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Quantum mechanics deals with very small particles interacting with very strong forces. Gravity is so weak it can be ignored. Relativity deals with so much grav
by brianpan 6y ago
Quantum mechanics deals with very small particles interacting with very strong forces. Gravity is so weak it can be ignored.
Relativity deals with so much gravity that spacetime is warped.
Neither is appropriate for the other and they are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Classical physics is useful in the middle at "human" scale.
What would be nice is a simple theory that covers it all. Nothing we currently have is able to stretch to be useful in all situations.
Sean Carroll's _The Big Picture_ was useful for me, as was the older _A Brief History Of Time_ by Stephen Hawking
- irrational 6y agoIs it possible that there is no overarching theory that unifies both of them? Could they both be true yet not connected in any way?
- tsimionescu 6y agoOnly if the large world is irreducible to the world of particles, which doesn't seem plausible.
- checkyoursudo 6y agoAs a layperson with only basic undergraduate physics (not necessary for the book; just, I'm no expert), I'll second Carroll's The Big Picture.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoThat comes across as bollocks to me. They're on the same side of "understanding how a star works" for example. QM applies to weak forces too. The gravitational field of a neutrino may be small but it's not zero. Meh.