The two words ‘mathematical physics’ are enough to fill most people with dread. Yet Cambridge academic Professor John Barrow this week launches his twenty-first popular science book, which successfully tackles these ideas so that even the fearful readers amongst us can enjoy the topic.

The Book of Universes breaks from Barrow’s past repertoire of popular maths and physics books and turns to a subject which is much closer to his day-to-day research on cosmology. The book takes us on a historical trail through the "unusual universes that have emerged from Einstein’s equations". It talks about accelerating, rotating and magnetic universes and brings us up to the present with ideas about the multiverse and string theory, culminating in the best description we currently have for our universe. Throughout, Barrow focuses on the people who made the discoveries. Whilst putting the book together, he conducted a treasure hunt to find many previously unseen photographs of crucial players such as Eddington, Straus and Lemaitre.

So how does Barrow manage to cross the abyss between theoretical physicists and the rest of the population? He believes it is all to do with "being able to relate to a subject"; we need to be able to grasp the point of the topic we are reading about. Barrow has been particularly successful in doing this. His books have been translated into 28 different languages and in 2008 he won the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Prize for ‘excellence in communicating science to UK audiences’. He has even written an award winning Italian play called Infinities.

Barrow comments that a huge shift in the importance of science communication has occurred since the 1980s, a time when few mathematicians and physicists engaged in public discourse. Pressure to recruit good undergraduates and a realisation of the "need to market their subject" forced university science departments to explain their work in terms that everyone can understand. This has been further solidified by government and funding agencies requiring tangible evidence that taxpayers’ money is being well spent.

As the Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project, outreach activities are an area particular close to Professor Barrow’s heart. This national initiative, conceived by the Cambridge Mathematics Department, aims to aid maths teaching and understanding in schools and businesses. He fully supports the ongoing efforts to improve teaching standards in the UK but highlights the problems in recruiting good quality maths and science teachers in an environment where there has never been more competition for science graduates.

Professor Barrow has made it his mission to break down complicated physical and mathematical concepts into easy to digest and enjoyable books. His latest work, The Book of Universes does just that.

 

Professor Barrow will be appearing at Heffers Bookshop, 20 Trinity Street, Cambridge on Thursday 10th February at 6.30pm to talk about The Book of Universes.