Overview
- Published in cooperation with the renowned physics "think-tank" Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi
- Specially reworked versions of the most exciting essays of over 270 submissions
- A book that will appeal both to hobby scientists and to active theoretical physicists seeking inspired new directions
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection (FRONTCOLL)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (19 chapters)
-
Front Matter
Keywords
About this book
The essays in this book look at way in which the fundaments of physics might need to be changed in order to make progress towards a unified theory. They are based on the prize-winning essays submitted to the FQXi essay competition “Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?”, which drew over 270 entries.
As Nobel Laureate physicist Philip W. Anderson realized, the key to understanding nature’s reality is not anything “magical”, but the right attitude, “the focus on asking the right questions, the willingness to try (and to discard) unconventional answers, the sensitive ear for phoniness, self-deception, bombast, and conventional but unproven assumptions.”
The authors of the eighteen prize-winning essays have, where necessary, adapted their essays for the present volume so as to (a) incorporate the community feedback generated in the online discussion of the essays, (b) add new material that has come to light since their completion and (c) to ensure accessibility to a broad audience of readers with a basic grounding in physics.
The Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Brendan Foster
Zeeya Merali
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Questioning the Foundations of Physics
Book Subtitle: Which of Our Fundamental Assumptions Are Wrong?
Editors: Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali
Series Title: The Frontiers Collection
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13045-3
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-13044-6Published: 05 February 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-38353-8Published: 06 October 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-13045-3Published: 24 January 2015
Series ISSN: 1612-3018
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6619
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 274
Number of Illustrations: 24 b/w illustrations
Topics: Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Complex Systems, Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems