Carlo Rovelli was born in Italy, is a US citizen and lives in France. His main activity is in theoretical physics, where he is known as one of the founders of loop quantum gravity. He has also interests in the history and philosophy of science. He has written "Quantum Gravity", a treatise on loop quantum gravity and, for the large public, "The First Scientist: Anaximander and his Legacy", which is primarily a reflection on the nature of science. The book is translated in five languages and has been awarded by the "Prix du Livre Haute Maurienne".
Rovelli has worked in various Universities in Italy, the US and France. He is currently head of the quantum gravity group at the Center For Theoretical Physics of the Aix-Marseille University. He is Honorary Professor of the Normal University of Beijing, and member of the International Academy for the Philosophy of Science.
In his latest book, Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. The quantum world Rovelli describes is as beautiful as it is unnerving.
Helgoland is a treeless island in the North Sea where the twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg made the crucial breakthrough for the creation of quantum mechanics, setting off a century of scientific revolution. Full of alarming ideas (ghost waves, distant objects that seem to be magically connected, cats that appear both dead and alive), quantum physics has led to countless discoveries and technological advancements. Today our understanding of the world is based on this theory, yet it is still profoundly mysterious.
As scientists and philosophers continue to fiercely debate the meaning of the theory, Rovelli argues that its most unsettling contradictions can be explained by seeing the world as fundamentally made of relationships rather than substances. We and everything around us exist only in our interactions with one another. This bold idea suggests new directions for thinking about the structure of reality and even the nature of consciousness.
Rovelli makes learning about quantum mechanics an almost psychedelic experience. Shifting our perspective once again, he takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better comprehend our place in it.
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