The state of the Universe

摘要

"The most important and ambitious work of science for a generation." That's the claim from the publishers of Roger Penrose's latest book. The claim is vastly overblown. Certainly Penrose has written a remarkable book: it introduces many of the topics that lie at the cutting edge of research into the fundamental nature of space, time and matter. Although the book aims at a complete survey of modern particle physics and cosmology, its principal concern is to address the fundamental tension between the two pillars of twentieth-century physics: Einstein's general theory of relativity and quantum theory. This is a fascinating tension and one that Penrose tries to communicate in a quite uncompromising fashion.