As a psychiatrist, I have always been puzzled by the paradox of  consciousness, and how something as intangible as volition can move chemicals in the nerve cells of my brain, thereby producing the range of activities of which I am capable.

As a human being, I am plagued by questions about existence and my place in the universe. Both issues were brought into sharp focus by a  brilliantly written book on popular science.

The book, Other Worlds: Space, Superspace and the Quantum  Universe, is written by Paul Davies, an internationally acclaimed physicist, and one of the most celebrated science writers in the world. Other Worlds relates concepts in quantum physics to the place of ‘Man’ in the universe, to life, reality, time, consciousness, and other everyday matters.

Some basic concepts that the book introduces are:

1. All matter is made up of subatomic units that exist either as  particles or waves, but not both at the same time. These subatomic units can appear, disappear, or mutate. So, what we see as reality may be matter or force waves, tangible or illusory.

2. At the subatomic level, reality can never be completely determined because only one characteristic of a subatomic unit, such as position or momentum, can be ascertained at a time. What is reality is something that is further impossible to determine because the act of measurement inevitably alters that which is being measured.
3. Subatomic particles behave in a way that completely violates the classical laws of Newtonian physics.

Davies expands on such concepts and, through the explanation of  intriguing scientific experiments, introduces ideas which turn our traditional view of the world topsy-turvy. Some of these ideas are:

1. The reality of the universe, even at a macroscopic level, may be subjective, and may crystalize only by our observation, and only at the time the observation is made.

2. Ours is not the only universe; there are an infinite number of parallel universes. In fact, there may be universes forming every instant which have entities identical to ourselves enacting existences which, from that instant onwards, diverge in experience.

3. The extraordinary number of coincidences which allow life to exist in our universe may only be because, in an infinite number of universes, some universes will, by chance, contain all the elements favourable to the evolution of life.

4. Time is not a quantity which flows, nor are the concepts of past, present, and future meaningful; rather, time is something that we experience only because our brains limit the way in which we perceive the world. It would be more accurate to say that the past, present, and future together exist in a way that can be simultaneously perceived by a higher dimensional organism.

These and other ideas are not the speculations of armchair scientists. These are ideas generated by mathematical processes and confirmed by physical experiments. These ideas are generally accepted as likely by scientists across the globe.

Layman’s physics
Although Other Worlds is about physics, it is not necessary to have an extensive knowledge of the subject to understand the book; the physics that we learnt in school (and forgot afterwards) will suffice.

Even an advanced reader, however, will benefit most from the book through a slow first reading and a quicker second reading. The book will change the way you think about yourself and the world around you. You cannot read the book without being profoundly influenced in your philosophy and perception of the world.

Paul Davies has written several other books which are as good if not better. About Time is an outstanding volume on what time is, and all the paradoxes related thereto. Are We Alone examines the  possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence. The Mind of God looks at the complexity of creation in the context of the rules and who might have made them. The Fifth Miracle discusses the puzzles in the development of life on earth.

There is some overlap in content across the books, but this will only improve the reader's understanding. The books throw up more questions than answers; all will leave the reader with a thirst for more knowledge. They are must-reads. The titles are expensive  at Rs 300-600 for paperback editions, but are priceless for the information that they convey.


Davies P. Other Worlds. Space, Superspace and the Quantum
Universe (revised and reprinted). London: Penguin, 1990.