Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, and light travels at one fixed speed. This idea is considered a foundation of modern physics, but what if it is wrong?Theoretical physicist Magueijo presents the idea that light traveled faster in the early universe than it does today. The varying speed of light theory solves some of the most intractable problems in cosmology, and could have major implications for the study of physics.
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Among physicists, it is widely assumed that one's greatest chance for a breakthrough discovery will come before one reaches the age of 30. True or not, this idea leads young physicists such as João Magueijo to pull out all the intellectual stops in the search for glory and immortality. In Faster Than the Speed of Light, Magueijo reveals the short, brilliant history of his possibly groundbreaking speculation--VSL, or Variable Light Speed. This notion--that the speed of light changed as the universe expanded after the Big Bang--contradicts no less prominent a figure than Albert Einstein. Because of this, Magueijo has suffered more than a few slings and arrows from hidebound, jealous, or perplexed colleagues. But the young scientist persisted, found a few important allies, and finally managed to shake up the establishment enough to get the attention he merited and craved. Magueijo begins the book with a suitably accessible explanation of special and general relativity, then moves on to the ideas that laid the groundwork for VSL. In the process, he rips the doors off of scientific academia and airs quite a bit of dirty laundry. Comparing himself to Einstein throughout the book, Magueijo approaches his topic and its dissemination with cocksure genius, expecting readers to sympathize with him as he battles to win favor. And we do. The scientific process is "rigorous, competitive, emotional, and argumentative," writes Magueijo. His theory could knock down two solid pillars of cosmology--inflation and relativity. Not only does his radical notion deserve a trial by fire, it also deserves a champion like Magueijo, who isn't afraid of the flames. --Therese Littleton
From Publishers Weekly
Could Einstein be wrong and Magueijo right? Equally pressing for Magueijo, a lecturer in theoretical physics at London's Imperial College, is whether the physics editor at the preeminent science journal Nature is in fact "a first class moron" for rejecting his last paper. And did that cosmologist from Princeton steal his idea? What about all those hours wasted writing requests for funding from those "parasites," those "ex-scientists well past their prime" who dispense the monies that make contemporary science possible? Welcome to the world of career science, disclosed here in all its flawed brilliance. Magueijo's heretical idea-that the speed of light is not constant; light traveled faster in the early universe-challenges the most fundamental tenet of modern physics. Deceptively simple, the theory came to the author during a bad hangover one damp morning in Cambridge, England (many of the author's breakthroughs seem to arrive at unexpected moments, like while he's urinating outside a Goan bar). If true, Magueijo's Variant Speed of Light theory, or VSL, rectifies apparent inconsistencies in the Big Bang theory. Magueijo cunningly frames his journey with the stories of other famous, courageous heretics, notably Einstein himself, and one suspects an apologetics at work here. Magueijo, a 35-year-old native of Portugal, is opinionated and can seem immature and almost bratty in his diatribes against the banalities of academia or the hypocrisy and backbiting of peer review. But his science is lucidly rendered, and even his penchant for sturm und drang sheds light on the tensions felt by scientists incubating new ideas. This book shows how science is done-and so easily can be undone.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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75 of 90 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It may be poor form to start off a review with a sentence that immediately establishes a tone, but this book could have been subtitled "A Self-Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Turk". The science is by no means secondary, but the constant reminders that Magueijo has a very decided young-mavericks-vs.-old-fogeys world view of institutional cosmology often becomes intrusive.
The author is a cosmologist in England and his book is the story of his development of an idea, that the velocity of light (the `c' in E = mc-squared) is not constant but has varied during the history of the Universe. His contention is that if the value of c had been enormously greater in the extremely early universe (trillionths of a trillionth, etc., of a second after the start of the Big Bang), that may account for numerous curious attributes of the observable universe, including the so-called "flatness" and "horizon" problems as well as the origin of matter and the nature of Einstein's cosmological constant and the "dark energy" of the universe. Suggesting that the speed of light has not been an eternal constant is such anathema in physics that it is difficult to convey the magnitude of the heresy. It would be comparable to asserting to the Church that Jesus was not divine
I can't comment on the validity of the science or the theory that Magueijo espouses (I don't think that anyone at this point in history can do more than just comment) except to guess that this book will become an eventual classic if VSL becomes widely accepted. Like many of the best writings about scientific progress, this is a first-person view from one of the central participants--THE central participant, if Magueijo's account is accurate. As such, and in its iconclastic, highly personal, and not always flattering second-person references to other participants and peripheral characters, it calls to mind James Watson's "The Double Helix" (and I'm guessing this is no coincidence). If VSL grows to repectable adulthood, the book will be a valuable record of its gestation, and this is where it really shines. Whether the reader really understands the basic science, or even whether VSL is correct or even well regarded, or not is almost irrelevant. The science is intriguing, especially if correct, but the unambiguously valuable, and enduring, content is the insight into the inspiration, the realizations, the excitement, the grinding intellectual labor and sweat, the reconsiderations and reworkings, the value of collaboration, the disappointments, the satisfaction of seeing one's young theory go from strength to strength--and the challenges and frustrations: of trying to air radical ideas without risking losing priority, of maintaining professional respectability while pursuing an idea utterly at odds with one of the nearly absolute and unassailable pillars of modern physics--and of trying to get into print with it. And contending all the while with the requirements of holding a post in academia.
However, the next reminder that the author holds himself aloof from the mundane world which provides him with a nurturing cocoon in which to develop his ideas is never far ahead. This is manifested in numerous ways. One of the most obvious is the gratuitous use of "hard" four-letter expletives (only one of which is in the context of a direct quote), where more ordinary expressions would have been better suited to a mass-market book. Another is the blatant criticism he liberally dishes out to those whose role in life he considers to be to thwart him and his efforts. Some of this seems to me to border on the libelous. For example, the identity of the editor of a named physics journal in a particular year is virtually a matter of public record, and I can't imagine that that individual can be pleased with the characterizations made in repeated references to "the editor of PRD". Several journal referees accused of "idiocy" and worse are referred to in contexts that will probably render them identifiable, even if only to insiders. And the continuing references to the fossilized natures of the administrative echelons of academic departments and university leaderships rapidly grow old and distracting. Come on! We all know how young scientists feel about academic departmental dinosaurs. But Magueijo carries this past the point of necessity; a much more economical brief description would suffice to let the reader know that the author, too, experienced this common perception. In particular, the especially vitriolic criticism of the senior leadership at his own institution (Imperial College London) seem not only carping but downright ungracious. Tenure should not be regarded as license to kill.
There are other curious habits; for example, a recurring character to whom Magueijo refers as his "girlfriend", and of whom a snapshot is printed, is identified only by her first name. Their informal and indefinite relationship would have made a reference without name or picture more appropriate for a published work. Cosmic strings are likened to pubic hairs. Also, the values of several physical/astronomical quantities are spectacularly incorrect as stated.
I suppose much of this is what passes for courageous, tell-it-like-it-is honesty and intellectual brashness, but in a popular science book it just looks puerile. Some of the quirks can be attributed to the fact that the author is not a product of American/English culture and, to judge from a subtle (and engaging) "feel" to the structure and cadence of his narrative language, probably not a native speaker of English (Magueijo is Portuguese). Better editing would have solved much of the irritating details. One wonders whether the overall tone of the non-science aspects of Magueijo's story accounts for the fact that this book's publisher was not one of the major science-book houses. All in all a worthwhile book, a look at a work in progress and a vivid portrait of the personal process, but I think this is a dish that could have been served without the whine.
The author is a cosmologist in England and his book is the story of his development of an idea, that the velocity of light (the `c' in E = mc-squared) is not constant but has varied during the history of the Universe. His contention is that if the value of c had been enormously greater in the extremely early universe (trillionths of a trillionth, etc., of a second after the start of the Big Bang), that may account for numerous curious attributes of the observable universe, including the so-called "flatness" and "horizon" problems as well as the origin of matter and the nature of Einstein's cosmological constant and the "dark energy" of the universe. Suggesting that the speed of light has not been an eternal constant is such anathema in physics that it is difficult to convey the magnitude of the heresy. It would be comparable to asserting to the Church that Jesus was not divine
I can't comment on the validity of the science or the theory that Magueijo espouses (I don't think that anyone at this point in history can do more than just comment) except to guess that this book will become an eventual classic if VSL becomes widely accepted. Like many of the best writings about scientific progress, this is a first-person view from one of the central participants--THE central participant, if Magueijo's account is accurate. As such, and in its iconclastic, highly personal, and not always flattering second-person references to other participants and peripheral characters, it calls to mind James Watson's "The Double Helix" (and I'm guessing this is no coincidence). If VSL grows to repectable adulthood, the book will be a valuable record of its gestation, and this is where it really shines. Whether the reader really understands the basic science, or even whether VSL is correct or even well regarded, or not is almost irrelevant. The science is intriguing, especially if correct, but the unambiguously valuable, and enduring, content is the insight into the inspiration, the realizations, the excitement, the grinding intellectual labor and sweat, the reconsiderations and reworkings, the value of collaboration, the disappointments, the satisfaction of seeing one's young theory go from strength to strength--and the challenges and frustrations: of trying to air radical ideas without risking losing priority, of maintaining professional respectability while pursuing an idea utterly at odds with one of the nearly absolute and unassailable pillars of modern physics--and of trying to get into print with it. And contending all the while with the requirements of holding a post in academia.
However, the next reminder that the author holds himself aloof from the mundane world which provides him with a nurturing cocoon in which to develop his ideas is never far ahead. This is manifested in numerous ways. One of the most obvious is the gratuitous use of "hard" four-letter expletives (only one of which is in the context of a direct quote), where more ordinary expressions would have been better suited to a mass-market book. Another is the blatant criticism he liberally dishes out to those whose role in life he considers to be to thwart him and his efforts. Some of this seems to me to border on the libelous. For example, the identity of the editor of a named physics journal in a particular year is virtually a matter of public record, and I can't imagine that that individual can be pleased with the characterizations made in repeated references to "the editor of PRD". Several journal referees accused of "idiocy" and worse are referred to in contexts that will probably render them identifiable, even if only to insiders. And the continuing references to the fossilized natures of the administrative echelons of academic departments and university leaderships rapidly grow old and distracting. Come on! We all know how young scientists feel about academic departmental dinosaurs. But Magueijo carries this past the point of necessity; a much more economical brief description would suffice to let the reader know that the author, too, experienced this common perception. In particular, the especially vitriolic criticism of the senior leadership at his own institution (Imperial College London) seem not only carping but downright ungracious. Tenure should not be regarded as license to kill.
There are other curious habits; for example, a recurring character to whom Magueijo refers as his "girlfriend", and of whom a snapshot is printed, is identified only by her first name. Their informal and indefinite relationship would have made a reference without name or picture more appropriate for a published work. Cosmic strings are likened to pubic hairs. Also, the values of several physical/astronomical quantities are spectacularly incorrect as stated.
I suppose much of this is what passes for courageous, tell-it-like-it-is honesty and intellectual brashness, but in a popular science book it just looks puerile. Some of the quirks can be attributed to the fact that the author is not a product of American/English culture and, to judge from a subtle (and engaging) "feel" to the structure and cadence of his narrative language, probably not a native speaker of English (Magueijo is Portuguese). Better editing would have solved much of the irritating details. One wonders whether the overall tone of the non-science aspects of Magueijo's story accounts for the fact that this book's publisher was not one of the major science-book houses. All in all a worthwhile book, a look at a work in progress and a vivid portrait of the personal process, but I think this is a dish that could have been served without the whine.
29 of 37 people found the following review helpful
By Sarah Ilky
Format:Hardcover
The beginning sections of this book, in which relativity is covered, were kind of interesting (although the material is covered in many other books). But when the subject turned to the author's own theories and the in's and out's of getting it published, the book really got tedious. If you are a total physics junky and want to know intricate details of how it's decided which papers get published, you might enjoy this book more than I did. But if you are looking for a meaty book on the cutting-edge of real physics, this is not it.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read many a good book on cosmology (Lee Smolin's excellent works, for example) and string theory (Brian Greene's superb works), and Magueijo's work is also superb (though he does not, as others have pointed out, discuss in any detail quantum physics).
His explanation of relativity is one of the most clear I've seen (Einstein's boyhood dream about cows). Beyond that, however, his prescient and courageous insights into the petty world of academe and the so-called peer-review process is priceless. What some reviewers have dismissed as "rant" is what I see as one of this excellent book's most important contribution; titles and position -- in science, as in law (my field), or medicine, or government -- often have little to do with either accomplishment or ability.
Significantly, as Magueijo points out, the web will transform knowledge bases in science (as it has for news) so that ideas will rise or fall on their merit, rather than some gatekeeper's pride (jealousy) or prejudice stemming from their premature cognitive commitments.
As for the science, which some reviewers have said is short-changed, well when the calculations take years to perfect, using mathematics developed on-the-go, the full landscape can only be seen by reading closely the full mathematical discourse. Magueijo's tour lets us taste the vigor of his discipline and sample the high points of his theories. He has written a superb book!
His explanation of relativity is one of the most clear I've seen (Einstein's boyhood dream about cows). Beyond that, however, his prescient and courageous insights into the petty world of academe and the so-called peer-review process is priceless. What some reviewers have dismissed as "rant" is what I see as one of this excellent book's most important contribution; titles and position -- in science, as in law (my field), or medicine, or government -- often have little to do with either accomplishment or ability.
Significantly, as Magueijo points out, the web will transform knowledge bases in science (as it has for news) so that ideas will rise or fall on their merit, rather than some gatekeeper's pride (jealousy) or prejudice stemming from their premature cognitive commitments.
As for the science, which some reviewers have said is short-changed, well when the calculations take years to perfect, using mathematics developed on-the-go, the full landscape can only be seen by reading closely the full mathematical discourse. Magueijo's tour lets us taste the vigor of his discipline and sample the high points of his theories. He has written a superb book!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Doing science in the real world
This book was a very interesting read for the most part. For me, its strongest element is the description of the academic environment, in this case focused on cosmology in physics... Read more
Published on April 3, 2010 by Berry C. Ives
4.0 out of 5 stars
Iconoclastic Duality
This is an odd book. Make that two books.
The first 125 pages is a remarkably clear summary, in layman's terms, of relativity, particle physics, cosmology and some of... Read more
The first 125 pages is a remarkably clear summary, in layman's terms, of relativity, particle physics, cosmology and some of... Read more
Published on June 24, 2009 by Robert Carlberg
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing.
I have been a fan of Joăo Magueijo for many years now and have followed many of his theories on VSL and Cosmic inflation, this book was pretty much on par with everything I was... Read more
Published on June 16, 2009 by Mizango
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpected Gem, Combining Cosmology and Scientist Memoir
What an unexpected gem of a book this turned out to be! Lee Smolin mentioned this work in his own popular science effort titled The Trouble With Physics, having worked with the... Read more
Published on May 27, 2009 by David Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars
dramatic story
This is not really a scientific text, but more of a story. It also describes a lot of the traditions, protocol, and beaurocracy that hinder scientific advancement. Read more
Published on May 11, 2009 by Winston Banford
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Journey
I first became interested in this book after seeing a TV special hosted by Joao Magueijo on the subject of VSL or Variable Speed of Light. Read more
Published on April 22, 2009 by Randolph Eck
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent marerial, Excellent service, Prompt delivery.
I have lately been a frequent customer of "AMAZON".
You cover material of my interests which mainly concern metaphysics and
esoterism. Read more
You cover material of my interests which mainly concern metaphysics and
esoterism. Read more
Published on April 3, 2009 by Eleftherios Baloglou
4.0 out of 5 stars
Faster than light but wiser than Big Bang
Interesting news! What is the point? The author, a theoretic physicist and professor explains his speculations to an audience that needs not be experts in astro-physics. Read more
Published on March 21, 2009 by Roman Nies
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Story of a "fantastic" Scientific Speculation.
This is a very fascinating story and the best book I have ever read. I am still not old enough to have studied all the subject presented in the book in the language of Mathematics,... Read more
Published on September 1, 2008 by manou
3.0 out of 5 stars
More of a rant
This book is more of a rant than anything else. Basically a young hot-shot physicist has come up with a theory that would shake contemporary physics like a gorilla on a banana... Read more
Published on August 19, 2008 by Matthew J. Schimpf
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 4
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8
books
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- The Evolution of Physics by Albert Einstein on 4 pages
- The Inflationary Universe by Alan Guth on page 124
- As Is by Sam Albert on page 30
- Martin Eden (Penguin American Library) by Jack London on page 30
- Alchemy of Nine Dimensions: Decoding the Vertical Axis, Crop Circles, and the Mayan Calendar by Barbara Hand Clow on 6 pages
- Science vs. Religion: The 500-Year War, Finding God in the Heat of the Battle by MD David J. Turell on page 49, page 67, and page 141
- Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law by Peter Woit on page 190, and Back Matter
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Einstein, Second Edition by Gary F. Moring in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Investigations in the Workplace by Eugene F. Ferraro on page 474
See all 8 books citing this book
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