Baggott, Jim: Farewell to Reality

Praise for Higgs: 'Baggott doesn't shy away from difficult concepts, but his detailed explanation of how the Higgs mechanism gives particles mass is extremely elegant.' New ScientistModern physics is heady stuff. It seems that barely a week goes by without some new, astounding science story; some revelation about hidden dimensions and multiple universes. But is any of this true?In Farewell to Reality, science writer Jim Baggott outlines the currently accepted or 'authorized' scientific version of physical reality. This description is astonishing in its scope and accuracy, but it is also full of problems. Baggott argues that in seeking to resolve these, contemporary theorists have crossed a boundary. They are suffering a 'Grand Delusion' - a belief that they can describe reality using mathematics alone, with no foundation in scientific fact. The result is 'fairytale' physics.A string of recent best-selling popular science books has helped to create the impression that fairy-tale physics is established science. Farewell to Reality provides a timely and much-needed antidote.