108 – COSMOS Issue 86
Shaken Brain: The science, care,
and treatment of concussion
by Elizabeth Sandel
Harvard University
RRP $72.99CONCUSSION IS GROWING in importance
as an issue as more research reveals the
dangers of repeated injury. In Shaken
Brain, Elizabeth Sandel – a physician with
three decades’ experience studying and
treating concussion – details what happens
in the human brain when it is injured, and
how medical providers can help.
Sport has been a key driver on this front,
with more concussion protocols being
introduced at the professional level. But
it’s pointed out that damage often occurs
earlier in an athlete’s sporting career, at
junior levels where such measures are not
adhered to.
A recent high-profile case featured
professional American football player
Aaron Hernandez, who was tried and
convicted of murder. He committed
suicide in prison at 27, and at the request
of his family, his brain was released to
Boston University to be studied for signs of
chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE),
a progressive degenerative disease found
in people who have had a severe blow or
repeated blows to the head, including
football players who suffer concussions.Something Deeply Hidden:
Quantum worlds and the
emergence of spacetime
by Sean Carroll
Oneworld
$39.99QUANTUM MECHANICSis a fascinating topic
that inspires, captivates and bamboozles in
equal measure. And as there’s no shortage
of explainers for readers of all levels,
attempting to write a book on this physics
theory is almost as intimidating as the
subject itself.
Yet few works carry readers into this
complexity as successfully as Something
Deeply Hidden. Sean Carroll’s latest
work moves from a basic introduction
to the field to in-depth discussions of
mathematics (such as wave functions and
uncertainty principles) and then goes
further: grappling with the nature of the
quantum realm.
This is ground where few physicists
dare to tread, and for good reason: the
compellingly articulated theory in this
work would see the entire universe “split”
in two by simply measureming whether an
electron is spinning up or down. Even more
incredibly, it makes perfect sense.
Carroll is one of those rare scientists
who excels in both science and itscommunication. His studies are at the
forefront of theoretical physics, but he
also grapples with concepts of philosophy
and more in his Mindcast podcast and
Preposterous Universe blog, and through
his multiple best-selling books.
This project is particularly close
to Carroll’s academic heart, as is the
description – and advancement – of
Hugh Everett’s description of quantum
mechanics: the so-called many-worlds
interpretation.
The most direct treatment of quantum
mechanics (that a wavefunction traces
out – and indeed is – the behaviour of the
Universe as a whole) has the astounding
consequence that apparently probabilistic
outcomes of a measurement are in fact
deterministic – but in a different universe.
Going back to our electron, it can be in
a quantum state of indecision (known as a
superposition), spinning both up and down
and not becoming one or the other until it’s
measured.
Something Deeply Hidden argues
that, rather than some ill-defined and
philosophically fraught “observer”
reaching down to a somehow separate
quantum realm to impact that result, the
measurement of an electron as “up” is in the
universe you are in now, and “down” in the
universe that split from itself just before.
The splitting of universes to form this
multiverse occurs in just the right mix as
the probabilities that quantum mechanics
so uncomfortably appears to present in
experiments. Still with me?
What makes this book so impressive
is how natural, indeed stunningly logical,
such an incredible statement appears. Yet
the choice of interpretation is ultimately
yours.
Something Deeply Hiddenpresents the
current ideas of quantum mechanics in an
entertaining and beautifully explained way,
albeit unashamedly favouring the many-
worlds interpretation over the rest.
Carroll correctly – and almost as a
challenge to the scientific establishment
itself – states in the beginning of this
engaging book: “As scientists we use
quantum mechanics but we don’t
understand it.” After reading this we all
have a chance.
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