Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them
A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
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3.6 • 10 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A fun, dazzling exploration of the strange numbers that illuminate the ultimate nature of reality.
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell, Paul Dirac, or Albert Einstein, the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality. But what are these truths? What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe?
In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them, the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics, offering a startling picture of how the universe works. These strange numbers include Graham’s number, which is so large that if you thought about it in the wrong way, your head would collapse into a singularity; TREE(3), whose finite nature can never be definitively proved, because to do so would take so much time that the universe would experience a Poincaré Recurrence—resetting to precisely the state it currently holds, down to the arrangement of individual atoms; and 10^{-120}, measuring the desperately unlikely balance of energy needed to allow the universe to exist for more than just a moment, to extend beyond the size of a single atom—in other words, the mystery of our unexpected universe.
Leading us down the rabbit hole to a deeper understanding of reality, Padilla explains how these unusual numbers are the key to understanding such mind-boggling phenomena as black holes, relativity, and the problem of the cosmological constant—that the two best and most rigorously tested ways of understanding the universe contradict one another. Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a combination of popular and cutting-edge science—and a lively, entertaining, and even funny exploration of the most fundamental truths about the universe.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It’s said that numbers can explain the universe, but who can explain the numbers? Theoretical physicist Antonio Padilla—one of the stars of the Numberphile YouTube channel—that’s who. In this funny and informative guide, Padilla explores how some of history’s most brilliant physicists used math to prove concepts like black holes and quantum mechanics. We loved learning about concepts like Graham’s number, a figure so big that your brain would literally collapse before fully absorbing it. Padilla has fun using real-world analogies for the phenomena he’s explaining, from Usain Bolt’s speed on the track to heavy-metal guitar shredding. If you want to expand your understanding of physics without going back to school, this is a great place to start.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Numbers explain the universe in the electrifying debut from Padilla, a theoretical physicist and YouTuber on the math channel Numberphile. Using metaphors, analogies, and carefully constructed commentary, Padilla tackles such subjects as general and special relativity, black holes, the elusive Higgs boson particle, quantum mechanics, and string theory. He includes mini-biographies of physics' key players, including "savant of symmetry" Emmy Noether, "quantum pioneer" Wolfgang Pauli, and "rock-star physicist" Richard Feynman. Naturally, there are numbers galore: googols (a one followed by 100 zeros), used to explain the "vastness of infinity"; googolplexes, "a one followed by zeroes ‘until you get tired,' " per its creator; and the enormous Tree(3), based on a game that mathematicians believe can end, though it could "easily last beyond the lifetime of a human, a planet or even a galaxy." Padilla caps his survey with an intriguing discussion of infinity in which he looks at the possibility that some infinities can be bigger than others. He's a stellar guide, shifting from playful to serious with ease, and his love for his subject is infectious and his knowledge vast in a way that is fitting for the material. This one deserves wide readership.
