UNIVERSE SPEAKS IN NUMBERS:

One of the great and most marvellous mysteries of science is that beneath the complexities of the Universe there is an underlying harmonious order, described by Einstein as "a miracle". Perhaps even more miraculous is that these fundamental rules can be described in the language of mathematics. In their search for these laws, physicists have developed ever more ambitious mathematical models, but without observation and experiment to guide them, their detractors have accused them of engaging in "fairytale physics". Chapters include Shining the Torch on Gravity Again and Quantum Mathematics. Graham Farmelo argues that such claims are far too pessimistic, and that today's greatest mathematical minds are working in the same tradition that dates back to Newton. He takes us on a mathematical adventure from the Enlightenment, through the breakthroughs of Einstein and Dirac up to today, where we have the world's greatest mathematicians and physicists shedding light on each others' fields to immense mutual advantage, this blossoming relationship being responsible for the huge recent advances in our understanding of space and time - in many ways actually redefining reality. With a light but always authoritative touch, guides the reader through the most exciting and contemporary developments in contemporary thought to understand how physicists are attempting, as Stephen Hawking put it, "to know the mind of God." 317pp.