Over the years, I've become a great fan of Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli, whose books on physics are always a joy to read. Rovelli is a great writer too, because he understands the lack of knowledge of his readers, and because he knows the stories behind the great discoveries and debates in physics. "Helgoland" is the name of the tree-less island where Werner Heisenberg retreated at the age of 23 to stop suffering from hay fever, and where he came up with the concept of quantum physics. And through the history of physics, and the relevant moments in the lives of its scientists, Rovelli adds questions of a more fundamental philosophical nature. If all these theories are correct, what does this mean for us? If all matter can be divided and divided and divided until nothing is left but relationships, where does that leave us? If everything is relative, also to the subjective 'I' that does all the measurement, where does that leave consciousness?
Despite all the advances made, our reality remains a big mystery. And to Rovelli, that by itself appears to be a joy.
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