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Peisajul Cosmic: Teoria Corzilor și Iluzia Unui Plan Inteligent (2012)

by Leonard Susskind(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Humanitas

review 1: The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design by Leonard Susskind"The Cosmic Landscape" is an informative, provocative theoretical physics book about how the world came to be the way it is. Dr. Leonard Susskind takes the layperson behind the scenes of an on-going debate among physicists and cosmologists; it's a battle between those who believe that the laws of nature are determined by mathematical relations, and those who believe that the Laws of Physics have been determined by the requirement that intelligent life be possible. This book is educational and sometimes challenging but ultimately satisfying. This stimulating 416-page book includes the following thirteen chapters: 1. The World According to Feynman, 2. The Mother of All Physics Probl... moreems, 3. The Lay of the Land, 4. The Myth of Uniqueness and Elegance, 5. Thunderbolt from Heaven, 6. On Frozen Fish and Boiled Fish, 7. A Rubber Band-Powered World, 8. Reincarnation, 9. On Our Own?, 10. The Branes behind Rube Goldberg's Greatest Machine, 11. A Bubble Bath Universe, 12. The Black Hole War, and 13. Summing Up.Positives:1. A well-written, accessible book for the masses.2. The fascinating topic of cosmology in the hands of subject-matter expert.3. Even though the Dr. Susskind is obviously a string theorist he does a commendable job of being fair and even-handed.4. Does a wonderful job of introducing the Laws of Physics to the readers at an enjoyable and accessible level. Dr. Susskind takes pride in educating the public on very difficult and esoteric topics. Very few equations, those of you math-adversed do not fret.5. Explaining the theories that best explain the universe. "Inflationary cosmology, which is our best theory of the universe, is leading us, sometimes unwillingly, to a concept of a megaverse, filled with a prodigious number of what Alan Guth calls "pocket universes."6. Despite the intellectual battles on contentious cosmological debates among scientists there seems to be a great deal of respect, honor and most importantly drive to find the answers to our biggest cosmological questions. Dr. Susskind is very complimentary to his brethren. An all-star cast of physicists. "I have always admired the clarity and depth of Steven Weinberg's physics. In my opinion he, more than anyone, can lay claim to being the father, of the Standard Model."7. Making elementary particles accessible to the masses via Feynman's pictures.8. The cosmological constant in perspective. Was it truly Einstein's "biggest blunder"?9. Cosmic Landscape in proper context. "It denotes a mathematical space representing all of the possible environments that theory allows".10. Elegance in science. "The best theory would be not only a theory of everything, but it would be the only possible theory of everything."11. Is the universe finite and bounded as Einstein thought, or is it unbounded filled with an endless infinity of stars and galaxies? What is the geometry of space? Find out.12. The great achievements of cosmology. "The connection between the quantum theory of the microscopic world and the large-scale structure of the astronomical and cosmological world is one of the greatest achievements of cosmology."13. Dismantling intelligent design...always a personal favorite.14. Stirring up the hornet's nest with "The Anthropic Landscape of String Theory". Dr. Susskind explains his baby, String Theory. Three chapters of everything String Theory.15. In defense of the populated Landscape. "Mechanisms that rely on well-tested physical principles gave rise to a huge, or even an infinite, number of pocket universes, with each and every valley in the Landscape being represented."16. The chapter on the black hole war covers beautifully the behind the scenes battle among scientists. Stephen Hawking eat your heart out..."If Gerard is conservative I would have to say that Stephen Hawking is the Evel Knievel of physics."17. Really closes out the book with a bang. The Summing Up chapter summarizes beautifully the essence of this book.18. Love how Dr. Susskind goes over the most prominent physicists of the day and their contributions, including the younger generation. His admiration for Gerard `t Hooft is palpable.19. An excellent epilogue.20. A helpful glossary.Negatives:1. How scientific is modern cosmology? String theories? A lot of it has that sci-fi feel to it, no matter how hard Dr. Susskind tries to sell it as scientific.2. Let's face it, there are some topics in physics and cosmology that are truly "far out" and are bound to be over your head. Branes will challenge your brain.3. Very few endnotes.4. It requires an investment of your time.5. No formal bibliography.In summary, despite some of the challenging topics I really enjoyed this book. Dr. Susskind did a very good job of introducing basic principles and concepts while not shortchanging the public on many of the perplexing challenges that physicists/cosmologists face to describe how the world came to be. The book captures the on-going debates in the physics community and describes quite well where the scientists stand. My biggest concern has to do with how well the theory really captures reality. How sound is the science? That aside, and while some topics are bound to go over your head with curiosity and perseverance it will ultimately educate and satisfy. I recommend it!Further recommendations: "Hidden In Plain Sight: The simple link between relativity and quantum mechanics" by Andrew Thomas, "Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed the Search for Scientific Truth" by Jim Baggott, "Spectrums" by David Blatner, "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory" and "The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene, "A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing" by Lawrence M. Krauss, "About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang" by Adam Frank, "Higgs Discovery" and "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" by Lisa Randall, "The Grand Design" by Stephen Hawking, "The Quantum Universe: (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does)" by Brian Cox, "The Blind Spot" by William Byers, and "The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe Is Not Designed for Us" and "God and the Atom" by Victor Stenger.
review 2: Leonard Susskind is one of the pioneers of String Theory, possibly the only current theory linking quantum mechanics and gravity. In this regard the book is quite fascinating. Unfortunately, the illusion of intelligent design is hardly mentioned except for the author stating that it's the law of large numbers (of universes forming on the cosmic landscape) which is enough to account for our finely tuned universe supporting life. Dr. Susskind displays his disregard of theology by referring to God as "she". He asks the question, "If the universe is intelligently designed by a supernatural being, who designed the designer?" The answer is, based on the last 2500 years of theological development, the definition of an intelligent designer is also one who is not himself created or designed. A decent read overall, but somewhat hard to follow especially if you are not familiar with the vocabulary. less

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