Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He currently directs the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de Physique Théorique in Marseille, France. Rovelli is also the author of Reality is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (2014) is an informative guide to how we arrived at the two pillars of modern physics: Einstein’s theory of general relativity and quantum mechanics. Author Carlo Rovelli describes the wondrous world opened up by these two theories, including the secrets they’ve revealed and the mysteries and paradoxes they’ve exposed.
Reality Is Not What It Seems (2014) offers a quick overview of the long journey modern science has taken from the cosmic observations of ancient Greece to the heady theories of quantum mechanics. These blinks offer an easily digestible take on the many twists and turns that have occurred in the history of modern physics, as well as an overview of the tricky questions physicists continue to grapple with today.
The Order of Time (2017) unpacks the latest research in physics to turn our everyday concept of time on its head. What we perceive and experience as a linear movement, from past to present and into the future, is little more than a trick of the mind. The reality, Carlo Rovelli shows, is a whole lot more interesting and bizarre.
Helgoland (2021) is a dreamy and poetic exploration of quantum mechanics. This slim volume describes the strange subatomic world where nothing is ever completely certain.