Although many of these ideas can now look strange to modern eyes, they also appear to be profound, influential and far-sighted. He especially admires Plato, who took a geometric approach to understanding matter and the universe. Wilczek begins with what he calls “a meditation” in ancient Greece. (Full disclosure: he contributed to the collection of essays It Must be Beautiful that I edited over a decade ago.) A Beautiful Question is the most recent of the books he has written on this theme and in my view it is his best, most likely to appeal to readers who have plenty of curiosity but little or no knowledge of mathematics. I doubt whether Wilczek would go that far, but he is deeply enamoured of the symmetries and harmonies at the heart of nature. In the arena of great science communicators (Hawkins, Kaku, deGrasse Tyson) this is a standout work, a standout narration, and a must-listen.For Dirac, mathematical beauty was “almost a religion”. Hopkins manages to deliver the concepts and simultaneously express the amazement, intrigue, and amusement his audience will experience. To achieve the same in solo narration is truly impressive.
In drama, the audience surrogate is a common trope: a character who is introduced to the world along with the audience. The production favors his warm baritone so much that the subtleties in the read-the simple descriptions laced with little winks, laughs, and moments of true wonder and joy of sharing it all-elevate the audio to arguably the best way to consume the material.
He brilliantly captures Wilczek’s voice and intention. It cannot be overstated how perfect Sean Patrick Hopkins is for this project. Mostly dispensing with complex formulae and mathematics in favor of straightforward descriptions, occasional anecdotes, and even humor, Wilczek’s material becomes the kind of audiobook that makes one look forward to the morning commute. In this wonderful book, listeners are drawn through complex and challenging concepts of the physical world in a brilliantly simple, easy to digest manner.
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