Nothing: A Very Short Introduction [Paperback]

"Nothing" seems to be the simplest of all notions, apparently requiring no thought whatsoever. It is what remains where everything is taken away. But a closer scrutiny reveals that "nothing" is not trivial as it may first seem. Is it physically possible to achieve such a thing as the absence of all matter? Even if possible, is what remains a truly empty space? And what is space anyway - is it possible to talk about it in the absence of matter? It is these and related questions that this short book tries to answer. It takes the reader on a journey from philosophical and speculative ideas of classic antiquity, to the most advanced frontiers of modern theoretical and experimental Physics. For a book of its size it covers a lot of ground. It explains where the notion that "the nature abhors vacuum" comes from, and how it took almost two thousand years to refute it by actually creating the first known artificial vacuum. The book explains how the ideas about the vacuum have evolved over the centuries, and in particular what an effect the discoveries of quantum mechanics and general relativity have had on it. Today we believe that even the perfect vacuum is strictly speaking not completely empty, and it is a rather complicated and complex entity. The book concludes with some of the current Physics speculations and how they may pertain to our ideas about "nothing."

The book is written in an interesting and easy-flowing style, and it does not overwhelm the reader with technical details and arcane jargon. There are hardly any equations in it, and the ones that are present are straightforward and used in order to illustrate a point that otherwise would be too cumbersome to describe. Overall, this is a very good book with a fresh and engaging perspective.

"Why are there beings rather than nothing?" This seemingly futile question has plagued everyone from philosophers, scientists and anyone who has stopped to reflect on our bizarre existence. Such reflection usually leads to a thought about the state of "nothing." And then the inevitable contradictory questions flow, such as "what would exist if there were nothing?" or "would something need to exist to verify that nothing exists?" And the neurons flap on and on until exhaustion or insanity set in. Apparently, the void sits on the edge of human cognition. Our moist brains have problems going there without falling into slippery logical contradictions. But why rely on logic for such questions? Why keep banging our heads against empty formalism? Frank Close's little dense book "Nothing: A Very Short Introduction" takes off with this very idea. After discussing his own personal confrontation with the void, the book shifts drastically from the philosophical to the scientific. A short history of the void/vacuum science follows, including Toricelli's 1643 experiment that created a vacuum, the Magdeburg Hemispheres that demonstrated the power of atmospheric pressure, and Pascal's trials with water and wine. People were finally creating and experimenting with, seemingly, "nothing." Scientific method, in contrast to pure reason, was able to make something of the void. But was the void really nothing?

To explore this question, the book embarks on a breakneck tour of the history of science. Though it seems to veer from the void in many places, it always returns to nothing. Those familiar with the basic history of Newtonian Mechanics, Relativity and Quantum physics will likely trod familiar territory. But those who don't know about the innards of an atom, the architecture of magnetic and electromagnetic fields, the inverse square law, the historic controversy over the ether, curved space time, the expanding universe, quantum uncertainty, pair creation, the Higgs vacuum, or just what that Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is supposed to discover, will learn enough to say that a new conceptual world has opened. One of the more interesting ideas discussed involves the self-sustaining universe, in that the majority of the universe may only need a speck of energy (a gigantic quantum fluctuation) to exist nearly forever. The book's final chapter "the new void" once again waxes philosophic, but this time with 300 some years of science supporting the speculations. He begins: "Everything came from nothing" and "Modern physics suggests that it is possible that the universe could have emerged out of the vaccuum." We may originate solely from an eruption from inflation. But what if more universes exist? Or more dimensions? Such questions may remain mere interrogatives until a marriage of quantum mechanics and relativity occurs. Or perhaps our human sensibilities weren't fashioned to contemplate the essence of creation? A final paragraph asks a deeper question, one asked of many religions: what brought the universe into existence? Or, to avoid latent anthropomorphism, why did it emerge? Or, as Close puts it, "I am still confronted with the enigma of what encoded the quantum possibility into the void." The book ends with an appropriate quote from the Rig Veda. Though we seem to know more than the toga-clad sky starers of previous millennia, each discovery seems to open new questions.

"Nothing" provides an introduction to far more than nothing. It aims some 2,000 years of speculation at the void. Some of the narrative will more than challenge the scientifically nescient, so perhaps the "introduction" in the subtitle slightly misleads. Nonetheless, those seeking to initiate or expand upon scientific knowledge will find that "Nothing" provides a fascinating background on which to explore such brain wrinkling concepts. This book may look flimsy and may even fly away in a strong breeze, but this belies the density of information it contains. Perhaps it goes a bit too deep in places, and this may prove frustrating to readers seduced by the word "introduction." In any case, persistence will pay off as the history of science unfolds from the void as we are simultaneously revealed through it. This book provides a weighty read that bequeaths substance onto nothing.

Nothing: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
If you are at all scientifically curious this little volume should be a pleasure to read, especially if you know you are not going to be tested on it. Frank Close presents complex subject matter in a manner that is understandable even if you don't have a physics degree. But "Very Short Introduction" does not mean superficial -- the concepts it deals with are quite dense after all.

It is mostly about particle physics and cosmology. Close constructs accessible explanations of, for example, the composition and behavior of atoms and sub-atomic particles, relativity, quantum theory, the Big Bang, and the theory of Higgs bosons.

His unifying theme involves the Aristotelian idea that nature abhors a vacuum, a notion that was not over-turned (seemingly) until the seventeenth century. But it turns out that something is there after all, that all space is filled with energy.

Close renders the material (and energy) comprehensible through clear prose, reconstruction of helpful "thought experiments," enlightening metaphors, and a limited number of pictorial illustrations. For instance, he offers a graphic "mental model" of the uncertainty principle, one which I found very helpful. Yet he never lets the reader off the hook -- you will be required to think throughout.

This is publication number 205 in the Oxford "Very Short Introductions" series, which covers all manner of subjects. It is small and conveniently portable, but not unduly skimpy (I estimate about 43,000 words). An index makes it potentially useful as a reference book.

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