The Science of Can and Can't

A Physicist's Journey through the Land of Counterfactuals

De: Chiara Marletto

Narrado por: Katharine Lee McEwan

A luminous guide to how the radical new science of counterfactuals can reveal that the scope of the universe is greater, and more beautiful, than we ever imagined

There is a vast class of things that science has so far almost entirely neglected. They are central to the understanding of physical reality both at an everyday level and at the level of the most fundamental phenomena in physics, yet have traditionally been assumed to be impossible to incorporate into fundamental scientific explanations. They are facts not about what is (the actual) but about what could be (counterfactuals).

According to physicist Chiara Marletto, laws about things being possible or impossible may generate an alternative way of providing explanations. This fascinating, far-reaching approach holds promise for revolutionizing the way fundamental physics is formulated and for providing essential tools to face existing technological challenges--from delivering the next generation of information-processing devices beyond the universal quantum computer to designing AIs. Each chapter in the book delineates how an existing vexed open problem in science can be solved by this radically different approach and it is augmented by short fictional stories that explicate the main point of the chapter. As Marletto demonstrates, contemplating what is possible can give us a more complete and hopeful picture of the physical world.

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for The Science of Can and Can't:

“Marletto's call to probe counterfactuals is novel and interesting . . . Replete with stories from classical Greek mythology and examples of ideas drawn from biology and physics, The Science of Can and Can't is worth delving into.” —Wall Street Journal

“[A] revolutionary recasting of physics . . . Marletto’s contributions to ‘constructor theory’ reconcile what we think of as physical laws with the open-ended possibilities thrown up by biology and information theory. It is a paradigm that, for all its rigor, re-enchants the world and enriches our place in it.” —New Scientist

“[A] cerebral yet intellectually satisfying journey with a simple description of the two kinds of counterfactuals in physics . . . Marletto’s style resembles a frank conversation with the reader. Sophisticated concepts in physics, like information and knowledge, are explained using clear analogies to everyday life.” —Booklist

“[A] lyrical yet complex debut . . . References to Greek mythology, Shakespeare, chess, and Legos add life to her survey . . . Marletto’s love of physics shines through . . . Those with an interest in physics will appreciate her passion and her provocative approach.” —Publishers Weekly

“[T[here’s plenty of food for thought for those interested in the processes of conceptual breakthrough [in The Science of Can and Can't].” —Kirkus Reviews

"Marletto has a clear, sharp and imaginative style of explaining science . . . [The Science of Can and Can't] will open the doors to a dazzling, deep set of new concepts and ideas that will change and affect deeply the way you look at the world. Let her story unfold. It will be an open-ended exploration of the endless possibilities that the laws of physics allow for." —David Deutsch, author of The Beginning of Infinity

“Hugely ambitious, Chiara Marletto is the herald for a revolutionary new direction for physics. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of physics.” —Lee Smolin, author of Life of the Cosmos

"I enjoyed this book very much, not least because of the freshness of its approach to a subject that can easily become hard for the non-scientific mind to grasp. The theory of ‘can and can’t’ is an intriguing way of describing problems that are not only scientific (it describes very well what a storyteller does, for instance), and Marletto’s account of some things I thought I more or less understood (the nature of digital information, for one) illuminated them from an angle that showed them more clearly than I’d seen them before.” —Philip Pullman

Catchy Concept But Not Well Described

The Science of Can and Can't by Chiara Marletto received great press when it was first released and I had high expectations for this book. However, I felt the author was unsure who her audience was. Was it the physical science community or the educated by non-technically schooled public?

As scientifically educated but not in the physical sciences, I found that her explanation of counter-factuals, the point of the book, to be opaque and at the same time overly general. Her attempts to use metaphors from the biological sciences were not drawn from current understandings.

I was disappointed in this book and can not recommend it for those of us who are looking for a better understanding of the physical world.

Interesting introduction to science of counterfactuals

Very good attempt at explaining in simple language an abstract topic. In my own experience of teaching science and in particular the concept of information, I’ve struggled to find simple satisfying explanation. Dr Marletto has hit the mark I think here.
The book opens up a lot of topics to follow up on in modern science and especially the science of knowledge and creativity. She discusses the possibility of exploration of these ideas without resorting to references to dualistic and subjective ideas.
I highly recommend this book. But take the time to understand the concepts and definitions as you take the journey

Foundational philosophy for modern science.

Constructor theory is really ambitious, it seeks to create a unified narrative that gets us beyond mind body duality, and wrap up biological, quantum, computational and mental pictures the world into a single physical framework. I have no doubt that this is the future, and people in the 23rd and 22nd centuries will discuss things in these terms laid out in this book. Also I think what she has done will be part of that. However, the author works too hard to present a pretty picture without error, and so necessarily doesn't offer the listener as much diving in as we would like.
The book is pretty, it has this traditional Japanese feel, of powerful simple expressions and artistic stories alongside. But as important as this topic is and as brilliant as I feel the author is, I wish she would have thrown out on the pages more of the gory mess that a subject this young must exist in, not be afraid to make a fool of herself asking more questions and presenting quandaries. The theory is a baby giant, there are going to be messes that need to be cleaned up.
Still, I recommend reading, the ultimate subject is awesome.

Why are good readings so rare?

The book introduces some important new ideas that are well worth listening to, but the voice reading these ideas is so monotonous as to induce either sleep or nausea, depending on your level of interest. A purely computer-generated voice of the same timbre, quality and accent would be easier to listen to than this. At least then one wouldn’t expect it to have some comprehension of the words it is voicing.

Very good, recommended for everyone!

I enjoyed this book very much. I enjoyed the stories and the new ideas. Enjoy!