Our understanding of nature’s deepest reality has changed
radically, but almost without our noticing, over the past
twenty-five years. Transcending the clash of older ideas about
matter and space, acclaimed physicist Frank Wilczek explains a
remarkable new discovery: matter is built from almost weightless
units, and pure energy is the ultimate source of mass. He calls it
“The Lightness of Being.” Space is no mere container, empty and
passive. It is a dynamic Grid—a modern ether— and its spontaneous
activity creates and destroys particles. This new understanding of
mass explains the puzzling feebleness of gravity, and a gorgeous
unification of all the forces comes sharply into focus.
The Lightness of Being is the first book to explore the
implications of these revolutionary ideas about mass, energy, and
the nature of “empty space.” In it, Wilczek masterfully presents
new perspectives on our incredible universe and envisions a new
golden age of fundamental physics.
關於作者:
Currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at MIT,
Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004. His
1989 book, Longing for the Harmonies, was a New York
Times Notable Book of the Year. Wilczek’s work has been
anthologized in Best American Science Writing and The
Norton Anthology of Light Verse. He lives in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.