There are some equations that are just magical. Follow the symbols where they lead and light becomes an electromagnetic wave, mass turns out to be a form of energy, spacetime bends, and a new particle is predicted where none had been suspected. You don’t need to be a mathematician to marvel that a few marks on a page can uncover hidden features of reality.
12 Equations That Explain Reality introduces you to a dozen such masterpieces that capture with breathtaking economy the way the world works. Your guide is award-winning physicist and popular podcaster Sean Carroll, Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University.
Beginning with the Pythagorean theorem, Professor Carroll shows how deceptively simple formulas can possess the elegance, depth, and potential for surprise of great works of art. He covers Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation, Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism, Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and more.
No background in higher mathematics is needed. Dr. Carroll walks through each equation symbol by symbol, explaining its notation before drawing out its rich implications. Acquainting yourself with these astonishing ideas requires only curiosity. In return, they offer passage to amazing realms—from right triangles and orbiting planets to quantum fields, antimatter, black holes, and an expanding universe. No intellectual journey can possibly take you farther.
