The Nature of Reality [Hardcover]

Richard Morris (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Although the title suggests that the topic is philosophy, this book deals with some of the key areas of current theoretical physicsforces and fields, cosmology, Grand Unified Theories, and the future of physics. Morris, the author of The Fate of the Universe and Time's Arrows and himself a physicist, describes the successes and the unresolved dilemmas of present-day physics at a level accessible to lay readers but without flashy sensationalism. He is commendably candid in describing the recent tendency of theoretical physics to drift far from areas open to experimental tests. While willing to state his own opinion on controversial issues he describes other viewpoints fairly. This is an excellent example of scientific popularization; it is highly recommended for academic and public libraries. Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (November 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070432783
• ISBN-13: 978-0070432789
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,458,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penetrating insight into the nature of space, time and matte, September 11, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nature of Reality (Hardcover)

Morris offers a popular, but penetrating survey of the physics of matter, space and time, showing how our understanding of the world has changed so dramatically in the last two decades. The author is a physicist, but his book is accessible to anyone who has had a high school physics course. It is written at the same level as "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking, and overlaps with it somewhat while covering much new ground.

Reading this book will help you jettison your view of the electron as a point particle circling the nucleus. Physicists have recently come to the shocking realization that the bare electron has infinite mass, infinite charge, and infinite energy. However, the interaction between the electron and its own cloud of virtual particles is also infinite. The infinities cancel out, giving the finite values of mass and charge you find in your physics book. Morris's book is the place to learn what a virtual particle is.

This is also your chance to take a deeply penetrating journey into the nature of space and time. Besides clearly explaining the impact of Einstein's two theories of relativity, Morris explains why the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the universe breaks down at times earlier than the Planck time, when quantum fluctuations take over. The physicist John Wheeler has suggested that space might even take on the character of a churning foam, breaking down the presumed continuity of space. Space on this tiny scale is "full of tiny holes, bridges, and tunnels that are created for tiny fractions of a second, and which dissolve almost as quickly as they appear."

A major strength of the book is the care with which the author explains which theories are still very speculative (such as the theory that space has ten dimensions and that there is a quantum foam in micro-space) and which are highly confirmed (quantum electrodynamics and the theories of relativity).

Brad Dowden
Philosophy Dept.
California State University Sacramento