Audiobooks_Newsletter-Desktop_Penguin

Reading lists

Short audiobooks you can enjoy in one sitting

Carlo Rovelli on Nabokov's butterfly expertise

Main-Rovelli-Nabokov.jpg

Extracts

Vladimir Nabokov: novelist, poet… esteemed butterfly scientist?

Tom-Hanks-competition-960×450.jpg

Audiobooks read by Oscar winners and nominees

ArticleCard.jpg

The classics we fell in love with, as chosen by our authors and readers

There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness

'A joy of a book - enriching, illuminating, eclectic and far from a conventional science read' Richard Webb, New Scientist Books of the Year 
 
'Carlo Rovelli's imaginative rigour, his lively humour and his beautiful writing are inspiring' Erica Wagner 
 
One of the most inspiring thinkers of our age, the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics transforms the way we think about the world with his reflections on science, history and humanity 
 
In this collection of writings, the logbook of an intelligence always on the move, Carlo Rovelli follows his curiosity and invites us on a voyage through science, history, philosophy and politics. 
 
Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism. 
 
Charming, pithy and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential scientists of our age.

Superb. Rovelli's journalism is an expression of the scientific desire to know and understand the world. Beautifully translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell, There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important than Kindness continues a tradition of jargon-free popular scientific writing from Galileo to Darwin that disappeared in the academic specialization of the last century

With the publication of his million-selling book Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Rovelli took his place with Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman as one of the great popularisers of modern theoretical physics

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius for our age

Modern physics has found its poet. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist

The most fun physicist to be with -- as well as the greatest explainer of physics

The man who makes physics sexy. . . the new Hawking. . . His writing is luminous. By the time I had finished reading Seven Brief Lessons on Physics I was in serious awe of the author

A joy of a book - enriching, illuminating, eclectic and far from a conventional science read. . . showcases the light and shade of Rovelli's writing, and the passion for knowledge and curiosity that make him such an engaging writer . . . We need more Rovellis

Rovelli is a brilliant and lucid teacher who uses his understanding of theoretical physics and the quantum world to talk about the complexity of our everyday reality

This short collection of writings has something to offer for avid admirers of his work and new Rovelli readers alike

It remains rare for even the most talented science writers to fuse their work with a deep knowledge of the arts. One such rarity is Carlo Rovelli who, like some intellectual throwback to antiquity, treats the sciences and the humanities as complementary areas of knowledge and is a subtle interpreter of both. . . These finely wrought essays draw on an impressive hinterland of cultural and scientific learning. . . an entertaining and enlightening journey

Rovelli opens windows onto the imagination for all of us

Carlo Rovelli, one of our age's most inspiring thinkers, offers intellectual adventures for the curious

A global superstar. . . Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation

Carlo Rovelli (Author) Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France. His books Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Helgoland, Reality Is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time are international bestsellers which have been translated into forty-three languages.

One of our most beloved scientists, a fearless free spirit, Carlo Rovelli is also a masterful storyteller. In this collection of writings, the logbook of an intelligence always on the move, he follows his curiosity and invites us on a voyage through science, literature, philosophy and politics. 
 
Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces, most of which were first published in Italian newspapers, range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism. Charming, pithy and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential physicists of our age.

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Anniversary Edition

The anniversary edition of the international phenomenon 
 
'One of the best books of the 21st century' (Guardian) 
 
These seven short lessons guide us, with simplicity and clarity, through the scientific revolution that shook physics in the twentieth century and still continues to shake us today. In this enchanting overview of modern physics, Carlo Rovelli explains Einstein's theory of general relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, elementary particles, gravity, and the nature of the mind. 
 
Not since Richard Feynman's celebrated Six Easy Pieces has physics been so vividly, intelligently and entertainingly revealed.

There's a book I've been carrying around like a small Bible, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Absolutely fascinating... explains the entire universe in 79 pages

The man who makes physics sexy... The new Hawking... His writing is luminous. By the time I had finished reading I was in serious awe of the author

Honestly I cannot recommend it too strongly... One of the fastest selling science titles of all time because it is so clear

The perfect antidote to the fluff and nonsense around right now. Learn how the world is and how you might just fit in

The essays in Seven Brief Lessons on Physics arrive like shots of espresso, which you can consume the way the Italians do, quickly and while standing up

The most fun physicist to be with -- as well as the greatest explainer of physics

With the publication of his million-selling Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Carlo Rovelli took his place with Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman as one of the great popularisers of modern theoretical physics

A global superstar... Professor Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation

These seven short lessons guide us, with simplicity and clarity, through the scientific revolution that shook physics in the twentieth century and still continues to shake us today. In this enchanting overview of modern physics, Carlo Rovelli explains Einstein's theory of general relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, elementary particles, gravity, and the nature of the mind. 
 
Not since Richard Feynman's celebrated Six Easy Pieces has physics been so vividly, intelligently and entertainingly revealed.

And the Nature of Science

Anaximander

A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
'Anaximander is a delight and so is this book' -- James McConnachie, Sunday Times 
 
Now widely available in English for the first time, this is Carlo Rovelli's first book: the thrilling story of a little-known man who created one of the greatest intellectual revolutions 
 
Over two thousand years ago, one man changed the way we see the world. 
 
Since the dawn of civilization, humans had believed in the heavens above and the Earth below. Then, on the Ionian coast, a Greek philosopher named Anaximander set in motion a revolution. He not only conceived that the Earth floats in space, but also that animals evolve, that storms and earthquakes are natural, not supernatural, that the world can be mapped and, above all, that progress is made by the endless search for knowledge. 
 
Carlo Rovelli's first book, now widely available in English, tells the origin story of scientific thinking: our rebellious ability to reimagine the world, again and again. 
 
Translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg

Bestselling physicist Carlo Rovelli argues in this enjoyable and provocative little book that a little-known Greek philosopher invented the idea of the cosmos

Carlo Rovelli’s Anaximander is a knockout: there’s nobody like Rovelli for bridging the Two Cultures, and I was enlarged by his lucid, optimistic account, full of fascinating historical nuggets, of what scientists do and why it’s exciting

Rovelli is a very good scientist and a very good writer. He explains some of the most conceptually difficult and densest areas of physics lightly and breezily. Here, he tells the story of an ancient thinker who had a revolutionary idea about the Earth's place in the cosmos

Anaximander is a delight and so is this book

As Rovelli's fans will expect, this book is excellent. It is never less than engaging, and enviably compendious

A celebration of the scientific spirit of inquiry and the remarkable achievements of one man more than 2,500 years ago

A bold and persuasive case that this ancient Greek philosopher scientist was the founder of critical thinking

This is seriously astounding. So lucid, so imaginative, so subtle, and so large in scope. It's like the best primer you can imagine for the non-scientist on why what you think you know about Ptolemy and Copernicus, or Popper and Kuhn, is not quite right

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France. His books Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Helgoland, Reality Is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time are international bestsellers which have been translated into forty-three languages.

Over two millennia ago, a Greek philosopher had a number of wondrous insights that paved the way to cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology and biology, setting in motion a new way of seeing the world. Anaximander's legacy includes the revolutionary idea that the earth floats in a void, that the world can be understood in natural rather than supernatural terms, that animals evolved, and that universal laws govern all phenomena. He introduced a new mode of rational thinking with an openness to uncertainty and to the progress of knowledge. 
 
In this elegant work, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli brings to light the importance of Anaximander's overlooked legacy to modern science. He examines Anaximander as a scientist interested in shedding light on the deep nature of scientific thinking, which Rovelli locates in his rebellious ability to reimagine the world again and again. Anaximander celebrates the radical lack of certainty that defines the scientific quest for knowledge.

White Holes

‘If you want to remember why you once fell in love with the idea of the cosmos, or want to fall in love with it for the first time, then this book is for you’ Observer 
 From Carlo Rovelli, the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, this is a story of wonder, new worlds and why the end is just the beginning 
 
Let us journey into the heart of a black hole. Let us slip beyond its boundary, the horizon, and tumble - on and on - down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we'll see geometry fold, we'll feel the equations draw tight around us. Eventually, we'll pass it: the remains of a star, deep and dense and falling further far. And then - the bottom. Where time and space end, and the white hole is born . . . 
With lightness and magic, here Carlo Rovelli traces the ongoing adventure of his own cutting-edge research, of the uncertainty and joy of going where we've not yet been. Guiding us to the edge of theory and experiment, he invites us to go beyond, to experience the fever and the disquiet of science. Here is the extraordinary life of a white hole. 
A BOOK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO THE FINANCIAL TIMES * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * NEW STATESMAN * NEW SCIENTIST

A miniature masterpiece by one of the most entertaining scientists on the planet&hellip; I would give this book to anyone, young and old, interested in thinking, science and literature&hellip; His book is a work of literature itself

Everyone&rsquo;s talking about White Holes

Reading it is akin to the final psychedelic sequence in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey: you’re not sure where you’re heading but it feels bloody exciting ... If you want to remember why you once fell in love with the idea of the cosmos, or want to fall in love with that idea for the first time, then this book is for you

It is always worth reading Rovelli. He writes like he believes you are as learned and clever as he is. Yet he also writes with such care for your ignorance that it feels every page is urging and coaxing you &mdash; a non-physicist &mdash; to see what he can see

Carlo Rovelli is a maestro of imaginative science writing... irresistible

Brilliant&hellip; A beautiful little book, by a celebrated physicist and writer, about a phenomenon that is permitted by equations but might not actually exist &hellip; What elevates this book is the author&rsquo;s supernatural concision, and his artistic and philosophical elegance

This slim, speculative volume will enchant the many fans of the stellar cosmologist. In a work of poetry and imagination as much as physics, he seeks to convince us that black holes (from which nothing can escape) will eventually convert into white holes (which nothing can enter)

Physicist Carlo Rovelli tackles counterintuitive ideas and guides us through a time-reversed black hole in this elegant work

Enter a black hole and you’re not forgotten; you’re not even gone. In this fascinating little book, Rovelli, one of physics’ most elegant writers, finds hope at the end of all things

A hallucinatory journey... Rovelli takes us inside a black hole

A mind-bending journey to the edge of reality from an accomplished storyteller ... Rovelli certainly does an excellent job of conveying the wonder and strangeness of the universe

Carlo Rovelli is brilliant at making even dopey arts graduates understand physics before comprehension disappears into the black hole of ignorance. Now he turns to white holes

In Carlo Rovelli’s White Holes, the quantum physicist posits the mind-numbing notion that when they get very, very old, black holes – which result when stars collapse on themselves by force of gravity – turn into, well, white holes. Rovelli writes with equal gaiety and clarity. A splendid book

We all know about black holes &ndash; we've even seen a picture of one. But white holes? In his latest book, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli weaves a poetic spell to persuade us that these mysterious entities are real... an enjoyable and enlightening read... one of the clearest pictures I have encountered about the physics inside black holes... You probably won&rsquo;t ever fall into a black hole (or exit a white hole), but reading this might be the next best thing

Taking the journey with Rovelli is more than worth the price of the book. Dante gave us his tour of the underworld. We could not do better than having Rovelli as a guide into the dark world of black holes

White Holes reads more like poetry than a science lesson… and says as much about imagination and exploration as it does about physics… Rovelli helps readers grasp how important imagination is to seeing the universe in new ways, for both artists and scientists

World renowned physicist Rovelli's writing is so magical - weaving in Dante and Einstein and art as he goes - you're happy to be transported. His new book - to be gorgeously giftily packaged in a design by Coralie Bickford-Smith - takes us on a bewitching trip into the heart of a black hole. There where time and space end, its opposite - a white hole - is born

White Holes edifies, excites, and even transforms me. Rovelli summons us to novel forms of knowledge while also breathing life into questions that affect all sentient beings, such as: how do we proceed when our guides no longer suffice? I’m grateful for the warm invitation to the journey

Carlo Rovelli is the poet of physics. His sense of wonder obliterates the barrier between Science and the Arts

Rovelli’s genius is to unlearn what we think we know to make space for what we don’t know … so that we can know it

Carlo Rovelli combines science and story like no one else. This short book starts with a wild idea that turned out to be real (black holes), and leads to a wild idea that remains speculative at the moment (white holes). It's a journey through time and space and possibility, led by a charming guide

Carlo Rovelli's combination of a brilliant scientific mind with philosophical clarity and a deeply and humanely poetic gift of expression is rare. This latest book is a wonderful addition to an already impressive list of works, leading us from the remotest reaches of cosmological speculation to revolutionary insights into our own consciousness

A wild, exhilarating ride, Dantesque in scope and beauty

Rovelli is the current king of science writing. It’s remarkable and actually just unfair that he can be an eminent physicist and write so beautifully - as if Steph Curry was also a world-class golfer. Even if I don’t understand everything in a Rovelli book I grasp enough to feel like I’m learning, and I know I’m in the hands of a humane thinker

This is a radical wonder of a book that dares to take the lay reader by the hand and lead them, with generosity and tenderness, into a place that is so conceptually terrifying that it hovers on the periphery of what humans can imagine – namely – the inside of a black hole. Referencing Dante’s voyage in the Divine Comedy and framing Einstein as Virgil, who takes us as far as his theories could then go, it is Rovelli himself who becomes our Beatrice, revealing through time elastic and true physics, the existence of another, perhaps stranger, cosmic eventuality

A brilliant, expansive and richly rewarding read

What a lovely idea, to cast research into white holes - which may or may not be floating like dragonflies through the universe - as a Dantean journey to the heart of cutting-edge theory. Beautifully done

Thought-provoking, mind-expanding, and utterly charming. An intellectual feast that's also a fast and entertaining read

To venture across the threshold of a black hole and then - incredibly - to burst through to the other side into the imagined but unseen realm of a white hole requires the most expert and sympathetic of guides. Carlo Rovelli is just who you need for such a daunting cosmic journey - ever patient, crystal clear and ready with a steadying hand. What could be a bewildering experience becomes one that's lyrical and illuminating. I read this short, enchanting, mind-opening book in one sitting and was so gripped I immediately read it again

Rovelli’s vivid, beautifully written book guides us on an incredible journey through a black hole and the science and history of discovery that surrounds these strange, fascinating objects. I couldn’t put it down

A charming introduction to the mysterious concept of white holes. Carlo Rovelli is a truly beguiling tour guide

Whenever I feel like I'm descending into obscurity I think of Carlo Rovelli and feel much better

White Holes is a book of marvels… Rovelli is one of the visionaries of our days

Carlo Rovelli is an internationally acclaimed writer whose books, including Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time and Helgoland, have been number one bestsellers around the world and translated into over forty languages. As a theoretical physicist, he has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time and he is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France.

Let us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. Let us slip beyond its boundary, the horizon, and tumble - on and on - down this crack in the universe. As we plunge, we'll see geometry fold, we'll feel the equations draw tight around us. Eventually, we'll pass it: the remains of a star, deep and dense and falling further far. And then - the bottom. Where time and space end, and the white hole is born . . . 
 
With lightness and magic, here Rovelli traces the ongoing adventure of his own cutting-edge research, of the uncertainty and joy of going where we've not yet been. Guiding us to the edge of theory and experiment, he invites us to go beyond, to experience the fever and the disquiet of science. Here is the extraordinary life of a white hole.

The Sunday Times bestseller

Helgoland

The Strange and Beautiful Story of Quantum Physics

The instant Sunday Times bestseller -- a beautiful story of rebellion and science 
 
'A triumph. . . We are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical' Financial Times 
 
In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, had retreated to the treeless, wind-battered island of Helgoland in the North Sea in order to think. Walking all night, by dawn he had wrestled with an idea that would transform the whole of science and our very conception of the world. 
 
In Helgoland Carlo Rovelli tells the story of the birth of quantum physics and its bright young founders who were to become some of the most famous Nobel winners in science. It is a celebration of youthful rebellion and intellectual revolution. An invitation to a magical place. 
 
Here Rovelli illuminates competing interpretations of this science and offers his own original view, describing the world we touch as a fabric woven by relations. Where we, as every other thing around us, exist in our interactions with one another, in a never-ending game of mirrors. 
 
A dazzling work from a celebrated scientist and master storyteller, Helgoland transports us to dizzying heights, reminding us of the many pleasures of the life of the mind. 
 
Translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell 
 
Chosen as a Book of the Year by The Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times, Guardian and Prospect 
 
Shortlisted for the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize

Popular science has rarely been so good

The greatest populariser of physics today. . . We are left in a world that is not disenchanted by science, but even more magical. A triumph

Theoretical physics often feels rather mystical. This mind-bending, lively book by the bestselling physicist Carlo Rovelli reinforces that other-wordly feeling. . . unforgettable

Rovelli is often called the poet of physics. He writes elegant, wondering, enlarging books on time and quantum theory, much in the spirit of a priest bringing the word of God to his congregation, and I've found it good for my soul to be confronted with how little I understand the world and everything in it

One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline. . . A momentous book

His most beautiful book yet. . . leaves an unforgettable impression of its author as a man struggling at the furthest limits of human comprehension

A deep-thinking, restlessly inquiring spirit. . . His books continue a tradition of popular scientific writing from Galileo to Darwin that disappeared in the academic specialisations of the past century

Another brilliant book by Rovelli. . . You'll have fun

If anyone can make sense of the topsy-turvy, counterintuitive world of quantum physics, it is Carlo Rovelli, the most poetically minded of today's science communicators

A remarkably wide-ranging new meditation on quantum theory. . . With the light touch of a skilled storyteller. . . Rovelli is not afraid to mix quantum physics and eastern philosophy

A great tonic for long-isolated minds . . . a thrilling story, written with Rovelli's accustomed wit and panache. After reading him, you'll look at the grains of beach sand between your toes with an entirely new eye

Inspiring. . . Without mathematics or experiment, by page 81 your thoughts are at the frontier of quantum theory

A delight . . . it is a pleasure to travel in Rovelli's company

Travelogue meets biography meets a masterful explanation of quantum theory in this warm and fascinating account

Explained with uncanny insight and lyrical grace

A new vision, one with a remarkable power in delivering new answers to old quantum riddles. . . original and graceful

Bracing and refreshing. . . Rovelli is offering a new way to understand not just the world but our place in it, too

Carlo Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator. . . What I love about his writing is that it always comes back to people -- people interacting with other people, who are interacting with their world. This is the place where science comes to life

When life feels strange, Rovelli's books remind me that there is beauty in the strangeness

Rovelli is a brilliant and lucid teacher who uses his understanding of theoretical physics and the quantum world to talk about the complexity of our everyday reality

Carlo Rovelli's imaginative rigour, his lively humour and his beautiful writing are inspiring

Rovelli opens windows onto the imagination for all of us

I always find with Carlo Rovelli's books that there are moments when you get a real hit of understanding -- a jigsaw in your mind that just falls into place

Helgoland is a wonderful guide to the most extraordinary story in physics. It will reset your view of the universe

Hooked me so hard I read the entire book in one sitting. And then twice more

The old, solid world, if you believed in it at all, breaks into a glorious shimmer of limitless potential

Rovelli has an uncanny knack for instilling wonder and explaining complex theories in plain, entertaining ways

I'm keen for everyone to read Helgoland: a wonderfully lucid and poetic account of the foundations of quantum physics. It combines a compelling history with Rovelli's own intriguing - and for me very appealing - views about the basis of all things

In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, had retreated to the treeless, wind-battered island of Helgoland in the North Sea in order to think. Walking all night, by dawn he had wrestled with an idea that would transform the whole of science and our very conception of the world. 
 
In Helgoland Carlo Rovelli tells the story of the birth of quantum physics and its bright young founders who were to become some of the most famous Nobel winners in science. It is a celebration of youthful rebellion and intellectual revolution. An invitation to a magical place. 
 
Here Rovelli illuminates competing interpretations of this science and offers his own original view, describing the world we touch as a fabric woven by relations. Where we, as every other thing around us, exist in our interactions with one another, in a never-ending game of mirrors. 
 
A dazzling work from one of our most celebrated scientists and master storyteller, Helgoland transports us to dizzying heights, reminding us of the many pleasures of the life of the mind.

The Order of Time

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
One of TIME's Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade 
 
'Captivating, fascinating, profoundly beautiful. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist' John Banville 
 
'We are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come' 
 
Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe. 
 
With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery. Enlightening and consoling, The Order of Time shows that to understand ourselves we need to reflect on time -- and to understand time we need to reflect on ourselves. 
 
Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre

Modern physics has found its poet. A captivating, fascinating, profoundly beautiful book. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist

Wonderful. . . Time is something we think we know about instinctively; here he shows how profoundly strange it really is

Full of staggering revelations... I could (and will) read and think about such things again and again until they begin to sink in

This book has been a kind of bible for me. When life feels strange, Rovelli's books remind me that there is beauty in the strangeness. The Order of Time is one of those books that I will always go back to

Brings the most difficult ideas alive in clear, appealing language. It is as close as I've come to a physics lesson that almost suggests the meaning of life

Meet the new Stephen Hawking. . . I've never seen special relativity explained so well, never visualised it less fuzzily, never felt such a jolt of shock at what it implies

A dizzying, poetic work in which I found myself abandoning everything I thought I knew about time

Enlightening... gives poetic voice to the common human experience of moving through time, while simultaneously leaving the reader much more equipped to understand how exactly that happens. . . A resounding affirmation of the humanity behind science

Time magazine, Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s

I consider Carlo Rovelli to be a poet as much as a physicist. . .  Everybody should read this book

A joy to read. . . Rovelli writes easily, vividly and brilliantly - he is as at ease with Beethoven as he is with Boltzmann's constant, and verses by Horace launch each chapter, one of which ends with a couplet from the Grateful Dead. . . A delight

A deep - and remarkably readable - dive into the fundamental nature of time. . .  written with enough charm and poetry to engage the imagination of anyone who reads it

Anyone with the least interest in the science of the physical world will be by turns astonished, baffled and thrilled by what Rovelli has to say about the true nature of time, which has little in common with our everyday conception of it

Highly original. . .  The heart and humanity of the book, its poetry and its gentle tone raise it to the level and style of such great scientist-writers as Lewis Thomas and Rachel Carson

Rovelli is one of our great scientific explicators. . . Not since Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has there been so genial an integration of physics and philosophy

Physics' literary superstar makes us rethink time. . . The Order of Time will surely establish Rovelli among the pantheon of great scientist-communicators

An elegantly concise primer makes theoretical physics intelligible. . . stunningly written

A masterly writer. . . In this little gem of a book, Mr. Rovelli demolishes our common-sense notion of time. . . an ambitious book that illuminates a thorny question and succeeds in being a pleasurable read

Carlo Rovelli has achieved almost prophetic status

The physicist transforming how we see the universe

With the publication of his million-selling Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Carlo Rovelli took his place with Stephen Hawking and Richard Feynman as one of the great popularisers of modern theoretical physics

The most fun physicist to be with -- as well as the greatest explainer of physics

The Journey to Quantum Gravity

Reality Is Not What It Seems

'The physicist transforming how we see the universe' (Financial Times) 
 
'An utter joy' (Adam Rutherford) 
 
'A hugely engaging book... Rovelli is a charming, thought-provoking tour guide' (Manjit Kumar Prospect) 
 
Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? 
Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. In this mind-expanding book, he shows how our understanding of reality has changed throughout centuries, from Democritus to loop quantum gravity. Taking us on a wondrous journey, he invites us to imagine a whole new world where black holes are waiting to explode, spacetime is made up of grains, and infinity does not exist -- a vast universe still largely undiscovered. 
 
Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre

A global superstar... Professor Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation

Surely Rovelli deserves the title 'world's most inspiring physics teacher'

The new Hawking... His writing is luminous. By the time I had finished reading I was in serious awe of the author

This is a really, really good book about science. It's like a tonic for the mind. Carlo Rovelli is a physicist so of course this book is about physics. But it's much more than that. It's about thinking clearly... He gives beautifully clear explanations of the ideas of the cleverest people in history, from Democritus, via Newton, to Einstein and beyond.

Rather brilliant... for fans of cutting-edge physics made accessible

The latest thinking in physics is distilled in this primer... Why do you need yet another popularisation of theoretical physics? Because Rovelli writes with crystalline simplicity. And because he turns quantum physics into a coherent story, shaping it as a quest for a single, underlying "substratum" of reality - from Democritus's finite, indivisible atoms to Einstein

A comprehensive guide to the bewitching adventure of physics

Rovelli writes with elegance, clarity and charm... A joy to read, as well as being an intellectual feast

Be prepared for your intellectual foundations to be vaporised... Carlo Rovelli will melt your synapses with this exploration of physical reality and what the universe is formed of at the very deepest level... Quantum gravity is so new that there aren't many popular books about it. You couldn't be in better hands than Rovelli, a world expert

Like all great thinkers, Rovelli has a talent for simplicity. His prose is lucid and poetic... It's not a scientific treatise. It's a paean to the wonder of the natural world... I scraped a C in my Physics O-level and haven't been near a physics textbook since. If I can understand - and even enjoy - Rovelli's book, then anyone can

A marvel... In exquisitely written pages Rovelli seeks to bridge the divide between what CP Snow called the "Two Cultures" of science and the arts

May genuinely alter how you see the world

If your desire to be awestruck by the universe we inhabit needs refreshing, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli is up to the task

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France. His Seven Brief Lessons on Physics is an international bestseller translated into forty-one languages.

What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries. From Aristotle to Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday to the Higgs boson, he takes us on a wondrous journey to show us that beyond our ever-changing idea of reality is a whole new world that has yet to be discovered.

Physics and Philosophy

On the Equality of All Things

The global bestselling superstar ‘poet of physics’ returns with a dazzling philosophical exploration of our place in the universe 
What can we really know about the world around us? Or is there beauty in daring not to know? 
 With clarity and lightness, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli takes us on a journey of enlightenment, to the speculative frontiers of modern physics and the boundaries of thought. There is no fear in testing their limits, he suggests – not least because there may be no final ground to reach. 
 
 Here Rovelli shows us that electrons and minds, stones and laws, judgements and galaxies are not essentially different in nature from one another, but rather ideas that illuminate each other. Reality, he reveals, is shaped by a continuous play of reflections. From this emerges his visionary insight: the equality of all things. 
 
 Like the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, who dreams he is a butterfly and wakes unsure whether he is Zhuangzi dreaming to be a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming to be Zhuangzi, Rovelli invites us to see reality anew, recognizing that our knowledge is coherent but also uncertain and circular. We are made of the same stuff as the rest of reality – and so we are, in a deep sense, home in the world.

Carlo Rovelli is an internationally acclaimed writer whose books, including Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, Helgoland and White Holes, have been number one bestsellers around the world and translated into over forty languages. As a theoretical physicist, he has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time and he is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France.

What can we really know about the world around us? Or is there beauty in daring not to know? 
 
With clarity and lightness, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli takes us on a journey of enlightenment, to the speculative frontiers of modern physics and the boundaries of thought. There is no fear in testing their limits, he suggests – not least because there may be no final ground to reach. 
 
Here Rovelli shows us that electrons and minds, stones and laws, judgements and galaxies are not essentially different in nature from one another, but rather ideas that illuminate each other. Reality, he reveals, is shaped by a continuous play of reflections. From this emerges his visionary insight: the equality of all things. 
 
Like the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, who dreams he is a butterfly and wakes unsure whether he is Zhuangzi dreaming to be a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming to be Zhuangzi, Rovelli invites us to see reality anew, recognizing that our knowledge is coherent but also uncertain and circular. We are made of the same stuff as the rest of reality – and so we are, in a deep sense, home in the world.

Carlo Rovelli

A Physicist's Argument Against Rearmament

'What drives these pages is the guilty conscience of my profession, theoretical physics. My sole aim is to help avert what seems to me to be the unintended, yet scarcely avoidable, end point of the current politics of the governments we have elected: nuclear war.'The world is re-arming and embroiled in endless conflict. The Doomsday Clock has now been set to 85 seconds to midnight, with the risk of nuclear war the highest it has ever been. Why do we always fail to learn from the past?In this urgent book, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli reframes the history of nuclear weapons: from how the atomic bomb was born to why Germany didn't build it and why the US used it, to the narrowly averted disasters of the Cold War and the political brinkmanship careering out of control today. As he grapples with the legacy of his scientific forebears, Rovelli spotlights the true nature of the decisions being made by leaders around the world today. A timely and ardent warning, this searing reckoning with short-sighted politics is essential reading for anyone seeking sanity at our moment of greatest peril.

Carlo Rovelli

Books by Carlo Rovelli

Articles featuring Carlo Rovelli

Short audiobooks you can enjoy in one sitting

Vladimir Nabokov: novelist, poet… esteemed butterfly scientist?

Audiobooks read by Oscar winners and nominees

The classics we fell in love with, as chosen by our authors and readers

Videos

Are We Living In A Simulation? | Carlo Rovelli | Big Questions

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter