Skip to main content

Space Oddities - Harry Cliff *****

In this delightfully readable book, Harry Cliff takes us into the anomalies that are starting to make areas of physics seems to be nearing a paradigm shift, just as occurred in the past with relativity and quantum theory.

We start with, we are introduced to some past anomalies linked to changes in viewpoint, such as the precession of Mercury (explained by general relativity, though originally blamed on an undiscovered planet near the Sun), and then move on to a few examples of apparent discoveries being wrong: the BICEP2 evidence for inflation (where the result was caused by dust, not the polarisation being studied),  the disappearance of an interesting blip in LHC results, and an apparent mistake in the manipulation of numbers that resulted in alleged discovery of dark matter particles. These are used to explain how statistics plays a part, and the significance of sigmas.

We go on to explore a range of anomalies in particle physics and cosmology that may indicate either a breakdown in the standard model of particle physics or provide small moves towards understanding what's going in with big bang cosmology, dark matter or dark energy. Cliff brings these stories alive, often speaking to individuals involved - in fact, in one case (the ANITA neutrino experiment) he spends too much time on the context of both the individual and the nuts and bolts of making the experiment work, where we could do with a bit more of the science - but mostly this works very well.

All this is done in a highly conversational style. I loved the way, for instance, that experimentalist Cliff refers to theoretical physicists getting over-excited by a Large Hadron Collider result that was later eliminated by saying 'It was theoretical physicists, the overexcitable little dears, who were so desperate for signs of something new that they were prepared to jump on any bump, no matter how insubstantial.'

My only real concern about the book is that Cliff really should have read the recent title The Blind Spot, pointing out some shortcomings in the approach of many scientists, particularly physicists. As is too often the case with popular science, he sometimes states as fact theories that  are not universally accepted because there is no direct evidence to support them. This is particular obvious in talking about inflation and dark matter particles (as opposed to other explanations of the dark matter phenomenon). This is particular ironic here, where in both cases apparent anomalies he covers prove to be false dawns. 

There are also occasions (again a problem pointed out in The Blind Spot) where, despite Cliff making clear the limitations of theory, he appears to make the mistake of confusing scientific models with reality. So, for example, when introducing quantum field theory he says 'Funny as it may seem, it is these fields, not particles, that are the ultimate constituents of our universe'. Contrast this with Richard Feynman in his book QED 'I want to emphasize that light comes in this form – particles. It is very important to know that light behaves like particles, especially for those of you who have gone to school, where you were probably told about light behaving like waves. I’m telling you the way it does behave – like particles.' The reality is that quantum fields, particles and waves, as means of describing quantum entities, are all models. None of them is real or 'ultimate constituents': they are extremely useful mathematical metaphors. Note the way Feynman uses 'like particles' - a safer approach.

Nonetheless, this is an excellent book, because Cliff is bringing to the fore these anomalies that often get a brief mention and then are pushed under the carpet. This is both fascinating and exciting when we think about the new directions that science in general and physics in particular might take in the future. Recommended.

Scientists tend to include conflict of interest statements in their papers. I ought to say that I might be assumed to have a bias in favour of Harry Cliff, as I once made a major mistake when writing about him in a magazine, calling him Harry Webb. If you don't understand why I did this, ask a Cliff Richard fan.

Hardback:   
Kindle 
Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you
Review by Brian Clegg - See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Language of Mathematics - Raúl Rojas ***

One of the biggest developments in the history of maths was moving from describing relationships and functions with words to using symbols. This interesting little book traces the origins of a whole range of symbols from those familiar to all, to the more obscure squiggles used in logic and elsewhere. On the whole Raúl Rojas does a good job of filling in some historical detail, if in what is generally a fairly dry fashion. We get to trace what was often a bumpy path as different symbols were employed (particularly, for example, for division and multiplication, where several still remain in use), but usually, gradually, standards were adopted. This feels better as a reference, to dip into if you want to find out about a specific symbol, rather than an interesting end to end read. Rojas tells us the sections are designed to be read in any order, which means that there is some overlap of text - it feels more like a collection of short essays or blog posts that he couldn't be bothered ...

The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire - Henry Gee ****

In his last book, Henry Gee impressed with his A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth - this time he zooms in on one very specific aspect of life on Earth - humans - and gives us not just a history, but a prediction of the future - our extinction. The book starts with an entertaining prologue, to an extent bemoaning our obsession with dinosaurs, a story that leads, inexorably towards extinction. This is a fate, Gee points out, that will occur for every species, including our own. We then cover three potential stages of the rise and fall of humanity (the book's title is purposely modelled on Gibbon) - Rise, Fall and Escape. Gee's speciality is palaeontology and in the first section he takes us back to explore as much as we can know from the extremely patchy fossil record of the origins of the human family, the genus Homo and the eventual dominance of Homo sapiens , pushing out any remaining members of other closely related species. As we move onto the Fall section, Gee gives ...

Target Earth – Govert Schilling *****

I was biased in favour of this great little book even before I started to read it, simply because it’s so short. I’m sure that a lot of people who buy popular science books just want an overview and taster of a subject that’s brand new to them – and that’s likely to work best if the author keeps it short and to the point. Of course, you may want to dig deeper in areas that really interest you, but that’s what Google is for. That basic principle aside, I’m still in awe at how much substance Govert Schilling has managed to cram into this tiny book. It’s essentially about all the things (natural things, I mean, not UFOs or space junk) that can end up on Earth after coming down from outer space. That ranges from the microscopically small particles of cosmic dust that accumulate in our gutters, all the way up to the ten kilometre wide asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Between these extremes are two topics that we’ve reviewed entire books about recently: meteorites ( The Meteorite Hunt...