By Belal E Baaquie et al. (eds)
World Scientific
Hardback: £57
Paperback: £29
As the title of this collection of essays on the work of Kenneth Wilson (1936–2013) indicates, his impact on physics was enormous, transforming both high-energy and condensed-matter physics. He also foresaw much of the modern impact of computers and networking, and I can feel that influence even as I type this review.
This is a long book, comprising 385 pages with 21 essays by many of today’s most influential physicists. It should be made clear that while it includes plenty of biographical material, this is, for the most part, a combination of personal reminiscences and highly technical articles. A non-physicist, or even a physicist without a fairly deep understanding of modern quantum field theory, would probably find much of it almost completely impenetrable, with equations and figures that are really only accessible to the cognoscenti.
That said, a reading of selected parts sheds interesting light on a variety of complex topics in ways that are perhaps not so easily found in modern textbooks. I would not hesitate to suggest such a strategy to a philosopher or historian of science, or an undergraduate or graduate student in physics. The chapters are all well written, and whatever fraction is understood will prove valuable.
Some of the most interesting parts are quotations from Wilson himself. A particularly striking example is from Paul Ginsparg’s essay: “I go to graduate school in physics, and I take the first course in quantum field theory, and I’m totally disgusted with the way it’s related. They’re discussing something called renormalization group, and it’s a set of recipes, and I’m supposed to accept that these recipes work – no way. I made a resolution, I would learn to do the problems that they assigned, I would learn how to turn in answers that they would expect, holding my nose all the time, and some day I was going to understand what was really going on.”
He did, and now thanks to him, we do too. This represents just a fraction of the impact that Wilson has had on our field. The book is long, and not an easy read, but well worth the effort and I highly recommend it.
