The Quark and the Jaguar
by Murray Gell-Mann · first published 1994
57% recommend43% neutral
From one of the architects of the new science of simplicity and complexity comes a highly personal, unifying vision of the natural world. As a theoretical physicist, Murray Gell-Mann has explored nature at its most fundamental level. His achievements include the 1969 Nobel Prize for work leading up to his discovery of the quark - the basic building block of all atomic nuclei throughout the universe. But Gell-Mann is a man of many intellectual passions, with lifelong interests in fields that seek to understand existence at its most complex: natural history, biological evolution, the history of
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The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann is a very idiosyncratic book, but with an interesting middle section on quantum mechanics.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book on quantum mechanics you've ever read?” ↗Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb has implications that I find impact very disparate areas. It's hard work in places though. The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann is a wonderfully readable and accessible intro to complexity, which again is a topic that seems to crop up all over the place. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine cites a shedload…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann; emergence and complexity. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter; recursion. In fiction, Gene Wolfe (Severian) and Doris Lessing (Shikasta) have rewired a considerable number of my synapses.…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗My personal favorite: - Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory Other great books: - The Theory Of Everything - The Quark and the Jaguar - Six Easy Pieces
on “Particle mystery: physicists confirm the muon is more magnetic than predicted” ↗The portion 15% seems to crop up suspiciously in optimization contexts... this was noted by Gell-Mann in The Quark and the Jaguar. It's roughly the portion of false warnings sounded by certain tropical birds to gain uncontested access to food. Gell-Mann speculates that it is close to 1/(2pi)...
on “Failing 15% of the time is the best way to learn, say scientists” ↗his book "The Quark and the Jaguar" included a bit about the game Oware which is highly recommended
on “Murray Gell-Mann Has Died” ↗From Murray-Gellman's The Quark & The Jaguar: The Quark and the Jaguar:[45] “ In 1963, when I assigned the name "quark" to the fundamental constituents of the nucleon, I had the sound first, without the spelling, which could have been "kwork". Then, in one of my occasional…
on “New particle observed at LHC” ↗