Overview
- Published in cooperation with the renowned physics "think-tank" Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi
- Presents specially reworked versions of the prize-winning essays from among more than 150 submissions
- Contributors include top scientists, philosophers and thought leaders
Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection (FRONTCOLL)
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Table of contents (16 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Are there truly fundamental entities in nature? Or are the things that we regard as fundamental in our theories – for example space, time or the masses of elementary particles – merely awaiting a derivation from a new, yet to be discovered theory based on elements that are more fundamental? This was the central question posed in the 2018 FQXi essay competition, which drew more than 200 entries from professional physicists, philosophers, and other scholars. This volume presents enhanced versions of the fifteen award-winning essays, giving a spectrum of views and insights on this fascinating topic. From a prescription for “when to stop digging” to the case for strong emergence, the reader will find here a plethora of stimulating and challenging ideas - presented in a largely non-technical manner - on which to sharpen their understanding of the language of physics and even the nature of reality.
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: What is Fundamental?
Editors: Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster, Zeeya Merali
Series Title: The Frontiers Collection
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11301-8
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-11300-1Published: 29 March 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-11301-8Published: 21 March 2019
Series ISSN: 1612-3018
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6619
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 187
Number of Illustrations: 7 b/w illustrations, 7 illustrations in colour
Topics: History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Philosophy of Science, Mathematical Logic and Foundations, Elementary Particles, Quantum Field Theory