Faster Than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation: Magueijo, Joao: 9780142003619: Amazon.com: Books

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Faster Than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation Paperback – February 24, 2004

by Joao Magueijo (Author)

4.3 98 ratings

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Say the word "light" in the context of physics, and most of us repeat the mantra: Nothing travels faster than the speed of light. Indeed, nothing does. But light is thought to have another amazing property, which Einstein enshrined in his theory of special relativity. Light travels at one speed and one speed only; it is one of nature's constants. This idea is considered sacred, and it's one of the foundations of modern physics. But what if it's wrong?

Amazon.com Review

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

Review

"A racy account . . . jaunty and irreverent." -- The New York Times

"Dark matter, string theory, cosmic rays, quantum gravity, M-Theory and its 11 (!) dimensions . . . this book wont disappoint." -- The Boston Globe

About the Author

JoÃ£o Magueijo (pronounced ÂzhÂ'wow ma-gay-zhooÂ) is a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College, London. He has been a visiting scientist at the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University, and he received his doctorate in theoretical physics at Cambridge University.

Joao Magueijo is a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College, London.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

February 24, 2004
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

5.36 x 0.61 x 7.92 inches
ISBN-10

0142003611
ISBN-13

978-0142003619
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

98 global ratings

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Reveals the truth about "diversity" in culture of science

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2003

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Others have detailed the contents of this book very well. I enjoyed Magueijo's writing and think the tome is a reasonable balance between technical detail and fascinating anecdotal accounts of the scientific publication process. Some reviewers have complained that the book never describes the author's actual VSL theory, but I think that was a smart economy. Including those details would make the book unwieldy. Majueijo's papers explaining VSL are readily available online ([...] and there is no benefit in loading down this book with them.
What I found most intriguing is the book's depiction of extreme intolerance on the part of established science to even entertain what is a very reasonable hypothesis. Detractors of VSL talk about the "physical law" that requires the speed of light be constant. But there is no such law. We say the speed of light is constant today, but we have no reason to believe it was constant at the beginning of the universe. C is a cosmological "constant" with no supporting experimental evidence, for the simple reason that nobody was around to observe the speed of light during the big bang.
Reading Magueijo's actual paper and follow-up documents, one sees a reasonable presentation and defense of a hypothesis that fairly well fits contemporary observations of the universe. What those papers don't reveal, and what the book documents, is the scientific establishement's behind-the-scenes manipulation undertaken to squelch discussion of the VSL theory in legitimate scientific venues. That's not science. That's religion.
Although this book is an admitedly one-sided view of Magueijo's battle for VSL, you can readily corroborate some of the scientific press' outrageous obstructionism by simply reading Internet discussion groups. Magueijo may go over the top in his characterizations of his opponents, but he raises a very legitimate question about the integrity of those holding the purse strings of scientific research.

5 people found this helpful

Thomas De Voe Worthen

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2008

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Five years after its publication, this book is now available at the cost of one cent plus postage. Although I have given up reading it toward its end, it is easy for me to delineate its great value to me who am a curious dilettante in all things and a fascinated non-expert in the world of 20th century physics.

I am an academic in a humanistic field, or was before retiring. It is delicious to see how the politics of academia vary little across national boundaries and discisplines. Get on a bandwagon and into the power structure or be branded a maverick, a ne'er do well, a crackpot and worse. And unless your journal of choice truly exercises its promise to treat your submission anonymously, expect the worst.

I have read many explanations of the special theory of relativity, but never has the impossibility of simultaneity been brought home better than in Magueijo's amusing explication through "Einstein's dream" about his herd of cows. Likewise with general relativity, cosmological constant, and the contributions of Alexander Friedmann whose English biography is still waiting to be written.

Finally, the discussion of cosmic inflation is priceless, how Guth arrived at it, how it works and why it solves some, but not all the problems of the big bang. I have wrestled with this one for years and it is finally clarified.

Details about VSL are not as crystalline as I would like. I learned more about it from a Wikepedia article.

This is an intensely personal account told by a passionate Latino; it is full of passion--antipathy, scorn, gemutlichkeit, and bitter humor, and the language to go with it. Incidentally the son of Portugal's English is impeccable, flowing and enviable.

The one big difficulty with the book is that we dont know how the relationship between the author and his girlfriend Kim--whom he introduces with a pinup picture--turns out.

3 people found this helpful

An Interesting Journey

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2009

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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. The show was very interesting, so I then proceeded to determine if Joao had written any books on the subject and found this one.

First of all let me say that this is not a book presenting a detailed analysis of the theory of VSL, rather it is about the journey that Joao has taken over the years in the pursuit and development of this controversial idea, and it appears to have been an interesting one at that.

Joao begins by discussing some interesting information about Einstein and gravity. In chapter five, he gets into the cosmological horizon, homogeneity of the universe, galaxy expansion, space time geometries, Omega, critical density, Planck time, and the cosmological constant or Lambda. In chapter six, he discusses inflation and its relationship to the flatness and horizon problems. All of this leads up to the final chapters where we our presented with a more detailed discussion of the development of VSL. Here we are introduced to concepts such as quantum gravity, M-theory and cosmic strings.

As we learn more about various cosmological concepts, Joao delineates his journey through the "system" as he tries to introduce his concept of VSL. I found it to be a very interesting and fascinating journey - a recommended read if you have any interest in physics and cosmology.

7 people found this helpful

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Jorge Reis.

Sou fã de Magueijo.

Reviewed in Brazil on August 27, 2017

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Ideias originais, que desafiam dogmas da ciência, provocando reações indignadas ou depreciativas, de cientistas incapazes de entender que a ciência não pode admitir dogmas!
O livro é claro, fácil de ler, esclarecedor e, porque não, divertido, no típico estilo Magueijo.

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

What a book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2014

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I enjoyed this book from end to end. I once loved physics and have kept an interest in developments over the last 40 years. My PhD is in management but I still borrow from such thought processes and models. I have also enjoyed/suffered academia egypt Cambridge and hugely sympathise with the authors disgust at academic politics and bureaucracy. Great he says exactly what he thinks. Wonder if aliens have read this? They could Twitter as they use the technology which is latent in a hint or two 80 per cent the way through the book. Worth a reread when all has sunk in! Dr Tony Grundy

Eng. Pedro Rosa

Magueijo, certainly more than a scientist, a visionary

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2018

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Written in the manner of a story, this is an amazing narrative

D. P. Briggs

good book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2003

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This book has received quite a mixed verdict so far. I would like to recommend it to you.
It covers his recent work on VSL theories very well, I think. The reader gets a good grasp of the reasoning behind the theory without the mathematical detail. It is also a very entertaining look at the workings of modern scientific academia. In the second part of the book, we get onto Joao's dealings with the scientific world, and we have some fairly provocative opinions! Mostly true, I think.

4 people found this helpful

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