Summary and Reviews of Fundamentals by Frank Wilczek

Media Reviews

New York Times Whether or not you're accustomed to reading physics for pleasure, the Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek's Fundamentals might be the perfect book for the winter of this plague year...Wilczek's voice here is endearingly humble...What a reader gets in Fundamentals is the native language of physics — mathematics — precisely translated by someone who has spent a lifetime (about a billion thoughts!) on these forces that shape our physical world.

Scientific American A lucid and riveting narrative of the fundamentals—what Wilczek calls ‘the central messages of modern physics,’ which are not just facts about how the world works but also ‘the style of thought that allowed us to discover them.

Washington Post For those with more scientific yearnings, and who regret not taking a few courses in college to learn about the physical world, theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek offers a way to catch up...With his clear and joyful voice, Wilczek succeeds very well, and for good reason...There is no calculus required; this is not Physics 101. Instead, Wilczek talks about modern physics and cosmology from a more broad-brush and philosophical perspective, often linking their findings to the real world — how they affect us. In this age of rising skepticism, he wants his readers — whom he imagines to be lawyers, doctors, artists, parents or simply curious people — to be 'born again, in the way of science.'

Booklist (starred review) All of the technical aspects are presented in accessible language, and Wilczek blends in relatable examples, anecdotes, quotes, and bits of humor, taking pains to differentiate between fact and theory.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A breathtaking feat...the author does far more than just present the facts and speculations, however fascinating; on every page, readers will glean his exhilaration and joy in discovery...Another winner from Wilczek, who invites us to be born again into a richer, deeper understanding of the world.

Publishers Weekly (starred review) The universe at its grandest and most minuscule is explored in this beguiling meditation on physics...a stimulating and very readable scientific tour of the cosmos.

 Krista Tippett, host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise This is an exuberant, gorgeously crafted, and intellectually thrilling book, written by one of our greatest living scientists yet hospitable to all. To be reminded that time and space, mystery and order, are so much stranger and more generous than we can comprehend—this is a gift to public life and moral imagination in a young century where what is visible and tangible feels chaotic and constricting. This book is also unexpectedly spiritually thrilling. Wilczek makes the remarkable move of picking up and evolving the classic scientists' faith that their investigations would reveal the mind of our maker, as well as Einstein's self-described 'cosmic spiritual sensibility.' What began as an exposition, as Wilzcek writes, 'grew into a contemplation.' The result is a profoundly enriched understanding, accessible to the religious and non-religious alike, of what it means to be human—and what we might be pointing at when we use the word God.

 Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden This is a book about deep ideas, not passing fancies. It will teach you profound principles, not dry lists of facts. It's a rare treat indeed to get a glimpse into the mind of one of the world's leading physicists, presented in an engaging style that will be enjoyed by anyone at all.

 Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics, Cornell University, and author of Infinite Powers Frank Wilczek is not only one of the world's greatest physicists; he's also one of its greatest explainers. Fundamentals is lucid, beautiful, and revelatory.

Reader Reviews

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