physics

Something Deeply Hidden

Something Deeply Hidden is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Something Deeply Hidden rather than just read about it. In short: Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime is a non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll.

Key takeaways

Something Deeply Hidden belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Something Deeply Hidden to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Something Deeply Hidden from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime is a non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll. The book, his fifth, was released on September 10, 2019 by Dutton.

Synopsis In this book, Carroll examines the reasons why people misunderstand quantum mechanics and advocates a version of the many-worlds interpretation, while objecting to the views often grouped together as the Copenhagen interpretation.

Reception Reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus were generally positive, while the latter noted that Carroll's "eschewing mathematics" may have been somewhat detrimental when discussing topics that "might benefit from at least a little math," observing, "Readers who remember freshman college physics will be intrigued; others will struggle." Physicist and writer Adam Frank in his review for NPR wrote that he did not in the end find Carroll's arguments convincing (Frank himself leans in the direction of QBism), but that Carroll's case was "carefully reasoned" and his presentations of the various opposing views were fair. Writing in Physics Today, Matthew Leifer was more critical, saying that "the alternatives to [many worlds] are not as hopeless as Carroll makes them out to be" and finding Carroll's treatment of Bell's theorem too superficial. Science writer Jim Baggott criticized the publication of Something Deeply Hidden and the many world interpretation more broadly as "post-empirical science". The book was also reviewed by science writer Philip Ball and by physicist-authors Chad Orzel and Sabine Hossenfelder.

References

External links Sean Carroll: "Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds [...]" on YouTube An Evening with SEAN CARROLL, Author of Something Deeply Hidden on YouTube

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Something Deeply Hidden

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Something Deeply Hidden claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Something Deeply Hidden before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Something Deeply Hidden ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Something Deeply Hidden

In research: Something Deeply Hidden appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Something Deeply Hidden in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Something Deeply Hidden is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2019 non-fiction books, Books by Sean M. Carroll, Cosmology books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Something Deeply Hidden outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Something Deeply Hidden in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Something Deeply Hidden means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Something Deeply Hidden out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Something Deeply Hidden in simple terms?

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime is a non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll.

Why does Something Deeply Hidden matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Something Deeply Hidden?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Something Deeply Hidden.