Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • How the Hippies Saved Physics

  • Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival
  • By: David Kaiser
  • Narrated by: Sean Runnette
  • Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

How the Hippies Saved Physics

By: David Kaiser
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £21.99

Buy Now for £21.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

The surprising story of eccentric young scientists who stood up to convention—and changed the face of modern physics.

In the 1970s, amid severe cutbacks in physics funding, a small group of underemployed physicists in Berkeley decided to throw off the constraints of academia and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued a freewheeling, speculative approach to physics. Some dabbled with LSD while conducting experiments. They studied quantum theory alongside Eastern mysticism and psychic mind reading, discussing the latest developments while lounging in hot tubs. Unlikely as it may seem, this quirky band of misfits altered the course of modern physics, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory. Their work on Bell’s theorem and quantum entanglement helped pave the way for today’s advances in quantum information science.

A lively and entertaining Cinderella story, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.

©2011 David Kaiser (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Science Ideated cover art
How the Laser Happened cover art
The Quantum Moment cover art
Building the H Bomb: A Personal History cover art
The Man Who Stalked Einstein cover art
Flashes of Creation cover art
The 12th Planet cover art
The Last Man Who Knew Everything cover art
Ignorance cover art
Letters to a Young Mathematician cover art
Calculating God cover art
Exact Thinking in Demented Times cover art
The Quantum Labyrinth cover art
The Greatest Story Ever Told - So Far cover art
Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work cover art
The Fabric of the Cosmos cover art

Critic reviews

“How the Hippies Saved Physics takes readers on a mind-bending trip to the far horizons of science—a place where the counterculture’s search for a New Age of consciousness opened the door to a new era in physics. Who knew that the discipline that brought us the atom bomb had also glimpsed Utopia? Amazing.” (Fred Turner, author of From Counterculture to Cyberculture)

What listeners say about How the Hippies Saved Physics

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How quantum mysticism became mainstream

It provides context for popular new age reference to quantum mechanics. Anyone interested in possible links between quantum mechanics and mysticism should read this work for an (as far as possible) unbiased view.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My youth

To reexamine and reevaluate is to question the present and past of one's existence whilst remaining firmly in the perpetual conscious now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful