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1. The World Is Very Big Our neighborhood (Earth, Solar System, Milky Way). The accessible universe. How we measure large distances. Consistency checks. The multitudes within. 2. The World Is Very Old The nature of time. How we measure the age of objects on Earth. What we mean by the age of the universe, and how we measure it. Consistency checks. 3. Matter Is Built From A Small Menu Of Ingredients, Which Exist In Vast Quantities Microscopy and its modern refinements. Matter from the bottom up—building from electrons, photons, nuclei (protons and neutrons) to everyday materials. How we analyze the chemistry of distant objects, like stars, and establish that they're made of the same stuff. Extraordinary objects. Fundamentals is a short, sophisticated book that the explains fundamentals of science. FRANK WILCZEK won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student. His 1989 book, Longing for the Harmonies, was a New York Times notable book of the year. Wilczek is a regular contributor to Nature and Physics Today and his work has also been anthologized in Best American Science Writing and the Norton Anthology of Light Verse. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brockman, Inc. Frankfurt 2016 Hotlist -16 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_025162