Do human’s consist only of quanta and particles? asks Rovelli. We know that he is going to answer yes and no. It’s not that simple he says. Well, he should try being me for a while, and trying to read a roadmap then he’d understand how complex it is. We humans, he tells us, are subjects that observe the world. But we know what’s coming next if we’ve been paying attention. We are also part of the world. A very small part of the world. A very,...

The problem of heat was one that perplexed mid-nineteenth century physicists. One way of understanding it was to think of it as a kind of fluid, ‘caloric’ fluid. I guess that’s where we get the term calorific value. Food equals a certain amount of energy. But in the mid-nineteenth century there was thought to be two kinds of heat: hot and cold. Wrong, of course, but not for the reason we think. James Maxwell and the Austrian physicist Ludwig...

It seems unutterably silly that it has been 10 years since this little book first saw the light of day, originally as a consequence of a Daily Mail 'Print Your Own Book' offer. Since then it has been self-published locally and, with the advent of e-publishing, let loose upon a wider world. It seems even sillier that over 6,000 people have read about my attempts at growing up in Burton upon Trent in the 1950s and 1960s. I suspect that the...

Twentieth-century physics has given us two lodestars: general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of the fruits of these are the study of cosmology, astrophysics and at more microscopic level, gravitational waves and black holes. Yet the two theories cannot both be correct, because they are, in essence, contradictory. The paradox is both also work in their domains remarkably well. Einstein’s Theory of All Things was a search for that...

Atoms are the smallest things we can see. Each atom consists of a nucleus orbited by electrons. We’re looking more closely at the nucleus here. Each nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. If we go even smaller protons and neutrons are made up of even smaller units given the name quarks by the American physicist Murray Gell-man. The force that ‘glues’ quarks together inside protons and neutrons is called gluons. In medieval philosophy an...

The way we express our feelings… the diction, inflections, rhythm, slang and tone are unique to each one of us. We may sound like family but even then there are slight differences...We are snowflakes of individual resonance. When we write freely we can hear that voice…it is captured in the dialogue and structure of sentences. It is only when we edit to please grammatical laws or modern writing standards that we lose our distinctive voice. That...

In response to The Daily Post's writing prompt: "Odd Trio Redux." Carlo Revelli (2015) Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segree. We’ve got a floor plan. In a reductionist world two features of space and time stand together in the battle-scarred macroscopic twentieth-century theories of Einstein. He explains how the cosmos came into being and hangs together. Contrast this with the mirrored microcosm of Bohr’s...

In response to The Daily Post's writing prompt: "Trick Questions." Carlo Revelli (2015) Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segree. If Isaac Newton is the father of physics, Albert Einstein is the mother, but he didn’t love all his children equally. Remember before Einstein, physics was spread out like a dirty nappy between subjects as diverse as Mathematics, Philosophy and the industry leader, Chemistry, in...

First Lesson. The Most Beautiful of Theories. I just nipped out at lunchtime to get a bigger brain, but they were all out, the only thing left –on special offer- was a Simon Cowell brain. I said to the lassie behind the counter, ‘Do I look that fuckin’ stupid?’ ‘Or a two-for-one, David Cameron and… a black hole,’ she offered. I didn’t hang about, I’ve got better things to do with my time. Of course I don’t need a bigger brain. After all, quite...

I woke up today feeling so positive and satisfied. Words and feelings were bubbling up in me, and I basked in passion. I acknowledged me. I challenged myself everyday this week except Tuesday...Ink Master was on. I lounged in just pure joy. No demands, I aint cookin, I aint cleaning, im determined to enjoy simplicity this day. I dont know when another one like it will come again. I found the escape I was looking for. I found the works of art...