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pragmatist comments on Open Thread, Apr. 27 - May 3, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: Gondolinian 27 April 2015 12:18AM

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Comment author: iarwain1 29 April 2015 11:31:16PM 4 points [-]

I'm looking for a book, or a combination of up to 5 books, that fulfills the following requirements:

  • At least a pretty good coverage of the all the major subjects in modern fundamental physics & cosmology (at least those that can be covered without going too deep into the math)
  • An emphasis on the philosophical implications and interpretations of the different leading theories. So it should cover all the major different interpretations of quantum mechanics, the meaning of space and time, the philosophical implications of multiple universes, etc.
  • Gives solid coverage to the major competing alternatives rather than just promoting a single controversial view. (Alternatively, I could try a combination of different books where each promotes a single view, but between them they cover all the major views.)
  • Very low math requirements: if there's anything more than high school math then that math needs to be extremely well explained and probably very dumbed-down.
  • Very clear and well-written.
  • As up to date as possible, although this is a bit less important than the other requirements.

Textbooks are fine, as long as they meet all those requirements.

Comment author: pragmatist 30 April 2015 07:47:39AM *  4 points [-]

I'm assuming you already have some absolutely basic knowledge of the major physical theories, at the level of Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos (which was recommended in another comment). The books I'll recommend take you deeper into the theories (emphasizing philosophical implications) without excessive mathematics. If you don't have knowledge at this level, read Greene's book first. Some of the books I'm suggesting aren't entirely up to date, but none of them are obsolete. I'm not aware of any more recent books that cover the same material with the same quality. I teach philosophy of physics to non-physics majors, and these are usually among the books I assign (supplemented with recent papers, lecture notes, etc.).

Space-Time: Geroch, General Relativity from A to B

Quantum Mechanics: Albert, Quantum Mechanics and Experience

Statistical Mechanics: Ben-Naim, Entropy and the Second Law: Interpretation and Misss-Interpretations (Supplement with Albert's Time and Chance if you want to go deeper into the "Arrow of Time" issue)

Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model: Oerter, The Theory of Almost Everything (A pretty superficial book compared to the others on this list, I admit, but I'm not aware of any philosophically deep treatment of QFT that doesn't presume considerable math knowledge. You could also try Feynman's QED, which is excellent but very out-dated.)

Cosmology: Tegmark, Our Mathematical Universe (Good basic overview of cosmology, but the philosophical speculation doesn't meet your third requirement. Try Unger and Smolin's The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time for a counterpoint.)

Comment author: RichardKennaway 30 April 2015 12:56:29PM 2 points [-]

The books I'll recommend take you deeper into the theories (emphasizing philosophical implications) without excessive mathematics.

How much mathematics is excessive for this? Physics is made of mathematics.

Comment author: pragmatist 30 April 2015 01:20:21PM *  2 points [-]

"Excessive" was probably a poorly chosen word. I meant that the books I listed are the ones that provide the deepest insight into the theories (out of all the books I have seen) within the constraints specified by iarwain (presuming nothing more than high school mathematics). Some of the books teach some slightly more advanced math along the way, because yeah, it's hard to really comprehend much of GR without at least a basic conception of differential geometry, or understand QM without some idea of linear algebra, but none of the books inundates you with math like The Road to Reality does.

Comment author: Ixiel 02 May 2015 01:05:43PM 1 point [-]

I was questioning whether to keep reading lesswrong; thanks to the questioner and the answerer for reminding me why I should. Books are cheap so I'm buying them all, even if not for all immediate reads. Don't suppose you teach near upstate New York?

Comment author: pragmatist 03 May 2015 11:20:45AM 1 point [-]

I teach about 8000 miles away from upstate New York, I'm afraid.

Comment author: iarwain1 01 May 2015 12:45:15AM 0 points [-]

Thanks! What are the recent papers that you suggest?

Comment author: pragmatist 03 May 2015 11:08:59AM *  1 point [-]

It really depends on what topic you're interested in. Papers tend to be pretty focused on one question, so if you're looking for an overview of a subject, books are the way to go. If you're interested in learning more about some specific problem, I'd be happy to recommend accessible papers if I can think of any.

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