Carlo Rovelli Shares the Wonder and Beauty of Quantum Theory

 Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution – Carlo Rovelli (2021)

            One of the greatest compliments I can give the eminent physicist and author Carlo Rovelli is that his informative and entertaining science books rival Richard Feynman’s for the sheer joy they give me upon reading.  I have reviewed three of Mr. Rovelli’s amazing books on RXTT’s Book Journey, White Holes, Reality Is Not What It Seems, and The First Scientist: Anaximander and His Legacy.  Each one is incredibly eye-opening, and written in a manner so casual as to seem like personal conversations between Mr. Rovelli and I.  This latest work, an exploration into the ideas of quantum mechanics and their repercussions and implications, is critical reading for me, and has given me much to think about.

            Rovelli understands that us lay readers, people with an interest in physics but not professional scientists, can experience the same awe, the same thrill of understanding, that the researchers and theoreticians feel when they gain new knowledge.  The difference lies in the presentation of the material.  Since quantum mechanics is an intensely odd, yet deeply relevant field of modern science, it takes a special storyteller to relate the discovery, formulation, and utilization of this particularly intriguing area of current scientific thought.

            The author never loses sight of the humanity involved in science, and of the amazing achievements and knowledge that mere humans can bring to the world at large.  The recounting of the early 1900’s, a time when the formal, mechanistic, classical physics of Newton were upended by Einstein’s relativity, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, and Planck’s exploration into the world of quanta.  These world-shaking ideas took hold in the minds of young physicists, producing one of the most successful, and rigorous understandings of the natural world that humanity has ever encountered, quantum theory.  Nearly every new development in our world over the past 100 years owes everything to our knowledge of the quantum nature of reality and the ability of our fellow humans to create technology dependent on the quantum world.  Sadly, most of us benefit from these ideas without understanding even the smallest part.

            Besides sharing the story of quantum theory’s discovery, the author explores how the theory refutes many of the long-standing assumptions held by the great thinkers of humanity.  It is this aspect of quantum theory that has yet to see its full flowering.  Most of us walk around with our grammar school science knowledge informing our view of the world, when, in fact, that model of the universe is flawed and incomplete.  Quantum theory instead describes a universe where the divisions between objects disappear, where the observer cannot be removed from what is observed, where absolute certainty about anything is a mirage.  It will take centuries for humanity to fully grasp these ideas and drop the old prejudices.

            Rovelli also makes it abundantly clear that, for even the most highly trained minds, the ability to use quantum theory is not the same as the ability to fully comprehend quantum theory.  He is honestly forthright when describing his own attempts, mostly unsuccessful, to cognitively grasp the deep truths that quantum theory seems to tell us about the reality we live in.  Thank Mario that humanity has minds such as Mr. Rovelli’s whose curiosity leads them to seek and grapple with the most obtuse and rarefied ideas, in order to help the rest of us understand what makes up the world we all share.  As with all of Carlo Rovelli’s books, it is highly recommended.