Books

Books : reviews

John D. Barrow, Paul C. W. Davies, Charles L. Harper Jr, eds.
Science and Ultimate Reality: quantum theory, cosmology and complexity.
CUP. 2004

This volume provides a fascinating preview of the future of physics, covering fundamental physics at the frontiers of research. It comprises a wide variety of contributions from leading thinkers in the field, inspired by the pioneering work of John A. Wheeler. Quantum theory represents a unifying theme within the book, along with topics such as the nature of physical reality, the arrow of time, models of the Universe, superstrings, gravitational radiation, quantum gravity and cosmic inflation. Attempts to formulate a final unified theory of physics are discussed, along with the existence of hidden dimensions of space, space-time singularities, hidden cosmic matter, and the strange world of quantum technology.

Contents

Paul C. W. Davies. John Archibald Wheeler and the clash of ideas. 2004
Jaroslav Pelikan. The heritage of Heraclitus: John Archibald Wheeler and the itch to speculate. 2004
Lucien Hardy. Why is nature described by quantum theory?. 2004
Freeman J. Dyson. Thought-experiments in honor of John Archibald Wheeler. 2004
David Deutsch. It from qubit. 2004
H. Dieter Zeh. The wave function: it or bit?. 2004
Wojciech H. Zurek. Quantum Darwinism and envariance. 2004
Juan Pablo Paz. Using qubits to learn about "it". 2004
Juan M. Maldacena. Quantum gravity as an ordinary guage theory. 2004
Bryce S. DeWitt. The Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics. 2004
Anton Zeilinger. Why the quantum? "It" from "bit"? a Participatory universe? Three far-reaching challenges from John Archibald Wheeler and their relation to experiment. 2004
Aephraim M. Steinberg. Speakable and unspakable, past and future. 2004
Raymond Y. Chiao. Conceptual tensions between quantum mechanics and general relativity: are there experimental consequences?. 2004
Serge Haroche. Breeding nonlocal Schrodinger cats: a thought-experiment to explore the quantum-classical boundary. 2004
Paul G. Kwiat, Berthold-Georg Englert. Quanum erasing the nature of reality: or, perhaps, the reality of nature?. 2004
Hideo Mabuchi. Quantum feedback and the quantum-classical transition. 2004
Christopher R. Monroe. What quantum computers may tell us about quantum mechanics. 2004
Andreas Albrecht. Cosmic inflation and the arrow of time. 2004
John D. Barrow. Cosmology and immutability. 2004
Andrei Linde. Inflation, quatum cosmology, and the anthropic principle. 2004
Max Tegmark. Parallel universes. 2004
Lee Smolin. Quantum theories of gravity: results and prospects. 2004
Joao Magueijo. A genuinely evolving universe. 2004
Fotini Markopoulou. Planck-scale models of the universe. 2004
Lisa Randall. Implications of additional spatial dimensions for questions in cosmology. 2004
Philip D. Clayton. Emergence: us from it. 2004
George F. R. Ellis. True complexity and its associated ontology. 2004
Marcelo Gleiser. The three origins: cosmos, life, and mind. 2004
Stuart A. Kauffman. Autonomous agents. 2004
Shou-Cheng Zhang. To see a world in a grain of sand. 2004