I keep being asked: When will you write a book already? And true, I have several half-baked book ideas that I am contemplating. One of them was going to be a book discussing some key concepts in physics by offering both an accessible narrative and a technical background.
Well, it appears I have been scooped, if that’s the right word! I first heart of Brent Lewis’s project when he contacted me last year, sending me a prerelease copy of Theoretical Physics for the Masses. Oh my, I thought, this is the book I wanted to write!
Or, well, as close as possible to the book I wanted to write, considering that it is not my brainchild and as such, Lewis’s selection of topics differed slightly from mine. Anyhow, long story short, the book is now published by World Scientific, a reputable publisher of books and numerous journals. I hope that it will mean a decent effort at marketing and Lewis will be able to collect royalties on many copies.
Considering the breadth of subjects, the book is surprisingly thin: Just over 180 pages, with appendices included. The main body part is less than 60 pages, however; the remainder are the technical appendices. Depending on how you look at it, this could be considered a bug or a feature.
Who is this book for? Let’s face it, the technical appendices are not for the faint-hearted. Lagrangian field theory, the equations of general relativity, Fourier-decomposition of a scalar field and derivation of the corresponding quantum field theory propagator, even a brief overview of the key features of bosonic string theory: this is not high school mathematics. Nor can we possible expect a thorough treatment of these subjects in such a thin volume.
Yet this book reminds me of a much thicker tome published many years ago: Penrose’s book, The Road to Reality. Like Penrose, Lewis presents a road map for the aspiring physicist. The plain English narrative offers something that is sorely absent from many textbooks: background and motivation. The technical appendices in turn make the connection between the core ideas and their actual implementation. And this is where the brevity of Lewis’s book might actually be an asset: Whereas Penrose spends several hundred pages discussing mostly pure mathematics, Lewis jumps right ahead into the physics.
So no, you will not learn general relativity or quantum field theory, nor the necessary mathematical foundations, from this book. But if you want to learn these subjects, the book can serve as your guide. Reading it before you dig into a textbook like Wald’s General Relativity of Peskin & Schroeder’s An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory will help maintain a bird’s eye perspective as you begin your journey. You may not have skills level-knowledge yet, but Lewis’s book will help you not lose sight of your intended destination as you study.
Let’s face it: These subjects are hard. Any resource that helps make it a tad easier to learn is welcome. And Lewis’s book definitely helps.