Well, gosh… what nice news as 2024 comes to a close… My book has received a ringing endorsement from Ethan Siegel, the science writer and Ph.D. astrophysicist who hosts the well-known, award-winning blog “Starts with a Bang“. Siegel’s one of the most reliable and prolific science writers around — he writes for BigThink and has published in Forbes, among others — and it’s a real honor to read what he’s written about Waves in an Impossible Sea.
His brief review serves as an introduction to an interview that he conducted with me recently, which I think many of you will enjoy. We discussed science — the nature of particles/wavicles, the Higgs force, the fabric (if there is one) of the universe, and the staying power of the idea of supersymmetry among many theoretical physicists — and science writing, including novel approaches to science communication that I used in the book.
If you’re a fan of this blog or of the book, please consider sharing his review on social media (as well as the Wall Street Journal’s opinion.) The book has sold well this year, but I am hoping that in 2025 it will reach an even broader range of people who seek a better understanding of the cosmos, both in the large and in the small.
10 Responses
Professor Strassler, your wavelet concept is inconsistent with all experimentally known quantum behavior. Congratulations on your accolades, but have you shown mathematically how to keep your wavelets from exploding instantly, or have you mapped it mathematically into QED?
Terry, it’s “wavicle”, not “wavelet”; “wavelets” are something completely different, look them up.
As for your complaints — the word “wavicle” is used by Frank Wilczek (Nobel Prize, 2004) and Neil deGrasse Tyson (you may have heard of him.) And my book was read by and endorsed by Nima Arkani-Hamed (professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Breakthrough Prize winner), Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal, UK), Sean Carroll (high-profile theorist and science communicator.) You can read what they said about the book at the bottom of this webpage: https://profmattstrassler.com/waves-in-an-impossible-sea/
So maybe — just maybe — you have something to learn from the experts, rather than the other way around.
Ethan’s review is incorrectly linked to think.com rather than bigthink.com. The link should be corrected to: https:/bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/waves-in-an-impossible-sea-science-book-year/
Thanks — fixed
Well deserved! I thoroughly enjoyed your book and am awaiting your next. Well done! bc
Thank you!
Dear Matt,
Ethan Siegel’s review and praise of your book are well deserved. I am recommending the book around my friends and family as one of the best I have read this year.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Henrik
Thank you, Henrik!
I’ve got it on Kindle. Are there any plans for an audio version?
Great! There is an audiobook (though I am not the reader.) For instance, https://www.audible.com/pd/Waves-in-an-Impossible-Sea-Audiobook/B0DGW4BBH3 , also available on Amazon and other sources. Note also that there is a lot of supporting material on this website, https://profmattstrassler.com/waves-in-an-impossible-sea/audiobook-for-waves-in-an-impossible-sea/ .