Synopsis
Tired of popular science books written by renowned physicists who think you cannot comprehend what they do, so... all you deserve is the illusion of understanding? If yes, this is the book for you. The fact that the reader may not have a scientific education does not mean that s/he does not have the intelligence to understand profound concepts -- as long as they are presented with semantic and epistemological clarity. After all, Einstein said that Science is simply the refinement of our intuition and everyday experiences.Galloping with Light is a symbolic cavalcade that starts with the discovery of fire 1.5 million years ago; it allegorically employs the imagination of an adolescent called Einstein to explain the Theory of Relativity in non-scientific terms, and ends with the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon in 1969 -- depositing on lunar soil a laser retro-reflector which would prove, once again, that Einstein was right.Motivated by his own difficulties to understand Relativity Theory, and convinced that it is possible to teach the layperson without distorting the subject matter, the author takes an approach utterly opposed to that of most popular science books. Knowing he has to demolish what the reader understands by time, distance, and motion, the author -using his experiences as a child, adolescent, and adult- dedicates the first half of the book to convince the reader that our intuition and common sense, as applied to those three everyday concepts, have a foundation as solid as that of a castle on the sand. The purpose of this book is to demystify and ‘defolklorize’ the reader; to destroy the aura of mystery and incomprehensibility surrounding Relativity Theory, unmasking and debunking the body of popular (and scientific) beliefs (mostly erroneous) which -taking advantage of the confusion between relativity and subjectivity, as well as of Einstein’s popularity and prestige- have been used to validate preposterous assertions in fields like psychology, morality, spirituality, sociology, literature, art, etc.
About the Author
Felix was born in Burgos (Spain) in 1948. In 1949, his parents settled in Necochea (Argentina). In 1966 he graduated in Electrical Engineering at the 'Universidad Nacional del Sur' (UNS). In 1971, he started his academic life as Teaching Assistant of Mathematics at the UNS and from 1974 till 1983 he was Adjunct, Associate, and Full Professor at the 'Universidad Nacional de San Juan' (Argentina).
In 1983, he moved to Salt Lake City, USA as Postdoctoral Fellow and soon after became a Research Associate for the Department of Metallurgy at the University of Utah, conducting basic Research and Development on Optimal Control of Mineral Grinding Operations. In 1987, he left Academia and founded his own company working over the years with private companies and governmental entities as DuPont, ALCOA, US Department of Transportation, NASA, and Dow Chemical. His first patent was granted in 1992 in USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan, protecting a technology based on ultrasonic spectroscopy for measuring particle size in industrial suspensions and emulsions.
From 1997 to 2001, Felix developed a fundamental theory for the generic mathematical modeling of multiple scattering of optical and acoustical waves interacting with highly-concentrated suspensions and emulsions. During 2001-2007, he developed a particle size analyzer based on optical spectroscopy, and commercialized a generic simulation software tool connectable to acoustic and optical spectrometers, so as to convert them into particle size analyzers. The patent for this generic technology was granted in 2007.
Felix is currently a scientific consultant, and writes books on Philosophy of Science in English and Spanish. He is now working on the series Quantum Physics free of Folklore, of which Records of the Future: Classical Entropy, Memory, and the 'Arrow of Time' is its first volume and Aiming at REALITY: Statistical Entropy, Disorder, and the Quantum is its second volume.
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