Something Deeply Hidden

Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

By: Sean Carroll

Narrated by: Sean Carroll

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

As you read these words, copies of you are being created.

Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything.

Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: physics has been in crisis since 1927. Quantum mechanics has always had obvious gaps—which have come to be simply ignored. Science popularizers keep telling us how weird it is, how impossible it is to understand. Academics discourage students from working on the "dead end" of quantum foundations. Putting his professional reputation on the line with this audacious yet entirely reasonable book, Carroll says that the crisis can now come to an end. We just have to accept that there is more than one of us in the universe. There are many, many Sean Carrolls. Many of every one of us.

Copies of you are generated thousands of times per second. The Many Worlds Theory of quantum behavior says that every time there is a quantum event, a world splits off with everything in it the same, except in that other world the quantum event didn't happen. Step-by-step in Carroll's uniquely lucid way, he tackles the major objections to this otherworldly revelation until his case is inescapably established.

Rarely does a book so fully reorganize how we think about our place in the universe. We are on the threshold of a new understanding—of where we are in the cosmos, and what we are made of.

Missing figures

There are many figures in the hardcopy book, drawings and graphs and images, that help a reader understand the content. However, these are not available in as PDFs accompanying the audiobook. I wound up checking the hardcopy out from my local library and plan on reading key chapters.

Sean is a great communicator.

I appreciate his ability to explain things down to my limited level of understanding.

Author-read books are great!

To be perfectly suited for me, this content needed to be dumbed down a little bit. But there are vast sections that are understandable and thought-provoking. I certainly can’t begrudge someone who needs a little bit more of the scientific meat in their diet. In the case of this author who has a clear and good speaking voice, this audible selection is improved upon by having him read this. Proper intonation and phrasing that can only be done by the author are things I have missed gravely in other selections. This one is worth it.

excellent next level explanation of physics

best non-expert/non-math description I've read of quantum field theory and quantum gravity and how they (may) relate to each other and more traditional explantations of quantum particle physics and relativity. intuitive and clear without oversimplifying or resorting to furmulae. great.

Great attempt to explain a very difficult subject

The story told was extremely interesting although quite difficult to follow sometimes. However, this is something that we should know