Modern Physics and Literature

Catalog description

Reading and discussion of selected works of contemporary literature (fiction) and philosophy that engage concepts of modern physics grounded in relativity and quantum theory. This is intended as a seminar that mixes students from physical sciences and the arts/humanities, with no specific prerequisites-- we will discuss the physics invoked by works of fiction and philosophy in a conceptually rigorous but non-mathematical way. How do writers of speculative fiction make sense of challenging ontological claims from empirical science, what implications do they explore, and how is the worldview of theoretical physics augmented or contested?