“A novel image of the world is taking shape in fundamental physics: a world without time and without space. Time and space as we know them will disappear from the scientific picture of the world, in the same way in which the centre of the universe did.”
In this agile text, derived from a long interview, Carlo Rovelli, theoretical physicists and pioneer of modern quantum gravity, describes his personal and intellectual journey, starting from the rebellion of his young years and the discovery of the “enchanting adventure” of theoretical research, till the vertiginous hypotheses of today’s physics. In a simple language, Rovelli introduces us to a “space” made of grains, a “time” which is the result of our ignorance, to hot black holes and how to think about the beginning of the universe.
But he also discusses the value, the risks, and the fascination of this quest. Science, for Rovelli, is a continuous exploration of new ways of thinking the world, the desire of looking “beyond the hill” and seeing the world always with new eyes, the choice of never giving up dreams.
Carlo Rovelli is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France, member of the Institute Universitaire de France, and Affiliated Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the Pittsburgh University, USA. In 1996 he was awarded the International Xanthopoulous Prize for his contributions to loop quantum gravity and for his research on the foundations of space and time.
