BEAUTY BEFORE TRUTH
My colleagues and I in fundamental physics are the intellectual descendants of Albert Einstein; we like to think that we too search for beauty. Some physics equations are so ugly that we cannot bear to look at them, let alone write them down. Certainly, the Ultimate Designer would use only beautiful equations in designing the universe! we proclaim. When presented with two alternative equations purporting to describe Nature, we always choose the one that appeals to our aesthetic sense. "Let us worry about beauty first, and truth will take care of itself!" Such is the rallying cry of fundamental physicists.
The reader may perhaps think of physics as a precise and predictive science and not as a subject fit for aesthetic contemplation. But, in fact, aesthetics has become a driving force in contemporary physics. Physicists have discovered something of wonder: Nature, at the fundamental level, is beautifully designed. It is this sense of wonder that I wish to share with you.
A. Zee is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of California- Santa Barbara and the author of several books for the general public. The New York Times declared that Zee "writes with wry, poetic humor," The Washington Post described his writing as "brash, breezy, and authoritative," and Publishers Weekly called him "an extraordinary writer: playful, inspired, and brilliant." His book,An Old Man's Toy, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
Link PhysicsCentral: In Search of Beauty by A. Zee, Book Synopsis
