Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe

by Brian Clegg

How patterns--from diagrams of spacetime to particle trails revealed by supercolliders--offer clues to the fundamental workings of the physical world.

Our universe might appear chaotic, but deep down it's simply a myriad of rules working independently to create patterns of action, force, and consequence. In Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe, Brian Clegg explores the phenomena that make up the very fabric of our world by examining ten essential sequenced systems. From diagrams that show the deep relationships between space and time to the quantum behaviors that rule the way that matter and light interact, Clegg shows how these patterns provide a unique view of the physical world and its fundamental workings.
Guiding readers on a tour of our world and the universe beyond, Clegg describes the cosmic microwave background, sometimes called the echo of the big bang, and how it offers clues to the universe's beginnings; the diagrams that illustrate Einstein's revelation of the intertwined nature of space and time; the particle trail patterns revealed by the Large Hadron Collider and other accelerators; and the simple-looking patterns that predict quantum behavior (and decorated Richard Feynman's van). Clegg explains how the periodic table reflects the underlying pattern of the configuration of atoms, discusses the power of the number line, demonstrates the explanatory uses of tree diagrams, and more.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, History, Astronomy

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2021

About the author

Brian's latest books, Ten Billion Tomorrows and How Many Moons does the Earth Have are now available to pre-order. He has written a range of other science titles, including the bestselling Inflight Science, The God Effect, Before the Big Bang, A Brief History of Infinity, Build Your Own Time Machine and Dice World.

Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.

Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, The Observer, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a gorgeously illustrated book, but it suffers from two big weaknesses. First, it's too short. The book tries to explain a lot of very complex concepts in just over 200 pages. The other is, ironically, lack of an overarching narrative or pattern. Each of the individual "patterns" are important (the double helix! the cosmic background radiation! the idea of symmetry! the periodic table!) but there's no real attempt to place them all together, show how they are connected or make this anything more that a book of "disconnected important scientific concepts with pretty pictures." (and nitpicking, how can you not include important patterns like neural networks and the structure of visual columns in the occipital lode or the gorgeous photosynthesis or Krebs cycles?).

**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

[Sayani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe by Brian Clegg
MIT Press
Paperback
ISBN: 9780262542869
224 pp.
6.1 in x 9.2 in
September 2021
**This is an ARC provided by MIT Press and NetGalley. The book will be published in September 2021.**

Brian Clegg has written many popular science books on astrophysics, cosmology, mathematics, and other topics. Ten Patterns That Explain The Universe is aimed at the general reader interested in the fundamental principles of the physical and biological world.

The book follows ten major patterns in the world of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and climatology. This lavishly illustrated collection filled with vector diagrams and photographs is intended for anyone interested in the scientific details of natural phenomena which usually make the news headlines but are not discussed in a scientifically oriented manner per se. An undergraduate-level understanding of physics and mathematics might be helpful in following the first half of the book which for me personally was exciting.

Clegg takes us through the interesting patterns studied to understand the cosmic microwave background which is the residual heat signature that remained in the universe from the Big Bang event. The role of the Wikinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) is discussed in observing these patterns which are placed at Lagrangian points ( simply described as positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put) in space. Such details like the purpose of placing satellites at the Lagrange points are easily accessible through the rich illustrations in this book. This makes the physics and chemistry section of the book worth exploring.

As a novice learner of quantum physics during the pandemic, I found the concept and visualization of Minkowski diagrams very interesting. Albeit I read books written by Leonard Susskind who makes abstract concepts easily understandable for people who do not have training in higher physics. It is always nice to get hold of texts which improve your abstract concepts. Minkowski diagrams are two-dimensional graphs that show events that have one space dimension and one time dimension. So, a spacetime diagram is a Minkowski diagram. Clegg goes further from easy spacetime diagrams to more complex spacetime diagrams like Penrose diagrams. The lines in this 2D space are shrinked or “crunched” as the distances grow far away. Further the distance, the shorter the lines get. In this way, you can actually depict “infinities” in two dimensions. We also see the basic principles of Quantum Electrodynamics and Feynman diagrams. To explain Feynman diagrams to a general reader shows a stunning ability to communicate basic scientific principles. This is the highest achievement of this book. A visit to the LHC ensues and the actual meaning of “Higgs Boson” in terms of what experiments are run at CERN and how the data is analyzed in order to know the presence of a subatomic particle is quite enjoyable to read. Even reputed journalists and writers can sometimes project phrases like “God particle” which just muddle the scientific process involved in the discovery for the general reader like us.
The chemistry enthusiasts will have to pour over the patterns of our periodic table in this book. And what a treat it is to see the alternative period tables here. The spiral 2D periodic table by Theodor Benfey which successfully includes the Lanthanides and the Actinides is one of them.

The second half of the book has introductions to number theory and knots in mathematics. A knot in mathematics is a closed non-self-intersecting loop that cannot be opened up in three dimensions. The first ideas were proposed by Lord Kelvin who thought that atoms were vortex loops with different chemical compositions consisting of different knot combinations. An interesting biography is mentioned about Emmy Noether (1882–1935). She was one of the leading mathematicians of her time and put forth theories of rings and fields of algebraic geometry. Her contributions in physics and mathematics are largely obscure in books of general science and technology. She worked closely with David Hilbert who invited her to join the Göttingen mathematics department in 1915. They were working on understanding Einstein’s general relativity theory at that time.

The final chapters are short and cursory excursions in cladograms, phylogenetic trees in evolutionary studies, DNA structures and superstructures which are not as interesting as the major first half of the book. This might be my bias as a biologist because there was nothing new for me personally to learn. Also, there are far better texts to visualize DNA topology. My recommendation for biologists would by Understanding DNA by C.R. Calladine. This book has a remarkable content of the trigonometry and geometry of double-helix DNA and higher topological structures of DNA.

The Ten Patterns doesn’t disappoint. It is a quick read and visually pleasing for a nice weekend head dive in science. But readers mustn’t expect equally interesting chapters in nature and biology.

[John Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a writer, and so I always love books that give me new ideas, particularly when they're set up to work for my not scientifically trained mind. The idea that there were patterns to the universe is fascinating to me, and this book didn't disappoint.

This book covers Cosmic Microwave Background, Minkowski Diagrams, Particle Trail Patterns, Feynman Diagrams, The Periodic Table, Weather Patterns, Number lines, Cladograms, The DNA Double Helix, and Symmetries, each explained in around twenty pages.

While the basic descriptions of these things may sound like things that many have heard of, what then goes on within each chapter is where the magic is truly found. Every subject has several things within it, each one of them explained well and ranging from the Morphology of Tree Patterns to Light clocks on spaceships, and it's here that I found the greatest inspiration.

There will be other books out there that explain the subjects in more detail, but if you're looking for a sense of the wondrous, this is excellent.

[WorldconReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank MIT Press and Brian Clegg for graciously sharing an electronic review copy of this book.

"Ten Patterns that Explain the Universe" by Brian Clegg is a well-written science book that covers ten thought-provoking and fundamental areas of science. This book is perhaps 99% accessible to an average educated person interested in science. Regarding that remaining 1%, fortunately, we live in a time where the bulk of humanity's knowledge is available for perusing via an internet search.

What I like about this book: Each of the ten topics are covered in enough depth to be quite enjoyable. What I didn't like about this book: A single book of reasonable length covering ten scientific topics like this left me wanting to read more about each topic, so my reading list just grew by at least ten books!

The topics range from the Cosmic Microwave Background and the Big Bang, to how physicists use figures to explain and understand the universe we live it, to quantum mechanics and the subatomic particles that make up atoms, to math, DNA and biology, weather, and the various types of symmetries. My personal favorites were the chapters on weather and DNA. However, the physics in the first five chapters was also most enthralling...

I am glad that I read this book, and recommend it to those who like to read about science. I also recommend this book to those who like a good puzzle. For example, I am still trying to improve my intuition regarding the mystery introduced in the final chapter of why mirrors flip stuff left-right but not up-down. The author provides tantalizing observations on the topic...

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating And Short. To be such a compact tale - 220 pages or so - this volume puts in a fairly dense amount of information at a very high level (for its extremely advanced concepts anyway, some of which deal with literally the smallest entities known to mankind), which is even more remarkable when one considers the volume of space dedicated to the often stunning imagery included in even this months-prior-to-publication advanced reader copy. (For those unfamiliar with ARC work, actually getting to see most imagery referenced in a book is a rarity. :D) As to showing these ten patterns and roughly how they can all be seen to link up to explain the universe. Clegg definitely shows - again at a very high level - that links are there, often in ways not everyone would think to look. As to whether these fully explain the universe... that, is a much larger question that Clegg never really dives into too deeply, seemingly satisfied that they seem to explain the universe *as we currently understand it*. Which is a major concession, particularly in light of just how recent most of the developments Clegg details are in human history. (Quite a few within the last 150 years or so, vs the few thousand years of even recorded history.) Overall truly an interesting book and a quick ish read to boot, that doesn't *completely* require a science related degree to understand (though having some degree of familiarity with STEM subjects will certainly help any reader here), and thus very much recommended.

[Pau · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a friendly book that shows many interesting ideas and concepts.
At the same time, some of these concepts are not deeply explained enough to understand the whole chapter, and some research outside the book is needed. In my case, I could get the general idea (in some topics) but not fully understand and be able to explain to someone what I just read.

Not related to the content, but I think it's important, some pages are hard to read due to the edition's style (white letters over a black background, white over blue, etc.).

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is beautifully illustrated, along with engaging, clear explanations of complex concepts and info. It would make a great gift for teenagers to adults that are interested in cosmology and physics. The topics covered here are very complex so this would serve as a jumping off point for some and maybe a complimentary source for others. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

[Arevik Heboyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterfully crafted work, explaining the universal laws in charge of our lives, deep research in workings of universe and predictive power of understanding the logic of development and history of universe and different particles of it.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and interesting. It was easy to read and mostly easy to digest, even without being educated on all the topics.

[Book O Latte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einstein pernah menyatakan bahwa "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
Alam semesta begitu luas dengan tak terhingga isinya, sehingga tampak chaotic. Tetapi ada pola-pola teratur yang mendasarinya, yang membantu kita memahami bagaimana semesta bekerja.

Dalam buku ini, Brian Clegg, penulis sains populer dari Inggris, menjelaskan 10 di antaranya:

1. Cosmic Microwave Background.
"Let there be light, and there was light", dan cahaya pertama itu, yang muncul kira-kira 370ribu tahun setelah peristiwa Big Bang, sekarang tinggal berupa gelombang mikro.
CMB ialah pola radiasi yang tersisa dari cahaya pertama tsb. Pola tersebut ibaratnya seperti potret semesta ketika masih bayi. Potret pertama ditangkap satelit COBE (1989). Satelit-satelit berikutnya (WMAP & Planck observatory) yang lebih canggih berhasil menangkap pola yang lebih tajam.
CMB membantu kita (melalui kerja keras para ilmuwan, tentunya) lebih memahami struktur semesta pada awal pembentukannya.

2. Minkowski Diagram, ialah diagram sederhana dari Hermann Minkowski (profesor matematik Einstein di Zurich Polytechnic) yang menampakkan bahwa ruang dan waktu terkait dan tidak terpisahkan.

3. Particle Trail Patterns
Mengamati jejak partikel yang dilakukan dengan cara menumbukkan mereka (yang tercanggih dilakukan dalam Large Hadron Collider di CERN, Swiss), membantu ilmuwan menemukan dan memahami unit-unit pembangun semesta yang paling fundamental.

4. Feynman Diagrams, adalah diagram sederhana yang menggambarkan interaksi antara partikel materi dan cahaya.

5. The Periodic Table, menggambarkan pola konfigurasi atom, yang membuat kita lebih mudah memahami karakteristik unsur, bagaimana mereka membentuk molekul dari mulai senyawa sederhana hingga yang kompleks seperti DNA.

6. Weather Patterns
Cuaca adalah sistem yang sangat sulit diprediksi karena dipengaruhi sangat banyak faktor yang terus berubah. Tetapi ada pola-pola tertentu, baik yang skala besar (jet stream, gulf stream, el Niño, la Niña) maupun skala kecil (tekanan udara, dll) yang membantu kita lebih memahami perubahan cuaca dan memprediksinya. Penerapan model matematika dalam memprediksi cuaca, dipelopori oleh ilmuwan Norwegia Vilhelm Bjerknes, lebih lanjut memudahkannya dan membuatnya lebih akurat.

7. Number Lines, hal yang sangat mendasar sekaligus powerful, menghubungkan esensi bilangan dengan berbagai konsep matematika.

8. Cladograms, ialah diagram yang menggambarkan hubungan antar spesies dalam evolusi, dengan titik-titik common ancestor dan di mana garis evolusi membelah.

9. DNA Double Helix
Struktur molekul DNA berisi pola senyawa kimia yang berisi informasi tentang organisme yang bersangkutan.

10. Symmetries
Simetri merupakan pola inti yang mendasari semesta, makanya bagi fisikawan dan matematikawan, keindahan itu adanya di simetri. Dan simetri pulalah kunci misteri alam semesta.

-dydy-

[WiseB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the book's name refers to 10 patterns relating to the universe, which include

• Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) for the universe radiation pattern
• Minkowski Diagrams for patterning space and time
• Standard Model that reveals the pattern of particles for matter and forces & fields
• Feynman Diagrams for patterning interaction between light and matter
• Periodic Table for atoms configuration pattern
• Weather Patterns for large scale weather maps
• Number Lines for arithmetic and mathematical calculations
• Cladograms for relationship among organisms
• DNA for patterning organism's genetic code
• Symmetry Patterns for reflecting certain orders in nature

only the first 5 actually qualify for universe level, while the rest are related to our planet and organisms only ... at best the Symmetry Pattern can be considered for certain domains in mathematics and physics.

The author has provided in the briefest form the narratives with diagrams of each "pattern" which span over different science topics, which should be fine for one who is not new to these topics but may be confusing for those lacking such background, especially if the context is to be fully understood and appreciated. Anyhow, the book is a good reminder of the different pattern tools humans are using to understand these key areas in science and mathematics.

[Ren]

No No No

Just started this book and not sure I'll finish it. I can't believe Brain could mix things up within two pages (p16,17) but if someone else did it, it still his name on the cover.

I looked at this several ways, so if I got it wrong I'll happily correct this.

P16 in summary, temperature = energy and as temperature increases things get hotter.

P17 Diagram of ten light bulbs coloured from the left orange, yellow though white to final blue (not the usual spectrum). Underneath the temperature of each in Kelvin (1,000K to 10,000K).

All this is fair.

But why is the "color temperature scale" showing the left as the warm (the 1,000K end) and the right (10,000K end) as cool???? The bigger the temperature number the warmer things get was what he just said and even wrote in the caption for the diagram.

The best I can guess is that someone saw orange as a traditionally warm colour and Blue as a cold colour. The editor possibly? But we are left with a diagram that has an arrow pointing right labelled cool as temperature increases.

So what can be believed in this book if this got though?

Please tell me if I missed something.

[Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Clegg is one of my favourite authors in this genre and ‘Ten Patterns that Explain the Universe’ did not disappoint. As always the narrative is accessible and engaging; Clegg has a rare gift for communicating complex scientific concepts in an accessible manner without oversimplification.

The only complaint I have about this title is the slightly disjointed nature of the narrative. This is not a significant flaw, and is common in this list-inspired style of popular science book. However, an overarching sense of cohesion between the different patterns would have turned a good read into an great read. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book for any readers with an interest in science.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha Hehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einstein once said that unless you can explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough.

This book explains in simple and easy to follow terms questions and patterns that exist in our everyday life.
Questions a child might ask, such as what are clouds, or why is the sky blue. It also extends to deeper questions such as what is the significance of the Periodic Table of Elements or DNA that a high school student might ask.


The pictures and diagrams are helpful and bright, and the topics are explained in such a simple and easy-to-follow way that any adult who feels as though they should know these explanation, can learn them.

My favourite part was when the book touched on the patterns found in folk wisdom, and explained the science there.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected something different, something closer to a narrative where the author weaves together some semblance of meaning from scientific facts, the way great science nonfic writers can do. What I got instead was a textbook style breakdown of ten phenomena in conceptual physics. The book is beautifully made, and for the right person I'm sure it is a homerun. But, for me, it was nothing special.

[Nilendu Misra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good to unscramble the mystery behind how periodic table elements were named, especially 3 named after Swedish villages and one after a mythical place.

[Madeline Feldner · Rating 4 out of 5]

i bought this at an airport it was pretty good

[Adam]

[Suggested by Brus]

[elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good and interesting book to get an introduction to these phenomena!!! highly enjoyed reading and getting more of a glimpse into these fascinating events that occur all around us

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, some chapters more useful than others. Pairs well with The Code on BBC