Universe in a Nutshell

Author: Stephen Hawking
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-08-01
Features: Released in sync with Europe, worldwide attention. World-renowned intellectual Stephen Hawking presents another divine masterpiece following his globally acclaimed "A Brief History of Time"! In this new publishing event, Hawking once again delivers a richly illustrated sequel. This new book will unveil the mysteries of the most significant breakthroughs since the highly acclaimed "A Brief History of Time" was first published. Relativity and quantum theory are the greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century. Especially the former, it is a magnificent structure of human wisdom. Therefore, in the chapter "A Brief History of Relativity" in "A Brief History of Time," it is mainly about the life of Einstein. Quantum theory is a passive product of experimental observation, and its meaning remains unclear to this day. In general relativity, space and time are no longer passive backdrops but active participants in the evolution of the universe. The distribution of matter bends space and time. Now to talk about the space and time outside the universe, engaging in speculation about these concepts, can only be regressing to before St. Augustine. Newton's view of space and time is an illusion, and the only function of the illusion is to comfort the weak. Einstein's theory of gravity reduces gravity to the curvature of space and time. So can space and time be bent so severely that people can return to the past and change history? Rigorous scientific calculations show that this is impossible. So what about the ability to predict the future? It seems that it is constrained at least at three levels. , it is the chaotic behavior of dynamical systems that makes Laplace's sense of determinism practically unachievable. Second, in quantum mechanics, the state is described by a wave function, Heisenberg's uncertainty