A Question of Physics

This book contains interviews with physicists, biologists, and chemists who have been involved in some of the most exciting discoveries in modern scientific thought. The conversations—with Bohm, Pattee, Penrose, Rosen, Rosenfeld, Somorjai, Weizsäcker, Wheeler, and Nobel prizewinners Heisenberg, Dirac, and Prigogine—explore issues which have shaped modern physics and those which hint at what may form the next scientific revolution.

The discussions range over a set of basic problems in physical theory and their possible solutions—the understanding of space and time, quantum and relativity theories and recent attempts to unite them—and deal with related questions in theoretical biology. The approach is non-technical, with an emphasis on the assumptions of modern science and their implications for understanding the world we live in.

The book, which originated in a highly successful radio series, provides a vivid first-hand account of some of the astounding and perplexing developments in modern science, a rare overview that will intrigue the informed non-scientist and the scientist alike. 

Dr Paul Buckley is a physical chemist with the Science Policy Secretariat.

Dr F. David Peat is a physicist, writer, and film-maker.