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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo…
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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (original 2014; edition 2016)

by Carlo Rovelli (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,365826,452 (3.72)75
Too brief introduction to some aspects of physics, my favorite parts were how heat and time are interrelated and the last section about the human mind and the probability that we as a species are doomed like all the other mammals that have marched to extinction before us. .


EDIT** reread
Spent the summer watching the World Science Festival on youtube and wanted a fast refresher of the most important topics in physics. Best part this time around was how our universe may have come from a bubble in another universe. ( )
  kevn57 | Dec 8, 2021 |
English (69)  Italian (7)  Dutch (3)  Catalan (1)  All languages (80)
Showing 1-25 of 69 (next | show all)
Thanks to my dear friend Jim who sent me this quick read. It's always good to be plunged into thought. Anyone who can attempt to explain what is essentially inexplicable (modern physics) deserves some accolades. To my mind the separation between my sense of reality and a universe that can only be explained by formulae is too wide to bridge. I could not understand why cold does not flow to heat in the way a wet blanket person quells the joy in room full joy. Therefore, I have trouble with the idea that time is heat. And speaking of 'ídeas', where do they come from and how can equations explain how an idea becomes a reality? My sense that physicists have lost the plot entirely is reinforced by this slim tome. ( )
  simonpockley | Feb 25, 2024 |
Not bad, but very high level and a bit light. ( )
  jvgravy | Nov 7, 2023 |
As the title suggests, a well written short review of contemporary physics. Well worth the read. ( )
  TomMcGreevy | Aug 31, 2023 |
Rovelli is a talented writer--or has a talented English translator, and these basic lectures on physics are engaging and the speculative content is well gauged. What isn't well-gauged is having the audiobook read by Rovelli. It takes a while to get use to his heavily accented English and his tendency to pronounce the "ed" on the end of words as a separate syllable. Still, it does give you a sense of the author's personality you would otherwise miss, and at less than two hours, you don't have to put up with it for too long. ( )
  datrappert | May 16, 2023 |
No more than a pamphlet - seven brief newspaper articles collected together - and thus extremely short, such that publishing it is a book is really a bit of a push. But very good for all that, and perhaps because of it. It's brevity is the real accomplishment, the quality of the writing is incidental, the lack of footnotes and sources inevitable. ( )
  Quickpint | Feb 5, 2023 |
Read Hawking instead. Same material mostly but Hawking goes into just a bit more detail. ( )
  jcvogan1 | Jan 22, 2023 |
Read second time, for book club. Still enjoyed. ( )
  steve02476 | Jan 3, 2023 |
Me gustó más el orden del tiempo. Temas interesantes ( )
  Alvaritogn | Jul 17, 2022 |
The acclaimed Rovelli- a theoretical physicist with a predilection for the loop quantum theory, an ambitious aim to combine general relativity and quantum mechanics, publishes the indubitably well-known, prominent book Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. Indisputably the shortest physics book at a paltry 80 pages, the reader desires to be accessible and indeed dives into particle theory, the Standard Model, and fundamental pillars of quantum mechanics well.

Nevertheless, the lessons focus on modern physics, with few background theories on the development and only a scanty note on how the 20th-century scientific theories differ from the Newtonian era. Various elements are superficial, including the third chapter being simplistic (and somehow the mere one to contrast to pre-Einstein physics), and the author's relentless penchant for the fact that time passes somewhat faster on hills than (despite failing to clarify that is a diminutive difference until the author's next book, The Order of Time, in which Rovelli once again reiterates this). The author's tone is vexatious, striving to combine somewhat philosophical theories into a decidedly short physics book, with a nebulous and relatively poor ending that does not seem to concentrate such a lengthy chapter compared to the scanty information in the rest of the book. Finally, the book is devoid of references, which could seem acceptable as Rovelli is a seasoned specialist, and the ideas explored are straightforward, notwithstanding, The Order of Time contains some, hence, it is further nebulous. In conclusion, a thoroughly serviceable book, but ultimately both enhanced and marred by its shortness. ( )
  BGADESYN | Apr 4, 2022 |
I'm writing this many books away from when I read this at the start of the year, but any time I can I'm going to say read Carlo Rovelli's works. Seven Brief Lessons of Physics is a much easier pick-up/set-down book than some of his others, but they're all wonderful gateways to expand your vantage on the wild ways in which the components of our world - and worlds beyond - work. Personal order is: The Order of Time, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Reality Is Not What It Seems, Helgoland. ( )
1 vote pearlsnapped | Feb 24, 2022 |
Because I listened to the audiobook, my attention kept going in and out. I'll probably have to read the book. ( )
  ennuiprayer | Jan 14, 2022 |
After reading the Hegoland book I went on a bit of a Carlo Rovelli spree. Like his other writings this subtly espouses his particular view of quantum mechanics, but is not force-feeding it. A bit short on rigor in my opinion, but not without it's good points. I would recommend to interested non-technical readers. ( )
  SteveGuth | Jan 14, 2022 |
Nothing new under the sun. This book is more or less a recapitulation of the big picture in science, which ends up focusing on the problem Mr. Rovelli's institute in Marseille is trying to solve. The author tried to be a little too touchy feely in the last chapter. By the end of the book I did not feel that I understood any more or learned something that I didn't know before I read the book. ( )
  Marietje.Halbertsma | Jan 9, 2022 |
Too brief introduction to some aspects of physics, my favorite parts were how heat and time are interrelated and the last section about the human mind and the probability that we as a species are doomed like all the other mammals that have marched to extinction before us. .


EDIT** reread
Spent the summer watching the World Science Festival on youtube and wanted a fast refresher of the most important topics in physics. Best part this time around was how our universe may have come from a bubble in another universe. ( )
  kevn57 | Dec 8, 2021 |
A theoretical physicist opens a window on to the great questions of the universe with this 96-page overview of modern physics. Rovelli’s keen insight and striking metaphors make this the best introduction to subjects including relativity, quantum mechanics, cosmology, elementary particles and entropy outside of a course in advanced physics.
  lubaba.hashmi | Oct 18, 2021 |
As the title says, this book is very brief - the first 6 lessons can be read in about 5 minutes each. They do a good job of explaining basic concepts of modern physics, especially quantum mechanics. But more than that, they do a good job of explaining why someone would care about physics - they convey the wonder and joy of exploring the basic mysteries of how the world works. The final essay is a deep exploration of what it means to be a human existing in a world where physics exists.

I didn't necessarily walk away from this book with a deeper understanding of physics than I had before (as someone who reads a lot of science fiction and general nerdy stuff), but I did enjoy reading it nonetheless - Rovelli's writing is very good, and there's a lot of food for thought here. ( )
  Gwendydd | Sep 29, 2021 |
"Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" is, as hinted at by the title, a VERY BRIEF review of several areas of scientific discoveries. Carlo Rovelli's descriptions are clear, but the coverage of each topic is short enough to allow a non-technical reader engaged, but only provides a somewhat superficial introduction to each topic. Topics covered include general relativity, quantum mechanics, atomic particles, the nature of gravity, black holes, and the nature of the universe. It probably serves as a nice review for people who may have been introduced to these topics in the past, but are looking for an update or a refresher. ( )
  rsutto22 | Jul 15, 2021 |
Beautiful language, fantastic work of Rovelli and on the part of the translators. ( )
  Matt_B | Jul 10, 2021 |
Brief indeed, but an outstanding basal physics primer. ( )
  chrisvia | Apr 29, 2021 |
“Në rini, Albert Ajnshtajni e kaloi një vit duke u endur kot, pa bërë gjë prej gjëje. Po nuk e çove kohën dëm nuk arrin dot asgjë, gjë që për fat të keq prindërit e adoleshentëve shpesh e harrojnë.



Ndodhej në Pavia. Iu bashkua familjes pas braktisjes së studimeve në Gjermani. Ishte fillimi i shekullit dhe Italia po hidhte hapat e parë të revolucionit industrial. I ati, inxhinier, instalonte centralet e para elektrike në ultësirën padane. Alberti lexonte Kantin dhe kur i shkrepte në kokë ndiqte leksionet në Universitetin e Pavias: për zbavitje, pa qenë i regjistruar dhe pa iu nënshtruar provimeve. Kështu bëhesh me tërë mend shkencëtar.”



“Ekzistojnë kufij, aty ku mësojmë, dhe digjet dëshira jonë për dije. Ndodhen në thellësitë më të imëta të indit hapësinor, në origjinën e kozmosit, në natyrën e kohës, në pashmangshmërinë e vrimave të zeza, dhe funksionimin e vetë mendimit tonë. Këtu, në bordin e asaj që dimë, në kontakt me oqeanin e asaj që nuk dimë, vezullojnë misteri i botës, bukuria e botës, dhe na lënë pa frymë”.



I tillë është parakushti i këtyre “leksioneve të shkurtra”, që na prijnë udhë, me transparencë të admirueshme, përmes disa etapave të pashmangshme të revolucionit që tronditi fizikën në shekullin XX dhe vazhdon ta tronditë sot e gjithë ditën; duke filluar nga teoria e relativitetit të përgjithshëm të Ajnshtajnit dhe mekanikës kuantike deri në çështjet e hapura që kanë të bëjnë me arkitekturën e kozmosit, grimcat elementare, gravitetin kuantik, natyrën e kohës dhe të mendjes.”
  BibliotekaFeniks | Mar 15, 2021 |
Brief and accessible essays on a few key ideas of physics. ( )
  duchessjlh | Jan 19, 2021 |
A very “philosophical” overview of a few areas of modern physics. Pretty much exactly the presentation of science I like the least — not anything rigorous (which is fine; this is supposed to be for non physicists), but also not presenting interesting problems (simply) and how they would be solved by physics. Part of the problem might be that it is a translation, and written for newspaper readers in Italy, but it managed to make topics I already enjoy actually boring and uninteresting. ( )
  octal | Jan 1, 2021 |
Brilliant. Accessible. Reality altering. ( )
  PhilipJHunt | Nov 28, 2020 |
“When we talk about the big bang or the fabric of space, what we are doing is not a continuation of the free and fantastic stories that humans have told nightly around campfires for hundreds of thousands of years. It is the continuation of something else: of the gaze of those same men in the first light of day looking at tracks left by antelope in the dust of the savannah—scrutinizing and deducting from the details of reality in order to pursue something that we can’t see directly but can follow the traces of. In the awareness that we can always be wrong, and therefore ready at any moment to change direction if a new track appears; but knowing also that if we are good enough we will get it right and will find what we are seeking. This is the nature of science.

The confusion between these two diverse human activities—inventing stories and following traces in order to find something—is the origin of the incomprehension and distrust of science shown by a significant part of our contemporary culture. The separation is a subtle one: the antelope hunted at dawn is not far removed from the antelope deity in that night’s storytelling.

The border is porous. Myths nourish science, and science nourishes myth. But the value of knowledge remains. If we find the antelope, we can eat.”
  runningbeardbooks | Sep 29, 2020 |
Slim read, but mostly over my head. ( )
  bookworm12 | Jul 9, 2020 |
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