Only the Longest Threads [Paperback]

Part fiction, part overview of 'Aha!' moments in the forward march of physics,Only the Longest Threadstakes readers dramatically through scientific fields such as quantum field theory, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory. Each idea or concept is explored in an inventive chapter, each told from a different first-person narrator; the faux emails, letters, and diary entries take place from 1728 to the present day. —Boing Boing, The Best Books for Nerds from 2014

Science is done by real human beings, with human concerns.Only the Longest Threadstells a story that conveys the human side of science in a way that is as moving as it is accurate. —Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Caltech and author ofThe Particle at the End of the Universe

Only the Longest Threadswill thrill readers with its dramatic and lucid accounts of the great breakthroughs in the history of physics—classical mechanics, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and string theory, each from the viewpoint of a (fictional) witness to the events.

Tasneem Zehra Husain re-imagines the pivotal moments in the history of physics when radical new theories shifted our perception of the universe, and our place in it. Husain immerses the reader in the immediacy and excitement of the discoveries—and she guides us as we begin to understand the underlying science and to grasp the revolutionary step forward each of these milestones represents.

Tasneem Zehra Husain writes lyrically, poetically about life, love, and physics. I highly recommend this wonderful book for anyone interested in what physics, and indeed all of science, is about. She masterfully describes the most momentous moments in physics history with verve and talent. —Amir D. Aczel, bestselling author ofFermat’s Last Theorem

A delightful meditation on the development of modern physics,l³$