Summary

For Carlo Rovelli, a theoretical physicist, the thrill of discovering how the universe functions, does not fade. The first six chapters celebrate Rovelli's awe of the beauty of the laws of nature. In the seventh chapter, he explores the relationship between human nature and these natural laws. When we consider gravity, or the structure of the atom for example, we automatically think of what's going to happen. If we drop a ball, or react two chemicals together, the exact same thing is always going to happen. Predictability is a critical feature of nature's laws. How is it that humans are objects within the universe, and thus, subject to natural law, yet their behavior seems so unpredictable? Perhaps our conception of the predictability of human behavior is too narrow? Rovelli's final observation is that the human species seems inexorably bent on self-destruction. As he says, "The...climate and environmental changes that we have triggered are unlikely to spare us." Nevertheless, acknowledging the possibility of this outcome is not discouraging to Rovelli in the ending of the book.