Customer Reviews

Patterns In The Void: Why Nothing Is Important

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I wrote this book because of a my personal need to understand one of Nature's most mysterious ingredients - Space... But I have also learned that to completely understand how 'nothing can be something' you have to do more than just state the physics. Most popular books dwell on the physics of space, time and gravity, but in the end you, the reader, walk away even more confused about it all - and frankly, so do I. What I try to do in this book is to explore a number of personal experiences, some very weird, and to take advantage of the human gift for using imagination creatively. You will find that by being more flexible in thinking visually, and by using the talents found in the right-side of your brain, it is far easier to grasp what space is all about, and how it is that darkness can have a shape and texture. You may even discover for yourself why it is that even some professional astronomers like myself are afraid of the dark. I have included many personal anecdotes in the book to serve as a human anchor for exploring space as a physical thing. 98% of what you are, and what the universe is, is hidden in the invisible fields and dark energies that ply the Void. Our challenge is to make peace with this new information, the terrible fate of our species and cosmos, and to take some brief comfort in the joy of a living universe bathed in light. So, please enjoy this book, buy as many copies of it as you can afford to (;>) and take a walk on the wild-side of astronomy!

What is this book about? In a few words it is about "Nothingness" or the vacuum or "Void", cosmology and the fate of our Universe. What is the Void? It may surprise you to find out that physicists unilaterally agree that, in a strict sense, there is no such thing as nothing anywhere in our Universe. What is the nature of the apparent emptiness between particles of matter and the space between galaxies? The answer - Fields. These fields are the ubiquitous, ephemeral, and evanescent Higgs, Gravitational, Electromagnetic (QED), (electro) Weak, and Strong (QCD - color). This answer is obviously incomplete. QFT may be penultimate to an absolutely fundamental M-theory. In an additional sense, I think it's fair to say that Patterns is a study of one humble astronomer's experience, observations, and search for meaning in and of the physics of Spacetime & Gravity, the Vacuum, and the physics of Fields. It is a search you can comfortably ride along with - sharing in the exploration, gaining ontological handles for carry-on technical concepts. Here's a quick look at the Table of Contents:

Prolog
Acknowledgements
1. The Dark Constellations
Why We Fear the Dark
2. The Spirits Within
Invisible Fields and Ethers
3. Blind Spots
Quantum Fields and the Physical Vacuum
4. Patterns in the Void
Vacuum Energy and Hidden Fields
5. Gravity's Web
Space, Time, and Gravity
6. Eternity's Road
Cosmic Space and Its Expansion
7. Eternity's End
Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration
8. Between Shadow and Light
Quantum Gravity and the Nature of Space
9. A Fire in the Whole
The Unstable Void
10. The Sundered Worlds
The Creation of the Universe
Epilog
Glossary
Bibliography
Index


Well, how does `Patterns in he Void' read? `Patterns' isn't the usual gee-wiz historical chronology or rundown of concepts and theoretical breakthroughs made by the respective physicists. Dr. Odenwald uses accessibly technical language tempered in confidential, sincere and conversational prose - addressing deep issues & questions that you and I, as mere mortals in spectator physics, might seek meaningful answers for. He is personal, warm, candid and forthcoming - even in his chapter that tackles the stark outlook for the ultimate fate of humanity and the seemingly inevitable heat death of Universe. Be prepared, some chapters have a bit of foreboding and melancholy. I can't help but feel as if this is the story of how the author faced his fears and came to final acceptance of the honest scientific facts regarding the ultimate demise of Life and the Universe.
Sten uses a refreshing approach in the beginning of each chapter giving occasional real-life stories that lend warmth, meaningful context and impetus for further reading - welcoming one to move forward without trepidation. For example, he reminisces about star parties with like-minded friends of his youth - earnest and eager in their amateur astronomical attempts to grasp the big picture of cosmology. He also shares some of his later outings and adventures in the rugged backcountry wilderness where strange and ominous events brought his mind to the precipice of epistemology. These often tie-in with issues of mind & matter - consciousness, brain perception, and physical observation with regards to theoretical physics. To be sure, this is not the titillated/fluffy & tangential speculation of the paradox in measurement, uncertainty, and quantum conundrums one sees in much of todays popular quantum physics publications. You can find these philosophical treatments in just about every other book.

Early in the book, a seashore tide pool is used as an exquisite metaphor for discovery. Eloquent analogies abound throughout the text. Quantum Fields, Superstring, Supersymmetry, and M-Theories are wonderfully elucidated in later chapters. The beauty and power of physical theories and, to a very limited extent, the mathematics used in their description is shared in accessible language. On an incidental note, I perceived subtle hints of something strange early in this book. It almost seems as if, while on one hand, the idea of the "Ether" has been successfully dismissed in physics, on the other modern physical theorists have evolved the ether into sophisticated quantum fields.
The center of the book contains a series of 12 glossy-colored plates spread across 8 pages. These include gorgeous imagery from Scanning-Tunneling Microscopes and supercomputer simulations of atomic and other sub-microscopic images along with intricate fractals and uncanny Galactic Super clusters. Spectacular photos brought to you by the Hubble Space Telescope add to the repertoire of magnificent art in these plates.

The Glossary uses in 5 pages to describe 9 major terms that are thematic elements throughout the text. They are: Dimension, Field, Hyperspace, Nothingness, Quantum, Space, Space-Time, and Vacuum.
The bibliography is a bounty of books, articles, and references used in the development of the text. I strongly encourage you to mine this section for seminal sources to further your pursuits.

This review comes after my second reading and I eagerly anticipate my third, fourth and fifth readings. But why stop there? Because of his creative style and delivery, it was easy to connect to Sten's fascination with the great mysteries of the infinite heavens and the infinitesimal fabric of reality. I related with his desire and intent of writing a book that comprehensively pieces together diverse threads into an artful masterpiece. A few last words to describe this wonderful work: `Patterns' is beautifully written, thoroughly objective, cogent, technically concise, conceptually accessible, and gives a succinct yet coherent discourse of the deepest, most fundamental aspects of physics. I think Patterns is a fitting landmark in the broader path the aspiring autodidact chooses to follow. I only wish I had written it...
Indiandy

I originally picked up this book whilst looking for "The Book of Nothing". Skimming a few pages, I realized just how well written it was and how much it would challenge me.

Scientific concepts cover everything from early philosophy and belief in the aether, through simple things like General Relativity and Quantum Physics, to the cutting edge of SuperString theory and its role of creating / being space and time. The Void is there throughout. Always mysterious, often scary, viewed in different ways throughout history. Is the Void devoid of anything, or is it just avoiding our gaze and actually the birthplace of eternity? Read it and see.

I must thank Sten for adding the personal anecdotes and insight into the subject. Often a lay-persons book on physics can be dry and uninteresting. This was a book that I could not put down for a week (until it was finished). If you like this kind of style, you will also really enjoy "Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics by John Archibald Wheeler"

"I just finished reading Patterns and I have to say it is one of the most exciting and troubling books I have read in a long time. Odenwald is a master at explaining just why it is we should really be afraid of the dark. As a music
professional, I didn't think that a scientist could really understand the kinds of emotions I experience when I look at the night sky. Odenwald's use of his personal, and sometimes very weird, life experiences to paint his picture of the
mysteries of the Void, was a stroke of genius that makes this subject very readable to someone with my non-science background. Why anyone would want to read any of the Best Sellers on this subject I will never know. I tried reading one of them and it was a hopeless journey into jargon that meant nothing to me.
Odenwald's book, with its powerful emotional content, has finally let me experience the true mystery of space and the miracle of our very existence."

I am a "Professor Emeritus" of psychology and computer science who, thirteen years after formal retirement, still teaches my physics department's "Modern Astronomy" course. "Patterns in the Void" is the first, of the many books which attempt to explain "Cosmology," that I have felt comfortable in recommending to my undergraduate students.

I have a fascination with nothing[ness]. PATTERNS IN THE VOID is therefore the perfect addition to my collection of books concerned with the void (THE HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE, THE BOOK OF NOTHING, etc.). But beyond that it is a really interesting and deep book. A combination of lyrical prose, cutting-edge science, personal anecdotes, and philosophical musing conspire to create a thought-provoking book that will change the way you look at the world around you. Though at times morose, sometimes downright depressing, it is still in the end a powerful and approachable addition to the genre. Highly recommended.

The ancient mystics have long talked of the primacy of the Void as the source of everything. It seems that modern science has arrived at much the same conclusion.
I was struck over and over how much what Odenwald described parallels what I've read in Buddhist, Hindu, or Taoist Myth or philosophy.
The one leap he (and science in general) doesn't, perhaps CAN'T, make is to attribute some intention to our presence in the universe as self-aware observers of it.
There can perhaps be no "proof" of such intention that would ever satisfy a scientist; and the mystic does not need or want it, his or her experience is proof enough.

I bought this book to learn about vacuum / zero-point energy and perhaps, dark matter and the accelerating expansion of the universe. Certainly all of these seemed likely to be covered, based upon the jacket and in fact, all these are touched upon, but not very well.

I did not find the book too helpful. The personal anecdotes that preface each chapter are neither illuminating nor particularly original and break up the train of thought. Most science books are organized according to a pattern. This could either be the chronological order in which the discoveries were made, the sequence of events following the Big Bang or perhaps chapters could be arranged in order of complexity of the concepts discussed, sequentially stacking them one on another. Here the organization is somewhat haphazard and there is a lot of repetition. The author is fascinated by the beliefs of the Incas and by the workings of the brain as described in V S Ramachandran's book Phantoms In The Brain. Neither of these topics has much to do with the subject matter.

The word "void" is used here far too loosely: in a philosophical or almost mystical sense. Particles created by human endeavor are said to come from the void. Yet most readers would probably not give that status to particles created in a physics experiment by the application of enormous amounts of energy within the experimental apparatus. This is hardly producing something out of nothing. The creation of a new universe from the old would be a natural example of creation from the void. If we could tap into a source of energy from the vacuum (in excess of that needed to extract it), that too would impress me that something had been created from the void. Alas, here the claims are made for far more mundane phenomena.

The last chapter is probably the best and addresses some philosophical issues. Unfortunately, these same thoughts appear in earlier chapters and disrupt the progression of ideas. They would have been better left entirely until the end. Maybe the book needed a better editor.

What I did get out of the book is that empty space (aka the void) is space-time which is the same thing as gravity (there being no way to separate them). The structure of gravity at the Planck length is mysterious but presumably it has embedded within it (or itself gives rise to) various fields that manifest as matter. In general, it seems that matter (contrary to intuition) may not be a distinct and separate entity from space-time. Instead of matter deforming empty space, giving rise to gravity and so space-time, the book appears to contend that it is the other way around. The chicken comes before the egg.

As an avid reader of popular science books I don't think I've ever come across a book such as this one. Which could have been refreshingly different from the plethora of books about string theory, but instead, it was more of a personal account of doom & gloom.

Granted tragedies strike everyone, & its sad to hear the author lost his brother, but at the same time, its hard to see the relation to physics in all this. The book starts off talking about gruesome tales of human sacrifice & in one instance gives a detailed description of an actual historical torture event... where the family of a woman demanded the woman to admit she was possessed by a demon. When she didn't admit to the fact, she succumbs to a pretty horrific demise.

Perhaps the author felt compelled to tell these stories because the void is a "dark" subject to some & certainly so it is, in the Western world. Odenwald does go on to talk about the primal fears of our ancestors, but all this simply took up too much of the book. Extremely disappointing are the chapters on dark matter & dark energy. In which maybe a page or two at most were actually about the subject & the rest was personal stories or historical stories of the primal fear.

Overall, the book does deserve three stars. Because there are a few golden nuggets of knowledge laced throughout the text. It would perhaps be more interesting to those who follow psychology, sociology, & other related fields. Once again, its not a bad read, but its just not what I expected either. With all the other popular science books out there, I don't think Sten Odenwald will be the first person on the list I'll search for, but I'd also be willing to try another book of his.

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