The Science of Can and Can't: A Physicist's Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals - Softcover

Marletto, Chiara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141986468 ISBN 13: 9780141986463

Verlag: Penguin, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

A young theoretical physicist's guide to how the radical new science of counterfactuals can reveal the full scope of our universe

There is a vast class of properties that science has so far almost entirely neglected. These properties are central to an understanding of physical reality both at an everyday level and at the level of fundamental phenomena, yet they have traditionally been thought of as impossible to incorporate into fundamental explanations. They relate not only to what is true - the actual - but to what could be true - the counterfactual. This is the science of can and can't.

Chiara Marletto, a pioneer in this field, explores the promise that this fascinating, far-reaching approach holds not only for revolutionizing how fundamental physics is formulated, but also for confronting existing technological challenges, from delivering the next generation of information-processing devices to designing AI. In each chapter, Marletto sets out how counterfactuals can solve a vexed open problem in science, and demonstrates that by contemplating the possible as well as the actual, we can break down barriers to knowledge and form a more complete and fruitful picture of the universe.

'Clear, sharp and imaginative... The Science of Can and Can't will open the doors to a dazzling set of concepts and ideas that will change deeply the way you look at the world' David Deutsch, bestselling author of The Beginning of Infinity

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Chiara Marletto is a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She holds degrees from the universities of Oxford and Turin. Her main research focus is in theoretical physics, and she also pursues interests in theoretical biology, epistemology and Italian literature. The Science of Can and Can't is her first trade book.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• ISBN 10: 0141986468
• ISBN 13: 9780141986463
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Sprache: Englisch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar