Just Finished Reading: The Consolations of Physics – Why the Wonders of the Universe Can Make You Happy by Tim Radford (FP: 2018) [178pp] 

It's difficult not to view the Universe we’re born into with a feeling of awe. Indeed, it's difficult to learn about the Universe without becoming over-awed and maybe a little overwhelmed. Both staggeringly old and STAGGERINGLY huge, it’s easy to think that we’ll never understand it, but the amazing thing is that we ARE beginning to do just that. 

We’ve been looking at the heavens for longer than human history and, no doubt, wondering about the lights in the night sky and what they are. It took a LONG time to finally figure things out (or start the process!) but we’re getting there. With telescopes, probes and a bit of mathematical wizardry we can understand the movement of planets, the birth (and death) of stars and even the birth (and death?) of the Universe itself. But we’re not there yet – not by a long way. Our knowledge of the Universe is still partial and there is much we still don’t understand – or even know we don’t know. There’s even the real possibility that much that we think we know might be flat wrong. We do indeed live in exciting times. 

At the other end of the scale, we have the infinitely small – the once indivisible atom, now known to be made up of progressively smaller and smaller parts. The Quantum realm is bizarre on steroids but works despite Einstein never fully accepting its implications. Not only are things stranger than we know, but they might also very well be stranger than we can know. Few scientists can wrap their heads around the mathematics required to understand (or at least appreciate or approach understanding) of the strangeness of Quantum Mechanics whilst the rest of us normal folk can only look on with wide-eyed wonder and laugh at the absurdity. I do find it FUN though – knowing that the foundations of everything are just so WEIRD. It warms my heart. 

Looking both out into the Universe and into the heart of atomic structure, the author shows how the endeavour to understand EVERYTHING is an amazing gift and one that can inspire much previously held to be the domain of Religion. The Cosmos can leave us feeling a sense of awe, a knowledge of how small we are, and inspire us to want to know the origins and mechanics of existence itself. Breakthroughs in the study of sub-atomic particles can should us just how amazing things really are and how everything, from the exploding hearts of stars to the DNA in every one of every living creature's cells are ultimately connected. We are indeed star stuff. But I think the most awe-inspiring thing we’ve learnt from all our endeavours so far is the sure and certain knowledge of how little we actually know. There is still SO much to learn, So much the discover and SO many misunderstandings to correct. We are living in an era of great scientific breakthroughs. I for one love finding out new stuff and even more finding out we were wrong about the old stuff. Can Physics make you happy? It works for me... [lol] A recommended, if somewhat short, read for anyone unsure what all the fuss is about with Cosmologists and the Quantum world. More to come. 

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