Overview

"The recently celebrated discovery of the Higgs boson has captivated the public's imagination with the promise that it can explain the origins of everything in the universe. It's no wonder that the media refers to it grandly as the ""God particle."" Yet behind closed doors, physicists are admitting that there is much more to this story, and even years of gunning the Large Hadron Collider and herculean number crunching may still not lead to a deep understanding of the laws of nature. In this fascinating and eye-opening account, theoretical physicist Alexander Unzicker and science writer Sheilla Jones offer a polemic. They question whether the large-scale, multinational enterprises actually lead us to the promised land of understanding the universe. The two scientists take us on a tour of contemporary physics and show how a series of highly publicized theories met a dead end. Unzicker and Jones systematically unpack the recent hot theories such as ""parallel universes,"" ""string theory,"" and ""inflationary cosmology,"" and provide an accessible explanation of each. They argue that physics has abandoned its evidence-based roots and shifted to untestable mathematical theories, and they issue a clarion call for the science to return to its experimental foundation."

Full Product Details

9781137278234

Table of Contents

Reviews

Unzicker's arguments are well-grounded, sound, [and] informed. -- Scientific American (German edition)

Unzicker's arguments are well-grounded, sound, [and] informed. -- Scientific American (German edition) Unzicker's arguments are well-grounded, sound, [and] informed. --Scientific American (German edition) Bankrupting Physics is a blunt, but entertaining account of the current state of fundamental physics. The reader may not necessarily have the same opinion as the authors, but they will bear witness to some of the field's unchallengeable high priests in action, and question whether the system itself is now in a period of stagnation. How does the struggle for power and money among modern scientists compromise the quest for uncovering the true secrets of nature? This is a worthwhile book to read that is guaranteed to raise some controversy, and is likely to receive a critical reception by the very actors it is reporting on. --Pavel Kroupa, University of Bonn A broad dismissal of modern theoretical physicists...Unzicker also targets the massive expenditures of funds on high-energy particle accelerators. --Kirkus Reviews Unzicker dares to think outside the mainstream. Readers will find a refreshing and provoking book that pushes the physics community to refocus how it conducts science. --Hans Volker Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, University of Heidelberg Unzicker's arguments are well-grounded, sound, [and] informed. Scientific American (German edition) Bankrupting Physics is a blunt, but entertaining account of the current state of fundamental physics. The reader may not necessarily have the same opinion as the authors, but they will bear witness to some of the field's unchallengeable high priests in action, and question whether the system itself is now in a period of stagnation. How does the struggle for power and money among modern scientists compromise the quest for uncovering the true secrets of nature? This is a worthwhile book to read that is guaranteed to raise some controversy, and is likely to receive a critical reception by the very actors it is reporting on. Pavel Kroupa, University of Bonn A broad dismissal of modern theoretical physicists Unzicker also targets the massive expenditures of funds on high-energy particle accelerators. Kirkus Reviews Unzicker dares to think outside the mainstream. Readers will find a refreshing and provoking book that pushes the physics community to refocus how it conducts science. Hans Volker Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, University of Heidelberg Unzicker's arguments are well-grounded, sound, [and] informed. -- Scientific American (German edition) Bankrupting Physics is a blunt, but entertaining account of the current state of fundamental physics. The reader may not necessarily have the same opinion as the authors, but they will bear witness to some of the field's unchallengeable high priests in action, and question whether the system itself is now in a period of stagnation. How does the struggle for power and money among modern scientists compromise the quest for uncovering the true secrets of nature? This is a worthwhile book to read that is guaranteed to raise some controversy, and is likely to receive a critical reception by the very actors it is reporting on. --Pavel Kroupa, University of Bonn A broad dismissal of modern theoretical physicists...Unzicker also targets the massive expenditures of funds on high-energy particle accelerators. -- Kirkus Reviews Unzicker dares to think outside the mainstream. Readers will find a refreshing and provoking book that pushes the physics community to refocus how it conducts science. --Hans Volker Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, University of Heidelberg

Author Information

Alexander Unzicker is a German theoretical physicist and neuroscientist whose work has been covered in Physics World. He lives in Germany. Sheilla Jones is the author of The Quantum Ten and an award-winning Canadian journalist and a science contributor to CBC. She reviews science books for The Globe and Mail and the Literary Review of Canada. She lives in Canada.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available