You just have to think that any author who purports to explain the foundations of universal laws and constants in a book with chapter titles such as “Much ado about nothing,” “Anarchy rules,” and “The heat of the moment” (hands up all who remember that 1982 hit song from the band Asia…) is either entirely barking mad or absolutely brilliant. And when it comes to the extraordinary publishing history of Professor Peter Atkins, FRSC of Lincoln College, Oxford, the smart money should be placed squarely on the latter.
Thus it is, with both much wit and even more erudition, Professor Atkins manages to cover “the origin of the conservation of energy, of electromagnetism, of classical and quantum mechanics, and of thermodynamics, showing how all these laws spring from deep symmetries” in the mere 208 pages of his new book Conjuring the Universe; the Origins of the Laws of Nature.
On second thought, perhaps there is a little gentle madness involved after all…
