Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
Another book that was delightful and hard to put down. Besides the familiar story from Greek philosophy to classical physics, and then to modern physics, including relativity and quantum physics, the book mainly focuses on cutting-edge “loop quantum gravity”: a theory that tries to unify relativity and quantum mechanics. The earlier historical part is relatively brief, but it offers a different angle. For that part, you can also read Cao Tianyuan’s Does God Play Dice?, which is also excellent and tells more of the story.
The author currently believes more in loop quantum gravity than in the now-popular string theory or M-theory. Of course, all of this lies at the boundary between the known and the unknown. There is still no decisive advantage or evidence to prove which side is correct.
When I was young, I also had a dream about physics. It began in middle school, when I first encountered it, and reached its peak in high school. I considered myself somewhat smart and was deeply interested in science. Physics is, of course, the jewel in the crown of science. Its ability to explain and predict the world, along with discoveries that keep overturning your worldview, is intensely exhilarating. The stories of those physics pioneers are full of attraction and shock, and they made me admire and yearn for that path. Biology, chemistry, and geography could not quite compare. Maybe only mathematics is even more powerful.
Of course, in the end I moved from idealism toward realism. In university I still chose Computer Science, a major that pays better and has better job prospects. As the old line goes, “once inside the lord’s gate, deep as the sea, Xiao Lang becomes a stranger.” In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed. But the choice was still correct. Along the way, I have seen too many friends switch from physics to CS. Of course, some classmates did continue on the physics path, some in high-energy physics and some working on quantum computers.
So, as an amateur who loves physics and science, I really enjoy the feeling of reading popular science books about physics. The renewed philosophy and perspective let me stop caring about the worries of the real world for a while, and simply enjoy the happiness of being an intelligent life.