The Art of Physics

This book is about the hidden, surprising, and sometimes beautiful ways in which ideas from physics are being applied to important questions facing our lives and society today; questions so complex or personal that they are normally considered beyond the realms of science.

Why are some relationships unstable, while others last a lifetime? Why do the rich keep getting richer, and can it ever be any other way? Why do we make seemingly irrational decisions? How can we make sense of the rise of populism in global politics? For these questions and others, the laws of physics offer new perspectives.

Drawing on cutting-edge research and eye-opening insights from quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, chaos and complexity theory, materials science and more, The Art of Physics shows that science offers a rich vocabulary for tackling the chaos, contradictions and unpredictability that often seem to be the hallmarks of daily life. Not only does physics explain many aspects of our experience, it transforms them.