Thisshort,smartbooktellsyoueverythingyouneedtoknowabout“nothing.“Whatremainswhenyoutakeallthematteraway?Canemptyspace--“nothing“--exist?Toanswerthesequestions,eminentscientistFrankClosetakesusonalivelyandaccessiblejourneythatrangesfromancientideasandculturalsuperstitionstothefrontiersofcurrentresearch,illuminatingthestoryofhowscientistshaveexploredthevoidandtherichdiscoveriestheyhavemadethere.Readerswillfindanenlighteninghistoryofthevacuum:howtheeffortstomakeabettervacuumledtothediscoveryoftheelectron;theideasofNewton,Mach,andEinsteinonthenatureofspaceandtime;themysteriousaetherandhowEinsteindidawaywithit;andthelatestideasthatthevacuumisfilledwiththeHiggsfield.Thestoryrangesfromtheabsolutezerooftemperatureandtheseethingvacuumofvirtualparticlesandanti-particlesthatfillsspace,totheextremeheatandenergyoftheearlyuniverse.AbouttheSeries:Combiningauthoritywithwit,accessibility,andstyle,VeryShortIntroductionsofferanintroductiontosomeoflife’smostinterestingtopics.Writtenbyexpertsforthenewcomer,theydemonstratethefinestcontemporarythinkingaboutthecentralproblemsandissuesinhundredsofkeytopics,fromphilosophytoFreud,quantumtheorytoIslam.
