First published 2022
Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder examines the most challenging questions that modern physics confronts today. She argues that physicists cannot currently explain how the universe began and may never solve this puzzle. Hossenfelder dismisses several popular theories as unscientific, including the ideas that universes exist within particles, that particles possess consciousness, and that our reality is a computer simulation. She notes that quantum mechanics has become a catch-all explanation for alternative healers and those who believe deceased relatives remain alive through quantum effects. The author explores whether the past continues to exist, if particles can think, whether the universe was designed for humans, and if physics has eliminated free will. She maps out how close scientists are to answering these fundamental questions and identifies which mysteries may remain forever unsolved. Hossenfelder bridges science and spirituality by showing how both fields address the same core questions about human origins, destiny, and the limits of knowledge. Her book delivers clear answers about what physics actually knows and what it does not.
Genres: science, atheism, spirituality, physics, alternative-medicine, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, science
272 pages · Hardcover · Viking