Customer Reviews

The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Anyone with more than just a passive interest in physics and the nature of the universe will enjoy this book. The title caught my attention, and the first chapter drew me in. Before I realized an afternoon had passed, I had finished the book in a single sitting and found myself eagerly flipping back to previous chapters!

Frank Wilczek may be a Nobel Prize winner (2004), but you don't have to be a physicist to read his book. He writes clearly (and occasionally humorously), with only minimal use of numbers and equations, allowing the text to have a smooth flow so the reader can absorb the complexity of it all. (He even provides a glossary for clearer understanding of the topics discussed.)

Almost from the first page, this is fascinating read, offering insights that literally contradict past theories that were once thought to be irrefutable. For example, perfectly "empty" space is unstable and can actually spawn tiny particles, so we really can get something from nothing!

And then there's what Wilczek calls the Grid, a sort of upgrade over the old ether idea, although it's really something entirely different. The Grid offers an explanation for, among many other things, the spontaneous activity in what appears to be empty space.

The Lightness of Being is about more than just particle physics. It's about connecting theories old and new, from particle physics to cosmology, to bring us many steps closer not only to understanding how the forces of nature work together to form a life-sustaining universe, but also to understanding what "nature" really is.

This book continues the themes of "Fantastic Realities" (which was more a collection of articles than a real book), but it is much more intelligible. The title corresponds to the fact that a human being is 95% pure energy. The reason: proton's and neutron's masses are very much larger than the rest masses of their constituent quarks, i.e. most of these baryons' mass is pure (m= E/c*c) energy.
If you are not familiar with Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interaction, you will get a good grasp of it by reading this book and you will understand quark confinement. QCD is an exceptionally rigid theory depending only on three parameters. The author won a Nobel Prize for the development of QCD based on asymptotic freedom together with David Gross, although this work, as graduate student, was not recognized until 20 years later.
By reading the book you will also discover why gravity is so weak compared to other forces (a magnet lifts a clip against Earth gravitational pull) and you will learn about the theoretical framework to extend the Standard Model group of symmetries to Supersymmetry, a theory that suggests a unification of all interactions, including gravity, at high energies. Predicted superpartners of the standard particles may be discovered at the LHC in Geneva. On the way you will also come to accept that empty space is a most complex structure: a multilayered, multicolored superconductor.
The author questions Popper's falsifiability dogma to which all scientific theories must obey. Part 3 is titled: Is Beauty Truth? It reminds me of Sir Michael Atiyah's presentation at Cosmocaixa in Barcelona with a similar argument and the author presents historical evidence (Dirac's prediction of the positron, for example). Wilczek argues that a good beautiful theory (SUSY) is worth keeping even if some things do not really fit in. He adopts the Jesuit credo: "It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission". Nature is, of course, the last judge.
I will quote a beautiful description he makes of the LHC: "In sheer size, the LHC is our civilization's answer to the pyramids of ancient Egypt. But it is a nobler monument in many ways. It is born out of curiosity, not of superstition. It is a product of cooperation, not command". Blessed are we to live in such exciting times in science!

I am not a physicist but I have been fascinated by cosmology, general relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, multi-dimensional theories, black holes, grand unified theory (GUT), etc. since my college days in the mid-to-late seventies. I have read many books on these topics and many are very difficult reads given that I am not grounded in the advanced mathematical models and approaches that underpin the theories. Having said that, this book is a very easy read for the layman (as easy as a book on this topic can be) and is written in a highly entertaining way. Frank Wilczek has a wonderful sense of humor. I find that I don't have to read any sentence twice to understand the concept. I get it the first time around. It takes true brilliance to convey very complicated concepts simply and with great clarity. I sat down and read this book from cover to cover without putting it down. It covers the evolution of thinking on matter and space from the earliest thinking to today's speculation and theories. The concept of space as a dynamic grid is fascinating. Dr. Wilczek even includes a glossary of terms in the back of the book in case you don't understand the meaning of a particular word or phrase. I highly recommend this book to people who want to keep abreast of the latest thinking on this area of physics. It is an informative and engaging read.

Wilczek got his Nobel Prize for his part in developing Chromodynamics, the theory of quarks and gluons and their strong force interaction. In this book we get an awe-inspiring jaunt through the most modern views of the quantum vacuum (which W. calls "The Grid") and unification theories (including SUSY).

Lots of stuff I hadn't understood before - for example, the mass of protons and neutrons (actually hadrons in general) is not at all a primary attribute. Instead it's Nature's optimisation compromise between the energy in the colour field (decreases as quarks and antiquark, for example, get closer together) and the increasing energy of 'localisation' as the said quarks and antiquarks are constrained into the same place: (more precision in location means higher momentum and energy). This energy (E/c2) is what turns out to be the proton or neutron mass: the quarks and gluons themselves are almost massless.

Wilczek writes in a humorous and crystal clear way, which makes his book that rarity in popularisations - a bit of a page turner! Warning: you need to be comfortable with the conceptual basis of 'undergraduate' quantum mechanics and special relativity to engage with this book.

I had a hard time with this book - and I read Moffat's "Reinventing Gravity". Come to think of it, though, they have some similarities. They both ask you to believe in things that may not exist.

I understand that the proton's mass cannot be understood in terms of the added masses of the contained quarks and gluons. I understand that if the mass is not there in the particles, it must come in the form of energy. I do not understand Wilczek's explanation of where that energy comes from. Yes, I read through it more than once. Maybe I'm stupid.

I also have a problem with proton decay. He thinks it is real. As near as I can determine, the original experiments (apparently still running) for proton decay came from a prediction made by the predecessor to the Standard Model(or the Core, as Wilczek calls it). It predicted one proton would decay in something like 10 to the 33rd years. (don't know how to get superscript to work) It was estimated that in 10 years with the number of detectors in huge underground water tanks around the world, 3 or 4 decays would take place. There were no results after 15 years, and the model was dropped. Now, string theory predicts proton decay - which is why the experiment is still running. It has yet to produce a single instance of proton decay. I find it strange, that if, as Wilczek believes, space is a multilayer multi-colorcharge superconductor he can still believe in proton decay. After all, if the very structure of space is contributing to the stability of protons and neutrons, why would he still think proton decay is possible? Maybe I'm stupid.

Like I said, I had a hard time with this book. Until the Higgs Boson is found, SUSY is proven, string theory is disproven (since it can't be falsified), and proton decay is observed, I see no reason to believe in The Grid (ether)or space (generally thought of as boiling with spontaneous creation and destruction of particles and antiparticles) as a multilayer multi-colorcharge superconductor. Nobel prize winner or no, I just can't take what he tells me as the gospel. Maybe I'm stupid.

I have read a number of these books describing the universe in different ways based on very different assumptions. They can't all be right; they may all be wrong. We are probably now more unsure of the structure of the universe we live in than any people from any period in the past. They may have been wrong about the universe, but they were very sure of what they knew. We are not. The more of these books I read, the more I think of epicycles. Maybe we are all stupid.

Oh, the book? Read it. Maybe you're smarter than I am.

One of the most important scientific stories of 2008 has been the calculation of the heavy particle masses ("hadrons") using some of the most elaborate computational methods yet. This has been yet another vindication of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a strange theory that governs the interactions of particles that make up atomic nuclei. This theory is a cousin of electromagnetism, and like the theory of electromagnetism it is deceptively easy to formulate (at least with the aid of some higher mathematics), but the real-world predictions have been devilishly hard to extract. One of the earliest people to show that QCD does in fact correspond to physical reality was Frank Wilczek, who remarkably did this important work while still in his early twenties. Since then he has gone onto an illustrious career in theoretical Physics that culminated in his winning a Noble Prize for his work. To people in the Physics community he has been known for many years for his lucid expository articles, and we are all fortunate that he has written a book about some of the topics that he is the foremost authority on. The basic premise of this book, as suggested by the title itself, is that most of the stuff that we are surrounded with is in fact trapped energy. Wilckek turns the famous Einstein's equation E =m c^2 around, and in the form m = E/c^2 shows the rationale for why we can have mass as a form of energy. His writing is clear and accessible, and the book is not burdened with the technical details. Even so, many places could potentially be obscure to people who are not familiar with the basic ideas of modern Physics. Overall, however, this is one enjoyable and interesting book and a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in the latest developments in advanced Physics.

When I first chanced across this book, I was waiting for a friend in a large bookstore. The title was intriguing, and so I took the book down and began to read it. When it was time to go, I was quite intrigued. A week or two later, once again I was marking time in the bookstore. I took the book down again, and continued to read it. On my third visit to the bookstore, I bought the book.

Frank Wilczek's writing style is both a blessing and a curse. He is refreshing, with a good sense of humor and a whimsical streak. This lightens the book and adds a refreshing human touch. But there have been times when I'm not sure if he is having fun with us, or strictly on the level.

These science books for laymen can be scaled at different levels. Some are a plodding refresher scaled at the level of a high-school freshman. I'm a bit beyond those. Then others are more challenging. I have read a couple of layman's science books by Michio Kaku recently. He writes very well, is a respected scientist, and is very clear. His books are very worthwhile. Then there's a very challenging level of science book, such as the current volume. Frank Wilczek's present effort goes over my head at times. I put up a good fight -- and have read several of the chapters more than once. But Frank really plunges pretty deep, including quite a few equations expressing quark variants and other esoteric matters. The equations begin in a simple way, and I seem to follow. Then they become quite complex and sprawling, with a dozen or more variables, and I just give up. Moreover, there are so many various particles, to include quarks of nine varieties, gluons, mesons, and more, that a certain "overkill" creeps into my noodle.

Why do I rate the book positively? Dr. Wilczek did an amazing job of explaining the sourcing of particle mass. His chapters explaining the source of proton mass were totally fascinating. How can the gluons and quarks in a proton, all of very minimal mass, combine to provide the proton's total mass, which is hundreds or thousands of times greater?

Dr. Wilczek also explains the peculiar attractive force that keeps quarks inside of protons. How can a force increase in intensity as particles draw FARTHER APART? While I have seen this stated over the years, I never understood the nature of the force. This is well explained, and totally opened some doors to me.

I also found great enlightenment in Wilczek's discussion of what he calls the "Matrix," which is his term for the "vacuum" of empty space that figures so importantly in quantum mechanics. This was a guided tour par excellance, and explains the virtual pair generation, various "condensates," and the infrequent, spontaneous generation of rather massive particles.

Dr. Wilczek has a Nobel Prize, and seems to be an expert on various esoteric aspects of quantum mechanics, especially quantum chromodynamics. He seems to have had personal experience in experiment and professional collaborations with many of the quantum phenomena that he discusses in his book. Moveover, the book has just appeared, and so has the freshest information. In some of these cutting edge fields, a five-year old book may be outdated.

This book is not an easy read. You may very possibly find sections that seem to go over your head. But this book is very provocative and genuinely interesting.

The greatest challenge -- for me -- may be figuring out how to pronounce Dr. Wilczek's last name.

The book reaches out to a wide audience: communicating with wit, skill, and remarkable truthfulness. In this it is better than any other popular account of fundamental physical reality that I know--bringing you into the mind of a top-level theorist, connecting you with how he thinks, what is actually known, what the questions are, what will be learned in the next few years. The book is intense, entertaining, extremely honest. There is no BS. Bob Laughlin said it: the book is both fun, and *right*.

The book is easy to read. That is rare, especially in a field like modern physics, where the concepts can get hard quickly.

If you are interested in modern physics and want a quick and well-written overview of what is going on in the field, I would get this book.

According to the author, we have been thinking about the universe the wrong way around. Rather than being the fundamental stuff of the universe, mass is actually just the accidental byproduct of various other forces generated by the material that the universe is made of, trying to come into equilibrium. Rather than being mostly empty vacuum, the real essence of the universe is a kind of grid that is a superconductor-like, multi-layer fabric that somehow generates these interactions which, by complete happenstance, ultimately lead to us. There are three points to note about this book: (1) it is extremely well-written and every sentence as well as every chapter is short, simple, and easy to understand. (2) the concept that it presents, of a universe consisting of an ether-like field, is much more intuitive and graspable than explanations we have received previously, and, as the author takes great pains to point out, does not depend on any of the non-intuitive (and non-provable) string theory cults. (3) The author states several times that he is completely and absolutely sure of his theory; but by the end, you will have no basis to decide whether this is truth or wishful thinking. Nevertheless, READ IT, and expand your possibilities.