And these are called bosons and fermions, and photons are examples of bosons, bosons like to do the same thing. What is the anyon?įRANK WILCZEK: OK, so for many years, people thought that there were two kinds of particles that were two families of particles, i call them kingdoms of particles that were possible. In fact, there were two experiments last year that proved the existence of the anyon particle. IRA FLATOW: In your career, as I mentioned, you predicted some of these things decades ago, in the 70s and the 80s, that only now are getting proven by experimental physics. Doctor Wilczek, welcome back to Science FridayįRANK WILCZEK: It’s wonderful to be here.

Doctor Frank Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach professor of physics at MIT, and author of the new book, Fundamentals, 10 Keys to Reality. In 2004, Wilczek was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his contribution decades earlier to the theory of quantum chromodynamics.Īnd in addition to the anyon, he has predicted the existence of a hypothetical particle, the axion, a possible component of cold dark matter. As a theoretical physicist, Wilczek has made a career out of dreaming up new ways to understand our physical universe and being right about them. And last summer came news that scientists have finally found evidence of it. In 1982, theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek predicted the existence of a new quasiparticle, the anyone.

Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.50in - 0.80in - 0.IRA FLATOW: This is Science Friday.

Brilliant, lucid, and accessible, this celebration of human ingenuity and imagination will expand your world and your mind Book Details

He excavates the history of fundamental science, exploring what we know and how we know it, while journeying to the horizons of the scientific world to give us a glimpse of what we may soon discover.

Synthesizing basic questions, facts, and dazzling speculations, Wilczek investigates the ideas that form our understanding of the universe: time, space, matter, energy, complexity, and complementarity. Through these pages, we come to see our reality in a new way-bigger, fuller, and stranger than it looked before. With clarity and an infectious sense of joy, he guides us through the essential concepts that form our understanding of what the world is and how it works. Wilczek writes with breathtaking economy and clarity, and his pleasure in his subject is palpable.' - The New York Times Book Review One of our great contemporary scientists reveals the ten profound insights that illuminate what everyone should know about the physical world In Fundamentals, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek offers the reader a simple yet profound exploration of reality based on the deep revelations of modern science. ' Fundamentals might be the perfect book for the winter of this plague year.

Fundamentals by Frank Wilczek