Void: The Strange Physics of Nothing (Foundational Questions in Science)

The rising star author of The Physics of Wall Street explores why “nothing” may hold the key to the next era of theoretical physics

James Owen Weatherall’s previous book, The Physics of Wall Street, was a New York Times best-seller and named one of Physics Today’s five most intriguing books of 2013. In his newest volume, he takes on a fundamental concept of modern physics: nothing. The physics of stuff—protons, neutrons, electrons, and even quarks and gluons—is at least somewhat familiar to most of us. But what about the physics of nothing? Isaac Newton thought of empty space as nothingness extended in all directions, a kind of theater in which physics could unfold. But both quantum theory and relativity tell us that Newton’s picture can’t be right. Nothing, it turns out, is an awful lot like something, with a structure and properties every bit as complex and mysterious as matter. In his signature lively prose, Weatherall explores the very nature of empty space—and solidifies his reputation as a science writer to watch.

• Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
• Now: The Physics of Time
• What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
• Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe
• The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable
• Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory: The Theoretical Minimum
• The Order of Time
• Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
• Through Two Doors at Once: The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
• Are Numbers Real?: The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World