Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.jpg
Author Carlo Rovelli
Original titleSette brevi lezioni di fisica
Language Italian
Subject Physics
Genre Non-fiction
Publisher Penguin Books (English edition)
Publication date
2014
Publication place Italy
Published in English
2015
Media typePrint, Digital
Pages96 (English edition)
ISBN 9780241235966 (English hardcover edition)
Website sevenbrieflessons.com

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (Italian : Sette brevi lezioni di fisica) is a short book by the Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli. Originally published in Italian in 2014, by 2021 the book has been translated into 52 languages. [1] More than a million copies have been sold, of which more than 400,000 in Italy. [2]

Contents

Overview

The book condenses the revelations of post-Newtonian physics – from Einstein's theory of relativity to quantum mechanics – into seven brief, accessible lessons. [3] These were originally serialised in an Italian newspaper. [4] Rovelli uses a literary approach, for instance, highlighting a year Einstein spent apparently aimlessly with the comment that those who don't waste time, won't get anywhere. [5]

The chapters are:

  1. The Most Beautiful of Theories
  2. The Quanta
  3. The Architecture of the Cosmos
  4. Particles
  5. Grains of Space
  6. Probability, Time and the Heat of Black Holes
  7. Ourselves

Critical reception

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics was generally well-received. According to Book Marks , the book received "positive" reviews based on 7 critic reviews with 2 being "rave" and 3 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed" and 1 being "pan". [6]

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References

  1. Le Monde, Sept 24, 2021. Carlo Rovelli, rockstar de la mécanique quantique
  2. Law, Katie (9 November 2015). "Meet Carlo Rovelli, the scientist behind new cult book Seven Brief Lessons on Physics". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 July 2016. In his native Italy the book has outsold Fifty Shades of Grey, shifting more than 300,000 copies, and it is now being translated into 28 languages.
  3. Rovelli, Carlo (24 September 2015). Seven Brief Lessons on Physics on Google Books. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9780241235973 . Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  4. Davis, Nicola (11 October 2015). "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli review – a curious paean to science". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  5. Florio, Maria Louisa (2014). "La bellezza della fisica: 7 brevi lezioni di Rovelli - di M. L. Florio". www.bagherianews.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  6. "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics". Book Marks . Retrieved 12 July 2024.