | It might be just me, but I think reading hard sci-fi is much more
       | educational and memorable, not to mention entertaining, than non
       | fiction
       | 
       | Spoilers for Three Body Problem: For instance, I can never forget
       | the way the Alcubierre drive is explained in the final book, or
       | the benefits of particle accelerator with the circumference of
       | the asteroid belt
        
         | iainmerrick wrote:
         | I'm sure you're not alone in that, but I recommend giving non-
         | fiction a chance too! There's some great stuff out there,
         | sometimes as entertaining and memorable as fiction.
         | 
         | Carlo Rovelli (whose new book is reviewed here) is well worth a
         | try; his writing is really poetic and striking.
         | 
         | Another really interesting kind of semi-fictionalised history I
         | recommend is Francis Spufford's _Red Plenty_.
        
         | JadeNB wrote:
         | > It might be just me, but I think reading hard sci-fi is much
         | more educational and memorable, not to mention entertaining,
         | than non fiction.
         | 
         | Memorable and entertaining seem very likely, but I think one
         | has to be _extremely_ careful with one 's sci-fi that what one
         | remembers is real science rather than just what makes for good
         | fiction--there's often a tension, and even a very
         | scientifically literate author can, and probably should, opt
         | for the one that makes for good fiction.
        
         | gmadsen wrote:
         | even hard sci-fi is going to make concessions for the sake of
         | the story. I really don't understand how something that has no
         | obligation to be factual can be more educational..
        
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