The Science of Can and Can't
A Physicist's Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals
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Narrated by:
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Katharine Lee McEwan
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By:
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Chiara Marletto
About this listen
A luminous guide to how the radical new science of counterfactuals can reveal that the scope of the universe is greater, and more beautiful, than we ever imagined
There is a vast class of things that science has so far almost entirely neglected. They are central to the understanding of physical reality both at an everyday level and at the level of the most fundamental phenomena in physics, yet have traditionally been assumed to be impossible to incorporate into fundamental scientific explanations. They are facts not about what is (the actual) but about what could be (counterfactuals).
According to physicist Chiara Marletto, laws about things being possible or impossible may generate an alternative way of providing explanations. This fascinating, far-reaching approach holds promise for revolutionizing the way fundamental physics is formulated and for providing essential tools to face existing technological challenges - from delivering the next generation of information-processing devices beyond the universal quantum computer to designing AIs.
Each chapter in the book delineates how an existing vexed open problem in science can be solved by this radically different approach and it is augmented by short fictional stories that explicate the main point of the chapter. As Marletto demonstrates, contemplating what is possible can give us a more complete and hopeful picture of the physical world.
©2021 Chiara Marletto (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Marletto's call to probe counterfactuals is novel and interesting.... Replete with stories from classical Greek mythology and examples of ideas drawn from biology and physics, The Science of Can and Can't is worth delving into.” (Wall Street Journal)
“[A] revolutionary recasting of physics.... Marletto’s contributions to ‘constructor theory’ reconcile what we think of as physical laws with the open-ended possibilities thrown up by biology and information theory. It is a paradigm that, for all its rigor, re-enchants the world and enriches our place in it.” (New Scientist)
“[A] cerebral yet intellectually satisfying journey with a simple description of the two kinds of counterfactuals in physics.... Marletto’s style resembles a frank conversation with the reader. Sophisticated concepts in physics, like information and knowledge, are explained using clear analogies to everyday life.” (Booklist)
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Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.' Douglas Adams, Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.We human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject. Philosophers and mathematicians have gone mad contemplating its nature and complexity - yet it is a concept routinely used by schoolchildren. Exploring the infinite is a
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Really not great in Audio, not great otherwise
- By Michael on 03-29-13
By: Brian Clegg
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A Beginner’s Guide to Reality
- Exploring Our Everyday Adventures in Wonderland
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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A unique fusion of philosophy and metaphysics set against the backdrop of contemporary culture. Have you ever wondered if the world is really there when you're not looking? We tend to take the reality of our world very much for granted. This book will lead you down the rabbit hole in search of something we can point to, hang our hats on, and say this is real.
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A real great listen on the nature of reality
- By Patrick Mabry, Jr. on 07-30-14
By: Jim Baggott
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The Island of Knowledge
- The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning
- By: Marcelo Gleiser
- Narrated by: William Neenan
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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How much can we know about the world? In this audiobook physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing he reaches a provocative conclusion: Science, like religion, is fundamentally limited as a tool for understanding the world. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we face the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know.
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Island of knowledge
- By Joshua Kring on 07-26-15
By: Marcelo Gleiser
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Spooky Action at a Distance
- The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time-and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything
- By: George Musser
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally stop to ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time. The phenomenon - the ability of one particle to affect another instantly across the vastness of space - appears to be almost magical.
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Rambling but Asks Good Questions
- By Michael on 12-19-15
By: George Musser
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Paradox
- The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history, scientists have come up with theories and ideas that just don't seem to make sense. These we call paradoxes. The paradoxes Al-Khalili offers are drawn chiefly from physics and astronomy and represent those that have stumped some of the finest minds. With elegant explanations that bring the listener inside the mind of those who've developed them, Al-Khalili helps us to see that, in fact, paradoxes can be solved if seen from the right angle.
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Almost Useless
- By Michael on 06-19-19
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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Dance of the Photons
- From Einstein to Quantum Teleportation
- By: Anton Zeilinger
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Einstein's steadfast refusal to accept certain aspects of quantum theory was rooted in his insistence that physics has to be about reality. Accordingly, he once derided as spooky action at a distance the notion that two elementary particles far removed from each other could nonetheless influence each others propertiesa hypothetical phenomenon his fellow theorist Erwin Schrdinger termed quantum entanglement.
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Brilliant author tries hard, but comes up short...
- By Michael on 07-27-12
By: Anton Zeilinger
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Is God a Mathematician?
- By: Mario Livio
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner once wondered about "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" in the formulation of the laws of nature. Is God a Mathematician? investigates why mathematics is as powerful as it is. From ancient times to the present, scientists and philosophers have marveled at how such a seemingly abstract discipline could so perfectly explain the natural world. More than that - mathematics has often made predictions, for example, about subatomic particles or cosmic phenomena that were unknown at the time, but later were proven to be true.
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Origins of Mathematics
- By Rick B on 07-08-21
By: Mario Livio
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A Most Elegant Equation
- Euler’s Formula and the Beauty of Mathematics
- By: David Stipp
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Bertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry". This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's identity, or God's equation, it includes just five numbers but represents an astonishing revelation of hidden connections.
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Good treatment of the subject
- By Kindle Customer on 04-09-18
By: David Stipp
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His Master's Voice
- By: Stanislaw Lem
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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A witty and inventive satire of "men of science" and their thinking, as a team of scientists races to decode a mysterious message from space. "I had the feeling that I was standing at the cradle of a new mythology. A last will and testament...we as the posthumous heirs of Them...."
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Excelent and entertaining
- By Jakub on 01-10-12
By: Stanislaw Lem
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The Trouble with Physics
- The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- By: Lee Smolin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In this illuminating book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that fundamental physics - the search for the laws of nature - is losing its way. Ambitious ideas about extra dimensions, exotic particles, multiple universes, and strings have captured the publics imagination -- and the imagination of experts.
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Strings snipped
- By J B Tipton on 06-06-10
By: Lee Smolin
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When Einstein Walked with Gödel
- Excursions to the Edge of Thought
- By: Jim Holt
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot.
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A good overview of scientific theory
- By MJ Walters on 09-11-18
By: Jim Holt
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Euclid's Window
- The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
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Wow!
- By Eric on 08-13-10
By: Leonard Mlodinow
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What listeners say about The Science of Can and Can't
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- olcrandad
- 06-20-21
Interesting introduction to science of counterfactuals
Very good attempt at explaining in simple language an abstract topic. In my own experience of teaching science and in particular the concept of information, I’ve struggled to find simple satisfying explanation. Dr Marletto has hit the mark I think here.
The book opens up a lot of topics to follow up on in modern science and especially the science of knowledge and creativity. She discusses the possibility of exploration of these ideas without resorting to references to dualistic and subjective ideas.
I highly recommend this book. But take the time to understand the concepts and definitions as you take the journey
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- Eagle Creek
- 09-02-21
Catchy Concept But Not Well Described
The Science of Can and Can't by Chiara Marletto received great press when it was first released and I had high expectations for this book. However, I felt the author was unsure who her audience was. Was it the physical science community or the educated by non-technically schooled public?
As scientifically educated but not in the physical sciences, I found that her explanation of counter-factuals, the point of the book, to be opaque and at the same time overly general. Her attempts to use metaphors from the biological sciences were not drawn from current understandings.
I was disappointed in this book and can not recommend it for those of us who are looking for a better understanding of the physical world.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-30-21
Foundational philosophy for modern science.
Constructor theory is really ambitious, it seeks to create a unified narrative that gets us beyond mind body duality, and wrap up biological, quantum, computational and mental pictures the world into a single physical framework. I have no doubt that this is the future, and people in the 23rd and 22nd centuries will discuss things in these terms laid out in this book. Also I think what she has done will be part of that. However, the author works too hard to present a pretty picture without error, and so necessarily doesn't offer the listener as much diving in as we would like.
The book is pretty, it has this traditional Japanese feel, of powerful simple expressions and artistic stories alongside. But as important as this topic is and as brilliant as I feel the author is, I wish she would have thrown out on the pages more of the gory mess that a subject this young must exist in, not be afraid to make a fool of herself asking more questions and presenting quandaries. The theory is a baby giant, there are going to be messes that need to be cleaned up.
Still, I recommend reading, the ultimate subject is awesome.
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- Dan
- 10-04-21
Why are good readings so rare?
The book introduces some important new ideas that are well worth listening to, but the voice reading these ideas is so monotonous as to induce either sleep or nausea, depending on your level of interest. A purely computer-generated voice of the same timbre, quality and accent would be easier to listen to than this. At least then one wouldn’t expect it to have some comprehension of the words it is voicing.
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- RS_Jr
- 03-26-22
Very good, recommended for everyone!
I enjoyed this book very much. I enjoyed the stories and the new ideas. Enjoy!
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1 person found this helpful
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- VL
- 06-29-22
drone performance
Narrator voice and style was too drone like. Inflections of intonation help to keep the listening active instead of falling into a lull.
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- Tatras
- 08-12-24
Science porn.
So everything is energy and energy is information. Energy cant never be fully lost, only exchanged.
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- Evert
- 06-19-21
Was Hoping for Depth
I was hoping for the profound but instead got a puddle.
I confess I didn't get past the first chapter. Perhaps the book improves but given the surprising lack of thought in the opening pages, I saw little promise in going forward. If a scientist, from whom one should expect careful thought, presents such haphazard reasoning right from the start, what surety is there that things will improve?
Here is the first example: in chapter one, Marletto introduces the concept of "resilience." In a universe where entropy rules, there are things that resist decay. These are at least temporarily "resilient." To illustrate, he compares DNA to a rock. DNA has essentially remained unchanged for billions of years. Rocks erode. Ergo rocks aren't resilient, DNA is. However, DNA is a constituent part of a greater whole. Rocks are a greater whole of constituent parts. Okay, this is a minor point. But wouldn't it have been more consistent to say the components of a rock, the iron, the granite, etc. are unchanged over billions of years, but rocks erode? The DNA/rock illustration is just sloppy.
Secondly, Marletto presents a theory as fact and then bases his theory on this "fact." This is not science. It is belief. He states emphatically, "there is no (ultimate) designer." Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. I don't claim to know. Regardless, you can't prove a negative. You and I might agree that there is/is not designer, that the preponderance of evidence leans overwhelmingly in one direction or the other. However, this is still belief. Far better would have been if Marletto had simply ignored this "belief" and proceeded with his theory. Instead, he begins with sloppy thinking which portends little hope of improvement.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Biorelevant
- 07-07-21
an interesting concept, diluted beyond repair
I was thrilled to listen to this book: the glowing reviews, the mention at the WSJ. And I did listen to 3/4 of it, until giving up. The mish-mash of disconnected stories just killed my interest, despite believing the topic is interesting and in the forefront of physics research.
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- EDS
- 05-12-24
Awful narration and disappointing content
First I address the narration. The reader had a good voice and pronunciation was good but the reading was robotic and annoying. I almost couldn’t finish the book.
Concerning the content, I was drawn to the book because of the forward and endorsement of David Deutsch. However, I was very disappointed in the depth and clarity of the content. It was mostly a repetitious attempt to claim that consideration of counter-factual (considering properties of systems beyond what can be experimentally manipulated) was missing from scientific practice and that including it would remedy the biggest problems in physics. Neither of these themes was adequately accomplished.
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1 person found this helpful