The Road to Reality
A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
by Roger Penrose · first published 2004
52% recommend43% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Builds the mathematics behind physics from first principles, from what a number is and a straight line to string theory. Geometric intuition and figures make it a strong math lesson for the dedicated reader.
Common criticism: Very dense and too advanced for casual readers without strong math background
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Un libro definitivo e imprescindible para tener en la mano, en un solo volumen, todo el saber acumulado hasta la actualidad sobre el universo, el espacio, las leyes que lo rigen y los conceptos esenciales.
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…http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Expanded-PB-Beyond/dp/0521741475/ My favorite book I read in 2008 was The Nature of Paleolithic Art, by R. Dale Guthrie (published 2006). http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Paleolithic-Art-Dale-Guthrie/dp/0226311260/ The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, by Roger Penrose. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Lots of HN readers suggest reading lots of Feynman, and I agree. Godel Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden…
on “Ask HN: Books That Gratify One's Intellectual Curiosity?” ↗A somewhat related book I recommend is The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose.
on “The nicest math book I own” ↗Roger Penrose gives a great explanation in The Road to Reality. We know some subset of the natural numbers are real because we can count things. And we therefore know some subset of the rational numbers are real because we can cut things into pieces and count the…
on “Are real numbers really real?” ↗To add to this: The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose. Really cool book. The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, by Penrose again. Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness, Penrose.
on “5 Great Science Books to Expand Your Mind” ↗…back (20 years later) - as I resurrect a Maple package for GR, grtensor, which I co-wrote as part of my PhD. Curved space is a beautiful thing. Penrose's recent book reminded me of his wonderful "The Road to Reality: - which is a great tour of math leading into physics.
on “What Math Do You Need for Physics?” ↗Try Roger Penrose's "The Road to Reality." He takes the approach of assuming that his readers can range from absolute beginners to mathematicians, and that if you prefer, you can skip the equations and the exercises. But if you attempt to…
on “Why do many math books have so much detail and so little enlightenment? (2010)” ↗I highly recommend Road to Reality by Roger Penrose. Takes you all the way from classical through modern physics, and introduces all the necessary math. Gives you a good overview of the territory, but you might want to supplement with…
on “Ask HN: How to self-study physics?” ↗…is involved. Also, it assumes that one wants to be world-class in the chosen expertise area. Therefore, I think it's a very loose upper bound on the time. Experience this yourself: Buy Penrose's The Road to Reality and give yourself 6 months. At the end, you'll be at a mid-masters level in Physics (admittedly concentrated on a few topics). Or Feynman's QED book for a similar effect in a different physics area. Or…
on “Polymaths No More?” ↗If you're up for a real wild ride and have some time to kill (no, seriously - the thing is over 1000 pages), Roger Penrose's The Road To Reality (http://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/d...) actually covers this stuff in a reasonably accessible way. I can't say how it would read to a newbie, but ostensibly he wrote that book…
on “Beyond space-time: Welcome to phase space” ↗…with more questions than answers [1]. I am interested in pure mathematics mainly including logic, set theory, category theory, etc. [1] An excellent example not mentioned by others here is also The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose. The sections on mathematics are very good, but ultimately leave the topic open-ended too soon.
on “Great books about mathematics” ↗…can motivate the form of the Schrodinger equation from the classical wave equation. (I should note that Feynman disagrees with this claim, but you can find a nice motivation for the form in Penrose's Road to Reality.) Regardless, going through these motions will serve to embed the form of the equation in your mind. It also helps to write the form of the equation in a number of different ways. Some may be easier…
on “So You Want to Learn Physics” ↗I've been told that Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality is awesome if you already know enough math. If you're an engineer, for example, you shouldn't have problems. Unfortunately, my personal level of mathematical maturity is too low and I've never made it…
on “Stephen Hawking has died” ↗Penrose's 'Road to Reality' [1] is a kind primer on where the math comes from, as it applies to physics. Kind of a philosophical walkthrough of how math applies to physics. It is nowhere near as concise as Feynman's lectures,…
on “Ask HN: Are there books for mathematics like Feynman's lectures on physics?” ↗…by VI Arnold. To get a sense of his style, see https://www.uni-muenster.de/Physik.TP/~munsteg/arnold.html 2. Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham is an absolute treat in visual intution. 3. The road to reality by Roger Penrose. This is an absolute masterpiece building up to cutting edge physics and all the necessary math from scratch. Reading the whole thing is probably a long-term project for most readers,…
on “Ask HN: Math books you recommend just for the way they are written?” ↗I know Calculus so Strogatz's Infinite Powers created no interest in me. On the other hand What is Mathematics by Courant and Robbins was a delightful read. Similarly I have only read a part of Road to Reality by Penrose and it was also fascinating. Which popular non-fiction books in your subject domain did you like and dislike?
on “Do you ever like non-fiction books about a subject you have some expertise in?” ↗