Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity
- Downloads：2306
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-07-31 03:19:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Antonio Padilla
- ISBN：0374600562
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A fun， dazzling exploration of the strange numbers that illuminate the ultimate nature of reality。
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell， Paul Dirac， or Albert Einstein， the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality。 But what are these truths？ What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe？
In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them， the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics， offering a startling picture of how the universe works。 These strange numbers include Graham's number， which is so large that if you thought about it in the wrong way， your head would collapse into a singularity; TREE（3）， whose finite nature can never be definitively proved， because to do so would take so much time that the universe would experience a Poincar� Recurrence--resetting to precisely the state it currently holds， down to the arrangement of individual atoms; and 10^{-120}， measuring the desperately unlikely balance of energy needed to allow the universe to exist for more than just a moment， to extend beyond the size of a single atom--in other words， the mystery of our unexpected universe。
Leading us down the rabbit hole to a deeper understanding of reality， Padilla explains how these unusual numbers are the key to understanding such mind-boggling phenomena as black holes， relativity， and the problem of the cosmological constant--that the two best and most rigorously tested ways of understanding the universe contradict one another。 Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a combination of popular and cutting-edge science--and a lively， entertaining， and even funny exploration of the most fundamental truths about the universe。
For particularly brilliant theoretical physicists like James Clerk Maxwell， Paul Dirac， or Albert Einstein， the search for mathematical truths led to strange new understandings of the ultimate nature of reality。 But what are these truths？ What are the mysterious numbers that explain the universe？
In Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them， the leading theoretical physicist and YouTube star Antonio Padilla takes us on an irreverent cosmic tour of nine of the most extraordinary numbers in physics， offering a startling picture of how the universe works。 These strange numbers include Graham's number， which is so large that if you thought about it in the wrong way， your head would collapse into a singularity; TREE（3）， whose finite nature can never be definitively proved， because to do so would take so much time that the universe would experience a Poincar� Recurrence--resetting to precisely the state it currently holds， down to the arrangement of individual atoms; and 10^{-120}， measuring the desperately unlikely balance of energy needed to allow the universe to exist for more than just a moment， to extend beyond the size of a single atom--in other words， the mystery of our unexpected universe。
Leading us down the rabbit hole to a deeper understanding of reality， Padilla explains how these unusual numbers are the key to understanding such mind-boggling phenomena as black holes， relativity， and the problem of the cosmological constant--that the two best and most rigorously tested ways of understanding the universe contradict one another。 Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a combination of popular and cutting-edge science--and a lively， entertaining， and even funny exploration of the most fundamental truths about the universe。
Reviews
Elisa
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It’s remarkable how someone so smart can make something so difficult so approachable for even the most math-challenged reader。 I’m the kind of person who has to use Excel for even the most basic additions and yet I understood mostly everything in this fascinating book。 There’s history， art， cultural references and simple examples to explain even quantum physics。 Padilla uses everything from golf balls， bottles of wine or even relationships amongst people to make the most extraordinary concepts r It’s remarkable how someone so smart can make something so difficult so approachable for even the most math-challenged reader。 I’m the kind of person who has to use Excel for even the most basic additions and yet I understood mostly everything in this fascinating book。 There’s history， art， cultural references and simple examples to explain even quantum physics。 Padilla uses everything from golf balls， bottles of wine or even relationships amongst people to make the most extraordinary concepts relatable and easy to grasp。 He is also the narrator of his own audiobook， so you know you’re getting the ideas straight from his head。 I wasn’t sure about getting the audio version， since sometimes it’s easier to see the numbers and equations written down but， to be honest， I don’t think it matters to laypeople as much。 There is so much physics， about the universe and how it works， even if no one really knows why。 Seriously， if I understood this book， anyone can read it and it’s worth the effort。 The concepts explored here are mind-blowing （and I’m not talking about Graham’s number。 From zero to infinity， this book shows how wonderful numbers are。 I loved it！I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， #NetGalley/#Macmillan Audio！ 。。。more
vincentasusual
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Fills with physics， maths and history。 This book tells you facts about the most extreme numbers in a witty tone。 The information is hard to grasp most of the time， not recommend for anyone who doesn't already find interested in these topics。 Fills with physics， maths and history。 This book tells you facts about the most extreme numbers in a witty tone。 The information is hard to grasp most of the time， not recommend for anyone who doesn't already find interested in these topics。 。。。more
Annie
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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader。 Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a genuinely fascinating look at numbers， physics， and the nature of reality curated and facilitated by Dr。 Antonio Padilla。 Released 26th July by Macmillan on their Farrar， Straus and Giroux imprint， it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover， audio， and ebook formats。 It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughou Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader。 Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them is a genuinely fascinating look at numbers， physics， and the nature of reality curated and facilitated by Dr。 Antonio Padilla。 Released 26th July by Macmillan on their Farrar， Straus and Giroux imprint， it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover， audio， and ebook formats。 It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout。 I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately。 This book is absolutely bursting with personality。 Dr。 Padilla *loves* numbers， and math， and really wants to share the love with everyone。 Many （most） mathematics and physics books， even those accessible to the average layperson， presuppose at least some affinity with the subject matter。 I think of it as "preaching to the choir"。 Not so this book。 The author explains things in such a way as to make them accessible and understandable to almost anyone。 There are no long and arduous proofs to work through （though he does give copious notes and there's enough meat and rigor to satisfy actual maths/physics folks）。 He explains quite complex theory in a fun way。 Books like this one are a tragedy for me personally in some ways because a long time ago， there was an academic split and I took the road more traveled - toward a life of professional bionerdery and away from the more crystalline forests of physics and mathematics。 When I read books like this one （and when I revisit Feynman's Lectures， as I do once every few years） it fills me with a nostalgic wistfulness about not following physics more earnestly。 Maths and physics certainly *can* and *should* be engaging and fun。 This is a good book。 I would recommend it for maths/physics interested adults or older teenagers or *very* engaged younger readers。 If 12 year old me had had a copy， I might not be a bioengineer today。 Language and spelling are British English but it won't cause any problems in context。Five stars。Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes。 。。。more
Ben Rogers
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This was a very good book。 A fun math-meets-physics book。 You can just read Padilla's passion for numbers in this book， and the awe he has for maths。There is a sense of wonder in this book， and I really appreciated it。 I have been on a mathematics and algorithm kick of books lately and this book was a great addition。 Would recommend！3。8/5 This was a very good book。 A fun math-meets-physics book。 You can just read Padilla's passion for numbers in this book， and the awe he has for maths。There is a sense of wonder in this book， and I really appreciated it。 I have been on a mathematics and algorithm kick of books lately and this book was a great addition。 Would recommend！3。8/5 。。。more
Sierra
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This book absolutely destroyed me。 I'm familiar with the author through numberphile， and I should've known better than to read this because numberphile makes me want to switch my concentration to math， and this book just incorporated physics into that conversation。 Neither are a good idea。 I don't think I'll ever stop coming back to math every few years and remembering the way I felt when my middle school math teacher taught me about infinity， but this trip to exploding head land was probably th This book absolutely destroyed me。 I'm familiar with the author through numberphile， and I should've known better than to read this because numberphile makes me want to switch my concentration to math， and this book just incorporated physics into that conversation。 Neither are a good idea。 I don't think I'll ever stop coming back to math every few years and remembering the way I felt when my middle school math teacher taught me about infinity， but this trip to exploding head land was probably the best yet。 One caveat: there are lots of other books out there like this， and I'm not sure whether this one is special because of the actual qualities of the book or when I happened to read it。 ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
John Rennie
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I felt a little cheated by this book。 It is well written and entertaining， and should be on the to-read list for any popular science fan， but it is a book about "fantastic numbers" in physics not just "fantastic numbers"。 As a result about half the book is taken up with descriptions of physics and only half with the eponymous fantastic numbers。This is fair enough as Padilla is a physicist not a mathematician， but I feel as though I've read a hundred popular science books about physics and I'm no I felt a little cheated by this book。 It is well written and entertaining， and should be on the to-read list for any popular science fan， but it is a book about "fantastic numbers" in physics not just "fantastic numbers"。 As a result about half the book is taken up with descriptions of physics and only half with the eponymous fantastic numbers。This is fair enough as Padilla is a physicist not a mathematician， but I feel as though I've read a hundred popular science books about physics and I'm not sure Padilla added anything new to this。 He writes well， but the material has been so thoroughly covered by other authors that it's hard to find anything new in it。I'm being a little unfair as Padilla discusses Graham's number and TREE（3）， neither of which are used in physics。 However these are exceptions and the rest of the book is highly physics orientated。 This seems a shame as there are dozens， maybe thousands of fantastic numbers in mathematics， but I concede that most of these are rather abstract and hard to understand for the non-mathematician。 I guess Padilla was wise to ignore them。In the end I gave the book four stars as I'm sure many people will thoroughly enjoy reading it。 If you enjoy reading popular physics books and haven't already been saturated by existing publications then I can recommend Padilla's book。 It's just that for me it didn't quite live up to it's title。 。。。more
Frank
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