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Reality Is Not What It Seems cover art

Reality Is Not What It Seems

Written by: Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell - translator, Erica Segre - translator
Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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Publisher's Summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on PhysicsThe Order of Time, and Helgoland, a closer look at the mind-bending nature of the Universe.

What are the elementary ingredients of the world? Do time and space exist? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions. He tells us how our understanding of reality has changed over the centuries and how physicists think about the structure of the Universe today.

In elegant and accessible prose, Rovelli takes us on a wondrous journey from Democritus to Albert Einstein, from Michael Faraday to gravitational waves, and from classical physics to his own work in quantum gravity. As he shows us how the idea of reality has evolved over time, Rovelli offers deeper explanations of the theories he introduced so concisely in Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.

This audiobook culminates in a lucid overview of quantum gravity, the field of research that explores the quantum nature of space and time, seeking to unify quantum mechanics, and general relativity. Rovelli invites us to imagine a marvelous world where space breaks up into tiny grains, time disappears at the smallest scales, and black holes are waiting to explode - a vast universe still largely undiscovered.

©2017 Carlo Rovelli (P)2017 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“The man who makes physics sexy...the scientist they’re calling the next Stephen Hawking.” (The Times Magazine)

“[Reality Is Not What It Seems] is simultaneously aimed at the curious layperson while also useful to the modern scientist.... Rovelli lets us nibble or gorge ourselves, depending on our appetites, on several scrumptious equations. He doesn’t expect everyone to be a master of the equations or even possess much mathematical acumen, but the equations serve as appetizers for those inclined to get their fill, so to speak.” (Raleigh News & Observer

“[Reality Is Not What It Seems] is simultaneously aimed at the curious layperson while also useful to the modern scientist.... Rovelli lets us nibble or gorge ourselves, depending on our appetites, on several scrumptious equations. He doesn’t expect everyone to be a master of the equations or even possess much mathematical acumen, but the equations serve as appetizers for those inclined to get their fill, so to speak.” (Raleigh News & Observer

What listeners say about Reality Is Not What It Seems

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Amazing!!!

probably the easiest to understand book on quantum physics that I've seen. The history of scientific discovery in physics is laid out in a straightforward and clear manner. excellent work!!!

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  • KR
  • 2018-11-25

Loved it!

Beautifully written! The narrator was fantastic, he brought so much energy and really made the content engaging.

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Excellent content

Thought provoking science taught in a way that can be understood by a normal person. Narrator is excellent. Highly recommend.

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Bringing Quantum Physics to the Layman Beautifully

If you don’t know anything about physics or the universe, this is the perfect place to start! What a beautiful mind opening book. Be patient while reading and take your time to get the most out of this amazing book.

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Absolutely immaculate voice performance!

This book is fascinating and approachable. Told with eloquence and coherence, it presents an extremely complicated subject in an ‘average reader’ friendly way. The voiceover artist reading this book is nothing short of spectacular. His voice is a combination of perfect clarity in storytelling, and sounds like a warm hug feels.

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Very enjoyable and left me wanting more

As the title suggests, this is more about the journey to Quantum physics, than about Quantum gravity itself. Luckily, Carlo is a fantastic story teller, and has a way of making sense of things that were previously a little blurry for me. Only complaint is that I personally was hoping for a little deeper dive into the theory of quantum gravity itself. It wrapped up before I was ready for it to.

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