Different Universe

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Book: A Different Universe. Robert B. Laughlin


Description

Rod Beckstrom:

" In his brilliant book on physics, A Different Universe, Stanford Nobel Laureate Robert B. Laughlin explains how.

Many of the advances in physics over the previous 200 years focused on reductionism—from substances to molecules to elements to neutrons and protons and electrons to quarks. Laughlin, with his research and great sense of humor, takes us in a new and unexpected direction. It is now apparent that many laws in physics emerge as a result of self-organizing principles.

Just when many systems appear to be random or chaotic, order suddenly comes out of that chaos, and new laws of physics emerge. Laughlin argues that even quantum theory and Newtonian physics are “emergent.” In the same way, wisdom somehow emerges from a crowd, or an online encyclopedia that anyone can change (Wikipedia) somehow grows larger and better than those created by “experts.”

This book is to physics what new Web 2.0 collaborative technologies are to society and the enterprise—they turn knowledge, laws and expertise upside down. If it all seems a bit subtle and counterintuitive, perhaps that’s because it is. A great, brilliantly written, if challenging, read. "