| Edition |
1st American ed. |
| Description |
xxviii, 1099 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Note |
Originally published: London : Jonathan Cape, 2004. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 1050-1085) and index. |
| Contents |
The roots of science -- An ancient theorem and a modern question -- Kinds of number in the physical world -- Magical complex numbers -- Geometry of logarithms, powers, and roots -- Real-number calculus -- Complex-number calculus -- Riemann surfaces and complex mappings -- Fourier decomposition and hyperfunctions -- Surfaces -- Hypercomplex numbers -- Manifolds of n dimensions -- Symmetry groups -- Calculus on manifolds -- Fibre bundles and gauge connections -- The ladder of infinity -- Spacetime -- Minkowskian geometry -- The classical fields of Maxwell and Einstein -- Lagrangians and Hamiltonians -- The quantum particle -- Quantum algebra, geometry, and spin -- The entangled quantum world -- Dirac's electron and antiparticles -- The standard model of particle physics -- Quantum field theory -- The big bang and its thermodynamic legacy -- Speculative theories of the early universe -- The measurement paradox -- Gravity's role in quantum state reduction -- Supersymmetry, supra-dimensionality, and strings -- Einstein's narrower path; loop variables -- More radical perspectives; twistor theory -- Where lies the road to reality? |
| Summary |
This guide to the universe aims to provide a comprehensive account of our present understanding of the physical universe, and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory. It attempts to convey an overall understanding--a feeling for the deep beauty and philosophical connotations of the subject, as well as of its intricate logical interconnections. While a work of this nature is challenging, no particular mathematical knowledge is assumed, the early chapters providing the essential background for the physical theories described in the remainder of the book. There is also enough descriptive material to carry the less mathematically inclined reader through, as well as some 450-500 figures. The book counters the common complaint that cutting-edge science is fundamentally inaccessible. |
| Subject |
Mathematical physics.
|
|
Physical laws.
|
|
Mathematical physics. (OCoLC)fst01012104
|
|
Physical laws. (OCoLC)fst01062699
|
|
Gesetz Physik (DE-588)4139909-2
|
|
Mathematik (DE-588)4037944-9
|
|
Naturgesetz (DE-588)4132390-7
|
|
Weltall (DE-588)4079154-3
|
|
Física matemática.
|
|
MATHEMATICS.
|
|
PHYSICS.
|
|
APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICS.
|
|
CALCULUS.
|
|
Mathematik.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Penrose, Roger. Road to reality. 1st American ed. New York : A.A. Knopf, 2005 (OCoLC)682395292 |
| ISBN |
0679454438 (alk. paper) |
|
9780679454434 (alk. paper) |
|
0739458477 |
|
9780739458471 |
|
