The Universe Speaks in Numbers

The Universe Speaks in Numbers Book Description “Einstein is a complete nut.” This is how the young and cocky Robert Oppenheimer described the world's most famous scientist after visiting Einstein at Princeton in early 1935. At that time, Einstein had been trying to develop a daring new theory for nearly a decade, and this theory, in the eyes of Oppenheimer and others, showed in various ways that the wise man at Princeton had gone astray. It seems that Einstein was ignoring the steps taken through quantum theory in order to understand matter at the smallest scale. He sought a daring new theory; Its purpose was not to respond to surprising experimental discoveries, but to carry out an exercise in intellectual thought; He was using only his imagination, supported by mathematics. Although this approach was not popular among scientists of the time, it pioneered a method that some of his most distinguished successors use successfully at the forefront of research today. “The language of the book is beautiful, it is enjoyable to read and it is based on very deep information. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult, even impossible, to test the most popular and elegant theories explaining the functioning of the universe; But Farmelo, in this masterfully written book, says that these theories lead us to the deep mathematics that lies at the heart of reality.”Roger Highfield, Director of External Relations at the London Science Museum. “While Farmelo masterfully explains the history of the moving dance between mathematics and theoretical physics, he takes us from Newton to Einstein. , leading to string theory and beyond. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the past or present of these two disciplines.”Jacob Bourjaily (Department of Physics), International Niels Bohr Academy, University of Copenhagen (From the Promotional Bulletin)