A Beautiful Question is a mind-expanding book combining the age-old human quest for beauty with the age-old human quest for truth.
Born in New York, Frank Wilczek studied at the University of Chicago and gained his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University. Frank won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a twenty-one-year-old graduate student. His writing has featured twice in Best American Science Writing and his exposition of modern physics, Longing for the Harmonies was named New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Frank is currently Herman Feshbach Professorship of Physics at MIT. He lives in Massachusetts, with his wife, Betsy Devine.
A truly beautiful book ... Why do physicists call their theories
beautiful? Immerse yourself in this book, wallow in it, sit back
and relax as you wander through it, and you'll soon understand. --
Richard Muller, author of Physics for Future Presidents
Anyone who wants to see how science and transcendence can be
compatible must read this book. Wilczek has caught the winds of
change, and his thinking breaks through some sacred boundaries with
curiosity, insight, and intellectual power. -- Deepak Chopra,
M.D.
Illuminating ... A fresh perspective on modern scientific thinking
from an expert with a flair for jargon-free exposition ... Wilczek
writes A Beautiful Question with bracing pizzazz ...
Contains more beef than many a finely written scientific potboiler.
-- Graham Farmelo * Guardian *
The first book I've read in which I've felt that almost vertiginous
sensation of peering through layers of theories down to the true
nature of the universe ... At times this is a challenging text, but
it is well worth the effort. Wilczek is admirably clear in his
explanations. -- Lewis Dartnell * Telegraph *
It's rare that scientists as brilliant as Wilczek give us a glimpse
of what goes on inside their heads ... Expect to come away pretty
dazzled. * BBC Focus *
[A] searching and earnest book ... The book of a love-struck
physicist ... A Beautiful Question is a meditation. -- Amy
X. Wang * Slate *
A Beautiful Question is both a brilliant exploration of
largely uncharted territories and a refreshingly idiosyncratic
guide to developments in particle physics. * Nature *
Wilczek's sheer pleasure in the beauty of mathematics is the engine
and joy of this book ... [A] rewarding read ... There is a lot of
food for the mind here, but also some for the eye. -- Andrea Wulf *
Financial Times *
[An] eccentrically brilliant book -- Steven Poole * Spectator *
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