Name: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Author: Carlo Rovelli

Einstein discovered that the gravitational field IS the space Newton talked about
Cosmic background radiation from the big bang (explosion of a small overheated universe that made our large ever expanding one) is proof of the big bang

The idea of light as photons (packets of energy)
Werner Heisenberg devised the idea that electrons only exist when being interacted with, and that when not so, they are simply a calculable probability, this helped with the quantum leap theory/idea
Quantum mechanics is using the idea that no object has a definite position unless colliding with something else
To this day we cannot prove why this theory holds, we just accept it

Corpernicus proved the earth wasn’t the centre of everything
The universe began as a small ball and exploded into its current cosmic dimensions
There are billions of planets out there just like Earth, as our galaxy is one of billions
A grain of sand on a beach has more significance than our galaxy in the universe

Quarks are glued together by gluons to make protons and neutrons
Electrons quarks photons and gluons are the elementary particles that make up everything around us, they fluctuate between existence and non existence according to quantum theory
“Standard model of elementary particles”
There is a large cloud of dark matter surrounding every galaxy
Dark matter is just something we know is there but don’t know what it is, and the standard model doesn’t explain it

Quantum mechanics and general relativity conflict each other but are both such good theories
Loop quantum gravity theory says that space is made up of minute particles (atoms of space) that link together to give the texture of space
The atoms of space are not in space because they are space
This theory does not include time, everything moves on its own time scale and there is no universal passing of time
A black hole is a rebounding Planck star that is expanding in extreme slow motion, if you were on the star of would seem fast as the lack of gravity speeds up time
This theory says that the big bang was actually a bounce outward following a previous universe collapsing in on itself like a black hole for universes

Heat is atoms vibrating more quickly
Heat proves that time exists, without friction (heat transfer) a pendulum would fluctuate forever and if you played it in reverse would seem the same, but with friction you can tell the future (small fluctuations) from the past (larger fluctuations)
Boltzmann discovered that heat moves from hot to cold due to probability. It is much more likely a fast vibrating particle hits a still one than vise versa, and due to the conservation of energy it gives energy to the still one
We don’t know how gravitational field are affected by heat. How does space-time change with heat? It must vibrate but what does vibrating time look like
We do not say that things not ‘here’ don’t exist so why do we say things not ‘now’ don’t exist? This confuses physicists
Hawking proved black holes are always hot using quantum mechanics
His theory combines all 3 main physics approaches, quantum mechanics, general relativity and thermodynamics

“Integrated information theory” – theory about the structure of a system that makes it concious. What changes when we sleep etc
To be free means to make decisions based on what’s going on in your mind. Not externally
“Homo” species are characterised by being curious (humans, chimps, Neanderthals)