Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality
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- Create Date：2022-01-03 07:51:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Frank Wilczek
- ISBN：0141985771
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Summary
One of our great contemporary scientists reveals the ten profound insights that illuminate what everyone should know about the physical world
In Fundamentals， Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek offers the reader a simple yet profound exploration of reality based on the deep revelations of modern science。 With clarity and an infectious sense of joy， he guides us through the essential concepts that form our understanding of what the world is and how it works。 Through these pages， we come to see our reality in a new way--bigger， fuller， and stranger than it looked before。
Synthesizing basic questions， facts， and dazzling speculations， Wilczek investigates the ideas that form our understanding of the universe: time， space， matter， energy， complexity， and complementarity。 He excavates the history of fundamental science， exploring what we know and how we know it， while journeying to the horizons of the scientific world to give us a glimpse of what we may soon discover。 Brilliant， lucid， and accessible， this celebration of human ingenuity and imagination will expand your world and your mind。
In Fundamentals， Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek offers the reader a simple yet profound exploration of reality based on the deep revelations of modern science。 With clarity and an infectious sense of joy， he guides us through the essential concepts that form our understanding of what the world is and how it works。 Through these pages， we come to see our reality in a new way--bigger， fuller， and stranger than it looked before。
Synthesizing basic questions， facts， and dazzling speculations， Wilczek investigates the ideas that form our understanding of the universe: time， space， matter， energy， complexity， and complementarity。 He excavates the history of fundamental science， exploring what we know and how we know it， while journeying to the horizons of the scientific world to give us a glimpse of what we may soon discover。 Brilliant， lucid， and accessible， this celebration of human ingenuity and imagination will expand your world and your mind。
Reviews
Cold Cream 'n' Roses
，
Tough slogging。 I earned a degree in STEM （some 40 years ago）， but it's difficult to follow， even though it's written for the layman。 Tough slogging。 I earned a degree in STEM （some 40 years ago）， but it's difficult to follow， even though it's written for the layman。 。。。more
Xinyu
，
Not a good read - there are some good explanations but many sentences， especially when the author tried to extend physics content， make little sense。
Gennadiy Vaysman
，
Surprisingly poor for a scientist of his statue。Lots of boring commonplace quasi-philosophical discourses。 That could have been excusable but as far as particle physics is concerned， he totally fails to paint holistic and comprehensive picture， I think。 Instead， he dives into specific subjects of his own research， yet those descriptions are too cryptic for a non-physicist and too cursory for a physicist。 In short， 2 stars at best
Rudi Pauwelijn
，
Leren kan leuk ， en ook wat vermoeiend zijn ， hoewel duidelijk en leesbaar （ voor een leek ） ben ik in sommige stukken wat verstrikt door onvoldoende kennis ， het grootste deel van het boek gaf leuke inzichten ， 。。。。。。。 en een hoop vragen ， kan （zware ） energie stralen lichtere doen afbuigen zonder dat er sprake is van massa ， Kan de sterke en zwakke kracht invloed hebben op het bewustzijn （ als dat is opgebouwd uit atomen of energie ？ ）。 Hebben anyonen iets te maken met het geheugen van een pas Leren kan leuk ， en ook wat vermoeiend zijn ， hoewel duidelijk en leesbaar （ voor een leek ） ben ik in sommige stukken wat verstrikt door onvoldoende kennis ， het grootste deel van het boek gaf leuke inzichten ， 。。。。。。。 en een hoop vragen ， kan （zware ） energie stralen lichtere doen afbuigen zonder dat er sprake is van massa ， Kan de sterke en zwakke kracht invloed hebben op het bewustzijn （ als dat is opgebouwd uit atomen of energie ？ ）。 Hebben anyonen iets te maken met het geheugen van een pasgeboren plantaardige of dierlijke cel ， en welke informatie bevatten ze dan precies ？ ，Wat zou de mening zijn van de schrijver over （ nieuw te bouwen ？ ） kerncentrales ？ De moeilijkheidsgraad was voor mij goed om te kunnen volgen 。。。more
Qurat Ul Ain
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Loved the way book was compiled and written。
Claudia
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I found this book a little hard to get through。 I love the philosophy and magic and wonder （such as they are） that underlie quantum mechanics。 I love it told through story and examples -- this book was a bit dense， even though I have a fair grounding （as a lay person） in the subject。 I loved the final chapter though， and also the afterword。 Those two hit the tone I loved in books of this nature。
Mike Smith
，
I studied physics in university in the 1980s。 I read books like Fundamentals every so often to find out what's new in the field without having to remember all that math！ In this book， Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek explains what he considers ten fundamental facts about or features of the physical world， each in its own chapter。 I'm quite familiar with the first few fundamentals， but as the book progressed， I learned about a few topics that I'd never heard of， including axions， a new， still-hyp I studied physics in university in the 1980s。 I read books like Fundamentals every so often to find out what's new in the field without having to remember all that math！ In this book， Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek explains what he considers ten fundamental facts about or features of the physical world， each in its own chapter。 I'm quite familiar with the first few fundamentals， but as the book progressed， I learned about a few topics that I'd never heard of， including axions， a new， still-hypothetical elementary particle。The first five fundamentals are space， time， fields， laws of nature， and "dynamic complexity" （"complex material patterns that change in time"）。 The next two are the Big Bang and the emergence of a complex universe from simple beginnings （although Wilczek doesn't call it this， it reads to me as chaos theory）。 Fundamental 8 is that reality is not how it appears to us in everyday life。 Modern physics predicts certain particles （such as the Higgs particle） and fields （such as gravitational waves）， and we just now are becoming able to conduct experiments to verify those predictions。The next fundamental fact is that we don't understand everything yet。 Our models have been remarkably good so far， but there are still unanswered questions， such as what caused the Big Bang。 Some of the most recent theories to deal with these questions involve dark matter and dark energy。 Here， Wilczek begins to shine， from my perspective。 He provides one of the clearer explanations I've read for these theoretical phenomena， why we think they exist， and how we might confirm that existence。 Wilczek's final fundamental is complementarity， the idea that there are different yet equally valid ways of modelling reality， and each way has useful applications。Wilczek acknowledges that these fundamental ideas are hard to grasp and counter to our intuition， yet they have led to many of the technologies that support and enhance our modern world。 These ideas also show us， if we are willing to look， that we humans are integral parts of the universe， made of the same stuff and obeying the same laws as all the other objects we encounter。 To understand that "stuff" is to understand ourselves。Wilczek's writing is good， but it can be dry at times， particularly in the early chapters， which may be overly familiar to readers who are comfortable with physics。 His overall style is less readable than， say， Sagan or Hawking， who are my benchmarks for this sort of book。 There is interesting material throughout， but I found it much more interesting in the last few chapters， as Wilczek entered territory I had not visited before。 。。。more
Victorious Lucian
，
This is a great book about human progress on science。 Wilczek goes through most of science achievements of humanity such as Einstein's General Relativity， applications as the GPS system， Newton s laws of motion， Maxwell's equations and implications， he talks a lot about the forces of the Universe like weak force strong force， gravity and electromagnetism， he goes through types of particles and fields and many more achievements AAAND ALL OF THAT in a reachable and understandable language without This is a great book about human progress on science。 Wilczek goes through most of science achievements of humanity such as Einstein's General Relativity， applications as the GPS system， Newton s laws of motion， Maxwell's equations and implications， he talks a lot about the forces of the Universe like weak force strong force， gravity and electromagnetism， he goes through types of particles and fields and many more achievements AAAND ALL OF THAT in a reachable and understandable language without going very deep in technicalities and if he does that he is also explaining them pretty well。 The book only has like two equations lile E=mc^2 and E=hv。 Mostly it feels a bit like A brief history of time by Stephen Hawking but without going too deep in it。 。。。more
Book
，
"Основи。 10 ключів до реальності"。 Франц Вільчек。 В школі фізика подобалась приблизно 50 на 50， теж саме було під час навчання в інституті。 Зараз цікаво читати нонфікшин книги за напрямом фізики， особливо， коли це пов'язано з всесвітом。 Тому вирішив прочитати цю книгу。 В книзі поєднано все:філософія， фізика та інші напрямки науки。 Читається дуже легко， але відпочити книга вам не дасть。 Автор постійно використовує наукові поняття， але в той же час， на інтуїтивному рівні розумієш про що річ。 Вона "Основи。 10 ключів до реальності"。 Франц Вільчек。 В школі фізика подобалась приблизно 50 на 50， теж саме було під час навчання в інституті。 Зараз цікаво читати нонфікшин книги за напрямом фізики， особливо， коли це пов'язано з всесвітом。 Тому вирішив прочитати цю книгу。 В книзі поєднано все:філософія， фізика та інші напрямки науки。 Читається дуже легко， але відпочити книга вам не дасть。 Автор постійно використовує наукові поняття， але в той же час， на інтуїтивному рівні розумієш про що річ。 Вона буде цікава тим， кому подобається теорія Великого вибуху， тема， від створення Всесвіту до його можливого кінця。 Професор згадує всесвітньо відомих фізиків， які займались вивченням створення нашого Всесвіту， Темної матерії тощо。 Особливу увагу Вільчек приділяє Великому андронному колайдеру та бозон Ґікса。 Як вчені мають намір відтворити т。зв Великий вибух。 Книга дуже цікава， Вільчек зміг легко описати створення Всесвіту зі сторони фізики， доступною мовою для всіх。 Раджу для читання тим， кому цікава ця тема。 9/10。 。。。more
Joseph Wise
，
Interesting reflections and speculations built upon clearly explained scientific concepts。 Garnished with thoughtful， well-placed quotes。 The way this author presents and discusses the concept of complementarity in the final chapter is deeply satisfying despite some philosophical objections I may have。 A beautifully written， informative， and thought-provoking book。 Would highly recommend。
Carlo Garcia
，
Amazing book。 A bit technical but one to revisit over again
Simon Jewell
，
I liked this book a lot。 Wilczek does a good job of describing his world view。 His language is readily accessible。He makes the case that our naturally learned， 'childish' models of the world don't apply very well to fundamental physics。 There are lots of great insights to enjoy。 I particularly like his section saying that the best we can do， when thinking about fundamentally unknowable aspects of reality， is to use complementary models。 I also liked the idea of provisionally stable patterns emer I liked this book a lot。 Wilczek does a good job of describing his world view。 His language is readily accessible。He makes the case that our naturally learned， 'childish' models of the world don't apply very well to fundamental physics。 There are lots of great insights to enjoy。 I particularly like his section saying that the best we can do， when thinking about fundamentally unknowable aspects of reality， is to use complementary models。 I also liked the idea of provisionally stable patterns emerging from combinatorial explosions of building block parts （which are themselves provisionally stable patterns）。Neither of these ideas were entirely new to me though。 I would have liked the book more if it had reference notes and a bibliography， and relied less on claims of personal authority。 。。。more
Юра Мельник
，
Схоже що матерія і математика "на папері" це одне й те ж саме Схоже що матерія і математика "на папері" це одне й те ж саме 。。。more
Paul Sand
，
[Imported automatically from my blog。 Some formatting there may not have translated here。] Another book about physics for the layperson。 It's not bad。 The author， Frank Wilczek， is a Nobel Prize winner in physics， so I'm relatively sure his explication of science here is solid。 His mission here is broad， and somewhat daunting: an overview of the "fundamental lessons we can learn from the study of the physical world。" So in a relatively short book， it's a whirlwind tour of cosmology， particle ph [Imported automatically from my blog。 Some formatting there may not have translated here。] Another book about physics for the layperson。 It's not bad。 The author， Frank Wilczek， is a Nobel Prize winner in physics， so I'm relatively sure his explication of science here is solid。 His mission here is broad， and somewhat daunting: an overview of the "fundamental lessons we can learn from the study of the physical world。" So in a relatively short book， it's a whirlwind tour of cosmology， particle physics， relativity， etc。 Books like this （I've noticed） tend to shy away from math。 It's apparently an ironclad law in the publishing world that each equation in a book decreases the readership by some non-trivial amount。 Also， no graphs。 （Well， there's one here on page 3: World GDP per capita， from 1500-2000。） And no diagrams， just a few basic tables。 Instead， there's a lot （a lot） of what I call "poetic language"。 （In fact， there's an actual poem in the book's dedication， to his wife Betsy。） Sometimes this can be beautifully illuminating。 Example from page 106: "Atoms sing songs that bare their souls， in light。" Which is a neat way of expressing the more pedestrian fact that electrons jumping between energy levels in an atom emit photons of characteristic energy revealing the atom's structural nature。 Wilczek does as good a job as I've seen trying to explain particle/field duality。 E。g。， how sometimes it makes sense to think of light as a wiggling electomagnetic field， as described by Maxwell's equations。 But other times it makes sense to think of light as quantized particles （again， photons）， little shiny balls moving fast on their geodesics。 Both views are true， but it's very difficult to hold both in your head simultaneously。 。。。more
Danielle C。
，
Continuing my trend of science heavy reading: a breakdown of the fundamental （truly） laws that govern all reality， from microscopic interactions to large gravitational forces in space。 It feels almost refreshing and comfortable to understand the rules that apply at all levels （almost - quantum stuff is still a bit quirky）。 A good explanation of scientific history， discovery， current knowledge and groundbreaking recent discoveries， along with a bit of theory about what we might discover in the fu Continuing my trend of science heavy reading: a breakdown of the fundamental （truly） laws that govern all reality， from microscopic interactions to large gravitational forces in space。 It feels almost refreshing and comfortable to understand the rules that apply at all levels （almost - quantum stuff is still a bit quirky）。 A good explanation of scientific history， discovery， current knowledge and groundbreaking recent discoveries， along with a bit of theory about what we might discover in the future。 Some of what I read here overlapped with other books， but this is the first one that I read that made sub-atomic particle interactions somewhat understandable for a lay-person like me。 Suffused with a sense of wonder and thirst for further knowledge， this book was very engaging。 Sitting right on the border between too scientific and too casual， this hit all the right notes for me on this very very broad topic。 。。。more
Denis Vasilev
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Любимый научпоп - физика， микромир и космические просторы。 Как обычно от зарождения и до конца Вселенной
Tim
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Pretty clear and concise。 A good introduction to Physics。
Mark Nelson
，
Okay， not much new here。
Dave
，
3+
Steve
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I’ve read several books about particle physics， relativity， quantum mechanics， cosmology， etc。， all intended for laypeople of course， and I have fully understood none of them。 In fact， all of them have huge sections that leave me befuddled。 But actually， this book had a much better ratio than most， I probably sort of felt like I “got” three-quarters of it。 Maybe Wilczek has better explanations？ Maybe he just skips over the hardest parts？ Whatever it is， if you like this kind of stuff but would l I’ve read several books about particle physics， relativity， quantum mechanics， cosmology， etc。， all intended for laypeople of course， and I have fully understood none of them。 In fact， all of them have huge sections that leave me befuddled。 But actually， this book had a much better ratio than most， I probably sort of felt like I “got” three-quarters of it。 Maybe Wilczek has better explanations？ Maybe he just skips over the hardest parts？ Whatever it is， if you like this kind of stuff but would like to imagine that you are comprehending say 3/4 of the book instead of 1/4， then I recommend this one。 I truly enjoyed it。Wilczek is a good writer， but not a fabulous one。 But you can tell he wants to include the reader in his world， and his style kind of charmed me， and as a Nobel prize winning physicist， the guy certainly knows what he’s talking about！ 。。。more
Amanda Peppercorn
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Beautifully written and philosophical。 As a lay person， I don't think I could have followed a lot of what he wrote unless I had first read other similar books （the best for the novice is Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry）。 Beautifully written and philosophical。 As a lay person， I don't think I could have followed a lot of what he wrote unless I had first read other similar books （the best for the novice is Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry）。 。。。more
Mark
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Cosmology broken down and explained for the math impaired。
Adrian
，
Beautiful trip to the fundamentals of the universeI have no reason not to give it 5 starts， but I just couldn’t put it on the same level with his previous book， “A Beautiful Question”。 Otherwise， I loved the trip among the fundamental particles of nature/universe。
Max Skidmore
，
I enjoyed this book even though it was humbling to realize how much particle physics has changed since I studied it 5o years ago！ Ouch！
Todd Cheng
，
A shallow overview of the state of physics。 Enough for my innocent understanding， but expected a bit more from the topics the author has directly contributed to advances in understanding。
arda
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Science as a component of a whole picture of universe The author gives a highly readable account of human knowledge about physical world it is not and cannot be a final word but still an important milestone in grasping the universe。 A must read
Dennis Leth
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This is my third reading of a book from Frank Wilczek。 This one is absolutely the best of them all （also the latest one）。 Fundamentals and the Ten Keys to reality gives good and understandable knowledge on the latest development in the research of Quantum Theory。 I'm a layman and I believe this book gives some interesting perspective on reality。 The chapter I read with most interest was about complementarity and the ideas of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg。 This chapter should be free for every This is my third reading of a book from Frank Wilczek。 This one is absolutely the best of them all （also the latest one）。 Fundamentals and the Ten Keys to reality gives good and understandable knowledge on the latest development in the research of Quantum Theory。 I'm a layman and I believe this book gives some interesting perspective on reality。 The chapter I read with most interest was about complementarity and the ideas of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg。 This chapter should be free for everyone to read and to interpret because it contains valuable information on the existence of duality and opposite facts。 I don't know why but this chapter made me think about aluminum。 Once a treasured metal and now so abundant that we use it for almost everything。 How could something once have been scarce and abundant at the same time？ Both were facts at some point in time。 One big personal take away is to look deeper into biographies of Niels Bohr。 。。。more
Mark Tadder
，
Well this book was certainly not written for me。 I know what the author is trying to do and I can only hope that his targeted audience actually reads the book。 Might change some minds。
Zosia
，
（3。5） I think this book suffered from me reading too many just like it， which isn’t the （famous， brilliant physicist） author’s fault。 Also， the writing was dry and I don’t usually mind dry。 The title is very alluring for what’s actually a book about how space works。 Regardless， he had some new twists on old concepts - I loved the idea that there are more atoms inside of us than in the entire universe （a really soothing concept）。
Vinod Peris
，