In a single work of colossal scope one of the world’s greatest scientists has given us a complete and unrivalled guide to the glories of the ...
read full description
reviews
Sep 05, 2011
Manny
rated it: 
Many of my all-time favourite books make the list because they show you what it's like to be inside the mind of an extraordinary person. While you're reading them, Churchill's History of the Second World War and Yourcenar's Mémoires d'Hadrien let you be a great statesman at a pivotal moment in history. Simone de Beauvoir's autobiography, more than any other book I know, gives you the feeling of being a major literary figure. Polugayevsky's Grandmaster Preparation, which many chessplayers treat a
More...
65 comments
like
(23 people liked it)
May 15, 2011
Nick
rated it:
Penrose came to GT and gave an open lecture on cosmic parameters and cosmological arguments from the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (chapter 27 in this book, one of the most ambitious and impressive -- if incomplete, a bit uneven, and just as taxing as you've heard -- catechisms I've ever read), and a closed lecture on twistor theory (chapter 33), and signed my copy! w00t! I shook Sir Roger's hand as trillions of neutrinos passed through us both, completely undetected, our entangled R-type state evol
More...
0 comments
like
(10 people liked it)
May 02, 2010
The Tao that can be named
is not the eternal Tao
What we know of physics is "the Tao that can be named"; and while it is an incomplete and imperfect representation of the eternal Tao, it is still fascinating and incredibly beautiful.
Don't ask me why reading books on mathematics and the physical sciences always puts me in mind of the Tao te Ching. I think because studying these things is the closest I really ever come to religious wonder, the awe of the infi More...
is not the eternal Tao
What we know of physics is "the Tao that can be named"; and while it is an incomplete and imperfect representation of the eternal Tao, it is still fascinating and incredibly beautiful.
Don't ask me why reading books on mathematics and the physical sciences always puts me in mind of the Tao te Ching. I think because studying these things is the closest I really ever come to religious wonder, the awe of the infi More...
5 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Jun 27, 2008
Ezra
rated it:
this book RULES. it is a sort of primer on the mathematics required to really understand quantum physics. of course, that is a pretty huge pile of stuff, and this is a damn huge book. it moves faaast too: the entire theoretical foundations of single-variable calculus takes up one chapter. the reader is rapidly pulled through pretty heavy cram sessions in multivariable calculus, algebraic topology, real analysis... everything you need! and yet, it does not feel at all dense, because roger penrose
More...
0 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Jul 08, 2011
Tatiana
rated it:
This book is too sprawling to wait and review all at once at the end, so I've decided to do it little by little as I go along.
I thought the prologue sucked, but immediately after that it became deeply fascinating, so don't get discouraged. I guess I should say why I hated it, though. It seemed as though he was judging former times and societies through a "presentist" lens, as though all people have always and only been scientists since the start of time, only they were really More...
I thought the prologue sucked, but immediately after that it became deeply fascinating, so don't get discouraged. I guess I should say why I hated it, though. It seemed as though he was judging former times and societies through a "presentist" lens, as though all people have always and only been scientists since the start of time, only they were really More...
15 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 09, 2009
Michael
rated it:
I desperately want to make it through this book. I might be crazy. I think part of my fascination with finishing it is to compensate for not finishing engineering school. I can tell you this... It would be a lot easier to read if I had attained my degree (and actually learned the material along the way). Nonetheless, this book opens in the most interesting and captivating fashion, which says a lot about a book that works to explain the universe by walking through the history of mathematics. A co
More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 28, 2008
David
rated it: 
This excellent, definitive work is not for the faint of heart of the weak of mathematics. You'll have finished most of the material for an undergraduate degree in math by the time you've worked your way through this: the first half of the book starts with Pythagorean number theory, complex number calculus, Riemann surfaces, Fourier decomposition, n-dimensional manifolds, Lie symmetry groups, and builds out from there. However, rich fruit is reaped in the second half of the book, which delves d
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 21, 2007
Rajesh
rated it:
This is a great book. I have finished reading the first part i.e, math part of the book. It opened lot of windows for me in the world of mathematics. Though a computer graduate, I have lot of interest in physics. I have read lot of material on relativity but none gave me the the insight to it like this book. Before this book, I had no knowledge of non-eucildean geometry and its importance to physics. But now I know lot about Riemann and other great people's contribution.
The graphical More...
The graphical More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 18, 2011
Benjamin
rated it: 
This is an audacious book, and a daunting read. Despite the months I spent working my way through it, I feel I barely scratched the surface, and I'm ill-equipped to really review it. A few random thoughts follow.
The book takes the refreshing (and unpopular amongst most pop-science books) view that the physics can't really be discussed without developing the necessary mathematical foundations, and it spends quite a lot of time introducing those mathematical subjects. That being said, More...
The book takes the refreshing (and unpopular amongst most pop-science books) view that the physics can't really be discussed without developing the necessary mathematical foundations, and it spends quite a lot of time introducing those mathematical subjects. That being said, More...
Sep 04, 2011
Suhrob
rated it:
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
This is a might be the best *children* book of our generation. Bear
with me. My favorite book when I was small was a some 1000 pages thick
encyclopedia of astronomy - and I am sure I am not the only who was
fascinated and inspired by a similarly mesmerizing and daunting
book. Full of strange pictures and even stranger ideas. Penrose's book
could be such a book for our kids. Do buy and keep it within easy
reach. Who knows?
More...
This is a might be the best *children* book of our generation. Bear
with me. My favorite book when I was small was a some 1000 pages thick
encyclopedia of astronomy - and I am sure I am not the only who was
fascinated and inspired by a similarly mesmerizing and daunting
book. Full of strange pictures and even stranger ideas. Penrose's book
could be such a book for our kids. Do buy and keep it within easy
reach. Who knows?
More...
Jun 30, 2011
So we had a physicist around to dinner the other day and thrust this at him. I can't call T---- by his real name, let's just say he rhymes with a dip made with chickpeas and tahini. The reason I can't call him by his real name is that he works at a place that starts with C and rhymes with a complete lack of humour. He likes his job, I don't want to get him sacked for reading Penrose.
He flicks through it and the first thing I note is that physicists take about 5 nanoseconds to read what More...
He flicks through it and the first thing I note is that physicists take about 5 nanoseconds to read what More...
24 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Jan 05, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Amazing. While I can not exactly call Road to Reality a popularization of general relativity and quantum theory, it is a peerless introduction to and review of those topics. I have a PhD in mathematics, and studied physics and math as an undergraduate, and there was plenty for me to learn from this book. There are very few people in the world who would not learn much from reading it.
Many years ago, I read Penrose's Emporer's New Mind which was good as far as it went, but earned my d More...
Many years ago, I read Penrose's Emporer's New Mind which was good as far as it went, but earned my d More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Nov 10, 2009
Leo
rated it:
How Would a Physicist Think About the Quantum World?
I usually fly through books, and have no problem understanding them. Not this one. Over a year after I first cracked it, I am finally done. I am amazed by the rigor of this work. In fact, I can say that I “sort of” understand the major concepts of quantum mechanics as a physicist would.
Most popularizations of quantum physics are simplifications, ignoring the math. More insidious, the concepts of quantum mechanics are use More...
I usually fly through books, and have no problem understanding them. Not this one. Over a year after I first cracked it, I am finally done. I am amazed by the rigor of this work. In fact, I can say that I “sort of” understand the major concepts of quantum mechanics as a physicist would.
Most popularizations of quantum physics are simplifications, ignoring the math. More insidious, the concepts of quantum mechanics are use More...
Nov 15, 2009
I have a suspicion that Penrose hasn't spoken to a undergraduate in 30 years. His notion of "introductory material" is not just wrong, its downright strange.
The famed mathematician devotes several pages to discussing the addition of fractions then breezes through holomorphic functions and Reimann spheres.
I'll return to this book in a year or two when I have the mathematical background to qualify as a "non-mathematician."
The famed mathematician devotes several pages to discussing the addition of fractions then breezes through holomorphic functions and Reimann spheres.
I'll return to this book in a year or two when I have the mathematical background to qualify as a "non-mathematician."
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jan 06, 2011
Ramon
rated it:
One of the best mathematically complete but general and interesting physics books by one of the greatest of the field.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 10, 2012
Gillian
rated it:
This is a truly amazing work. Unfortunately, you need to be as clever as Roger Penrose himself to understand all of it. I am obviously not in that category!
The text-book of all text-books, although it really isn't one. Roger Penrose sets out to transmit his lifetime's accumulation of knowledge.
Despite having a background in Maths and Astrophysics, I was left wishing I knew a lot more in order to truly appreciate all he has to say.
Definitely THE Desert Isla More...
The text-book of all text-books, although it really isn't one. Roger Penrose sets out to transmit his lifetime's accumulation of knowledge.
Despite having a background in Maths and Astrophysics, I was left wishing I knew a lot more in order to truly appreciate all he has to say.
Definitely THE Desert Isla More...
Aug 19, 2011
Cassandra
rated it:
Penrose, Penrose, Penrose. Oh how I LONG to know thee. I am becoming minorly obsessed with you and your work. I am pacing for crying out loud. I am running myself in circles. Opening, closing, referencing, coming back, straining my eyes as if that will make me see the world that you do. Why do you elude me so? Why does your tongue speak as if attached to the left temporal lobe itself? I catch glimpses of this reality you see. I feel myself drawn to it in longing for truth and understanding. For
More...
Aug 20, 2011
Jonnie
rated it:
I have read this book once. It will take at least two more reading before I can absorb everything I want from it. If you are into this kind of stuff, particularly with all the "Through the wormhole" etc., etc., a read like this is good information. As to where you can use that information, well, where can you use the info about Winston Churchill except in conversation. Just the self satisfaction of having acquired the knowledge in a world changing faster than we can possibly keep up.
More...
More...
Nov 17, 2008
Bo
rated it:
This is a very comprehensive work by Penrose. It is also a very difficult book for me to read. I definitely rate it five stars for the reason that there are no other books of its kind or in its class that I know of. This is a must read for all who are interested in TOE.
Having said that for the not so mathematically inclined (myself included) I don't know what's more ironic, the fact that Penrose "Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" is most defini More...
Having said that for the not so mathematically inclined (myself included) I don't know what's more ironic, the fact that Penrose "Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" is most defini More...
Oct 30, 2011
Matt
rated it:
The first 400 pages are pure maths. While starting off with concepts which the layman would find easy and going onto concepts which any A-level student would understand, Penrose quickly jumps to undergrad and even PhD level mathematics which proves quite dry at times.
Starting with the physics at page 400 onwards, Penrose paints an accurate and colourful picture of the current state of physics today. However, as with the maths earlier on, he quickly switches to difficult concepts and t More...
Starting with the physics at page 400 onwards, Penrose paints an accurate and colourful picture of the current state of physics today. However, as with the maths earlier on, he quickly switches to difficult concepts and t More...
May 12, 2011
Ronald
rated it:
Penrose is a master of his field. This text has exercises in it that range from simple expositions to those that will take weeks of serious thought. If you are a student of physics, this text casts the widest net possible, touring you through all of the mathematics and physics that you will become intimately familiar with in connections and expositions that you will rarely find in single courses.
Aug 19, 2010
I somehow segued into this from Logicomix. So far, it's really interesting/readable/understandable, but I'm only on chapter 3. All that's been covered thus far is Euclidean geometry, and some non-Euclidean geometries (hyperbolic), and number systems. I hear that it gets (mathematically) insane in subsequent chapters. Right now, it's reading like an intensely fascinating textbook.
Feb 21, 2011
xamevou
rated it: 
The book is frustrating, as it starts very slow, with easy to grasp ideas, but a few pages later the concepts start to accumulate without any order and confuse even the most mathematically-oriented readers.
Seriously, I doubt that many people has read the whole thing... I did, trying to understand the main ideas without understanding the math, but I probably failed.
Seriously, I doubt that many people has read the whole thing... I did, trying to understand the main ideas without understanding the math, but I probably failed.
Nov 01, 2011
Güis
rated it:
Los que perdimos la carrera de los conocimientos cientificos en bachillerato cuando elegimos letras, siempre tenemos dificultades para ponernos al dia en estos menesteres. el libro de Penrose no es fácil para "los de letras" pero con un poco de esfuerzo , papel y lápiz se pone uno muy al dia de lo que se investiga en física.
Oct 19, 2011
Starfighter
rated it: 
Difficult read, more like a brain dump than a clear exposition of the state of modern physics. Too much mathematics, and for such a great mathematicin, poorly explained. A good editor should have halved the number of pages, and made this book readable. Still I enjoyed the challenge.
Feb 15, 2010
Raymond
rated it:
Not for the faint of heart. It took me almost 2 years to read it. Most authors of popular works on physics try to avoid math. Not Penrose. The first 12 chapters are the math you'll need to follow his description of the current state of theoretical physics...
Jul 29, 2009
andrew
rated it:
the road to reality ends up in a swamp of mathematical incompleteness and einsteinian quantum paradoxes ... aliens don't fly ships on disunity and guys don't make free energy cars [300,000 drivers in the USA:] from this version of 'reality'
Nov 10, 2009
It is one of my goals in life to read this book and understand at least some of it. The author is fantastic and he creates an irresistable mystery around math and physics that makes you want to understand them.
Sep 21, 2011
Adrian
rated it:
A feast for any physicist, or anyone who wants to learn the depth and beauty of physics, etc. as we know it. Not dumbed down at all. Throws every subject imaginable at you. If you can understand it, this book is truly amazing.
EDIT: I have recently learned in a conversation at uni that there are some controversies with the book and orthodox physics, most notably in the areas of string theory, Penrose's idea of twistors and the idea of more than 4 dimensions. However - considering how More...
EDIT: I have recently learned in a conversation at uni that there are some controversies with the book and orthodox physics, most notably in the areas of string theory, Penrose's idea of twistors and the idea of more than 4 dimensions. However - considering how More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
