Today I finished reading Carlo Rovelli’s slim volume ‘Seven Brief Lessons On Physics’. As I described in my entry ‘Reading and Walking’ last Tuesday I bought this book as a stop-gap so that I had something scientific to read in order to keep one of my daily streaks going. I had just finished Tim Flannery’s ‘Atmosphere of Hope’ and was still waiting for the March edition of Scientific American to arrive (which it has now) and so I needed something fast and after a quick diversion into Waterstone’s bookshop ‘Seven Brief Lessons…’ seem to fit the bill.
I found Seven Brief Lessons… to be a delightful read. It is VERY light on detailed scientific content but beautifully written to enhance awareness of the some of the key ideas of 20th century – general relativity, quantum mechanics, the structure of the universe, how the concept of time is linked to heat flow. Rovelli is a great writer – the words flow off the page into your head like good quality chocolate melting slowly on your tongue. As my analogy suggests, the language is frequently delicious and every time the text threatens to become overwhelmingly complex (which it must do because some of the concepts being described are overwhelming and complex) Rovelli pulls back from the brink and guides the reader onto firmer ground. Since Rovelli is Italian, credit must also go to the two translators, Simon Carnell and Erica Segre.
You will gather that I was rather beguiled by Rovelli’s writing, so I am absolutely delighted to know that he has another book ‘Reality Is Not What It Seems’ in which he outlines some of the key developments in physics from the ancient Greek philosophers through to the present day. I already have a big pile of books at home waiting to be read so it may take me a while to get to this second bite of Rovelli but it is certainly going to be added to the pile and devoured at some point.
Tim O'Hare 