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jenthebest's review against another edition
5.0
Wow !!! I'm so impressed with this book. I came to it for a little info on John Wheeler, and I found that and so much more. Anyone concerned with the nature of reality and interested in the physics behind the search would enjoy this.
slichto3's review against another edition
4.0
To me, Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn is an extremely important work. The worlds of physics, cosmology, and even science in general, is opaque to most of us. We have no idea what is going on in science - what new discoveries are being made, why they're important, what questions they raise. That puts us at a distance from this quest for the truth, and it makes it difficult for us to trust scientists. Our most frequent contact with scientific work is when we hear about some ridiculous study, and we ask each other "does someone really get paid for that?" ToEL is a fascinating and illuminating exploration of physics, and the author, Amanda Gefter, actually tries to describe it for regular people! That is incredibly valuable, and I'm so thankful that Gefter produced this - I hope I can find many more works that help give a layman's guide to an expert's world. Still, ToEL isn't perfect - which I'll try to explain here.
At its heart, ToEL is really a memoir written by Gefter. She tells the story of her journey to discover what the universe really is. One night, the teenaged Gefter was having dinner with her father when he asked question - "what is nothing?" The question seems simple, but as they talk it opens up a can of worms that the rest of the book explores. Despite never having interest in math or science in school, Gefter begins to research, with her father, theories on the origins and explanations of the universe. She starts a career as a science journalist and interviews many eminent physicists as her questions get more and more complicated. She learns a tremendous amount of avant grade theory, and takes the time to explain them in ways that someone rather slow - like me - could understand. Mostly.
This is where my critique of this book begins - it gets very confusing, despite Gefter's best efforts. The theory gets very complicated, and, sometimes, I didn't really know what was going on. Gefter tries to go slow and explain things, but I felt that I needed more. More explanation, more examples, more pictures. However, I acknowledge that this may not be possible - the subject matter is so complicated, maybe it just can't be explained without extensive study. Still, it took away from my enjoyment and my learning. Further, I felt confused by the implications of a lot of the conclusions reached. As Gefter discovered that more and more of what we take to be reality was really observer dependent, I wanted to know what that might mean for any of us. Again, maybe that's something that's unexplainable - who really knows? I suppose that I also wanted a discussion of the philosophic repercussions, and while this was briefly covered, I wanted a lot more.
Overall, ToEL is a very well-written book, but it gets quite convoluted. When finishing, I wondered "what have I really learned from this?" Still, I love that there is a book like this that tries to explain these concepts to regular folks, and I hope this inspires similar works, by Gefter (who really is a very good writer) and others.
At its heart, ToEL is really a memoir written by Gefter. She tells the story of her journey to discover what the universe really is. One night, the teenaged Gefter was having dinner with her father when he asked question - "what is nothing?" The question seems simple, but as they talk it opens up a can of worms that the rest of the book explores. Despite never having interest in math or science in school, Gefter begins to research, with her father, theories on the origins and explanations of the universe. She starts a career as a science journalist and interviews many eminent physicists as her questions get more and more complicated. She learns a tremendous amount of avant grade theory, and takes the time to explain them in ways that someone rather slow - like me - could understand. Mostly.
This is where my critique of this book begins - it gets very confusing, despite Gefter's best efforts. The theory gets very complicated, and, sometimes, I didn't really know what was going on. Gefter tries to go slow and explain things, but I felt that I needed more. More explanation, more examples, more pictures. However, I acknowledge that this may not be possible - the subject matter is so complicated, maybe it just can't be explained without extensive study. Still, it took away from my enjoyment and my learning. Further, I felt confused by the implications of a lot of the conclusions reached. As Gefter discovered that more and more of what we take to be reality was really observer dependent, I wanted to know what that might mean for any of us. Again, maybe that's something that's unexplainable - who really knows? I suppose that I also wanted a discussion of the philosophic repercussions, and while this was briefly covered, I wanted a lot more.
Overall, ToEL is a very well-written book, but it gets quite convoluted. When finishing, I wondered "what have I really learned from this?" Still, I love that there is a book like this that tries to explain these concepts to regular folks, and I hope this inspires similar works, by Gefter (who really is a very good writer) and others.
harpelha0801's review against another edition
4.0
This book was fascinating. Much of it was over my head since I am, as another reviewer put it, a physics naif. But it has inspired me to do more physics/cosmology reading, which is remarkable.
abalvarez's review against another edition
5.0
Second reading. Just as good as the first. I wish I had a much better memory to remember all the incredible things she discusses. \
laurab2125's review against another edition
4.0
I'm torn on this book.
I didn't really have the patience to read the science parts slowly enough to both understand AND retain the information -- though, it was written in a way that I could have understood the complex theories that were discussed.
On the other hand, the story line following her relationship with her father is what kept me reading until the end of the book. For whatever reason, the bond they shared propelled me to finish a book that I otherwise might have given up on.
And after all that, I enjoyed the book and came away knowing things about physics that I didn't know before.
I didn't really have the patience to read the science parts slowly enough to both understand AND retain the information -- though, it was written in a way that I could have understood the complex theories that were discussed.
On the other hand, the story line following her relationship with her father is what kept me reading until the end of the book. For whatever reason, the bond they shared propelled me to finish a book that I otherwise might have given up on.
And after all that, I enjoyed the book and came away knowing things about physics that I didn't know before.
magpie2331's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book, as I really loved Amanda Gefter’s NYT modern love column and I liked the premise, but unfortunately I could not. The New York Time’s book review from 2014 puts my thoughts into better words than I ever could, but basically, unless you have a degree in physics, her narrative is fairly impenetrable. She assumes too much prior knowledge of very complex ideas of theoretical physics and cosmology. Rather than breaking down these ideas into digestible concepts that the average reader might have a chance of understanding, she instead narrates the rabbit hole she dives into as she seeks to find her own answers, but doesn’t provide enough background for the reader to successfully accompany her.
I didn’t actually finish the boom — I abandoned it on page 141, as I was tired of feeling like I needed a science dictionary and an advanced degree in physics to understand half of what she was writing.
I didn’t actually finish the boom — I abandoned it on page 141, as I was tired of feeling like I needed a science dictionary and an advanced degree in physics to understand half of what she was writing.
jsc8675309's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of amazing how she got from point A to point B as a writer. I started skimming a lot of the theoretical physics part toward the middle of the book, it was too dense for me. I wish there was more about her relationship with her Dad.
vittoria_ann's review against another edition
4.0
Admittedly, most of this book was over my head. But it was so well written, interesting the whole way through, and actually relatable. I was able to grasp the big things - variable vs. invariable, single vs. multiple observers, what is real. And now I know the essence of the universe: everything is nothing, and nothing is real.
hilaritas's review
4.0
The framing of this book is fantastic. Fittingly, Gefter writes not from the objective, god's eye perspective of most physics books, but instead has written this as a memoir of personal intellectual exploration. She chronicles her lifelong quest for knowledge of ultimate reality, starting with a conversation with her father about nothingness in a Chinese restaurant at age 15. The story of their relationship as partners in crime to discover the riddle of existence is beautiful, inspiring, and wonderfully heartwarming. Her dad sounds amazing.
Gefter does a pretty good job of walking the reader through some of the most complex concepts of modern physics, and her irreverent, slightly punky tone is a refreshing approach. That said, she is a bit of a wild-eyed guide, and at times, I lost the thread as her excitement overwhelms her clarity. Nonetheless, that passion is a lot of fun to read. I found myself ultimately more sympathetic to the Zen and intellectual hunger of her father, and she pays him tribute more than any parent could ever hope for.
The ultimate conclusions of their quest are essentially the radical observer-dependence of reality (i.e., the failure of any invariant or absolute objective perspective to accurately and completely describe the universe), and that all this "something" is really still nothing (what they cutely call the H-state: an infinitely homogeneous state) considered from within a bounded, observer frame of reference. Her end position, that of one universe for every observer, each a solipsistic whole unto itself with no possibility of a unifying outside perspective encompassing and stitching them all together, is both fascinating and horrifying from a metaphysical perspective.
My problem with these answers is that Gefter doesn't do much beyond that to question "why is reality so seemingly observer-dependent? Why does the qualia of existence seem so much like there is something to the universe?" One of the reasons I ended up wishing to spend more time with her father is that he seemed to ponder those questions a little more slowly and reflectively, while Amanda's perspective is a manic, mad dash for The Answer. Warren seemed like he was approaching the question of existence from a point of existential need, while Amanda is more goal-oriented.
Overall though, a very unusual and interesting science book and one that gives a much different flavor than the usual proceedings. If nothing else, the inspiration of their father-daughter relationship will stay with me a long time.
Gefter does a pretty good job of walking the reader through some of the most complex concepts of modern physics, and her irreverent, slightly punky tone is a refreshing approach. That said, she is a bit of a wild-eyed guide, and at times, I lost the thread as her excitement overwhelms her clarity. Nonetheless, that passion is a lot of fun to read. I found myself ultimately more sympathetic to the Zen and intellectual hunger of her father, and she pays him tribute more than any parent could ever hope for.
The ultimate conclusions of their quest are essentially the radical observer-dependence of reality (i.e., the failure of any invariant or absolute objective perspective to accurately and completely describe the universe), and that all this "something" is really still nothing (what they cutely call the H-state: an infinitely homogeneous state) considered from within a bounded, observer frame of reference. Her end position, that of one universe for every observer, each a solipsistic whole unto itself with no possibility of a unifying outside perspective encompassing and stitching them all together, is both fascinating and horrifying from a metaphysical perspective.
My problem with these answers is that Gefter doesn't do much beyond that to question "why is reality so seemingly observer-dependent? Why does the qualia of existence seem so much like there is something to the universe?" One of the reasons I ended up wishing to spend more time with her father is that he seemed to ponder those questions a little more slowly and reflectively, while Amanda's perspective is a manic, mad dash for The Answer. Warren seemed like he was approaching the question of existence from a point of existential need, while Amanda is more goal-oriented.
Overall though, a very unusual and interesting science book and one that gives a much different flavor than the usual proceedings. If nothing else, the inspiration of their father-daughter relationship will stay with me a long time.
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