The Shortest History of Reality

Since the dawn of consciousness, humans have sought to make sense of this world into which we're each born. The Shortest History of Reality explores the shifting boundary between what we perceive and what truly exists-tracing the idea of "what's real" from its everyday, commonsense beginnings to the mind-bending discoveries of modern physics. Along the way, we encounter the profound shifts in thought that have reshaped our view of existence-from ancient philosophy to the rise of science, Newton's universe to the staggering complexities of the quantum realm and beyond.
Drawing from the sciences, history, and philosophy, Geraint F. Lewis tells the compelling story of how we have tried to make sense of it all. An accessible, witty romp through space, time, and life's most complex questions, The Shortest History of Reality invites us to grapple with a cosmos far stranger than our senses suggest.

The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Foreword by Derek Muller (Veritasium)
Timeline of Human Understanding of Reality
Introduction
Part 1: Early Ideas of Reality

• What Was Reality?
• The Nature of Reality

Part 2: Reality in the Scientific Revolution

• The Rules of Reality
• Light, Color, and the Illusion of Reality
• The Stuff of Nature

Part 3: Reality in the Twentieth Century

• What Is Reality Made Of?
• The Second Theory of Relativity
• The Biological Revolution
• The Quantum Revolution
• The Particle Zoo

Part 4: Exploring the Quantum World

• What Is a Quantum Wave Really?
• The March of Unification
• Symmetry and Antimatter

Part 5: The Future of Reality

• Where Is My Mind?
• The Unfinished Symphony
• Where and When Is Everything?
• Closing Thoughts

Further Reading
Acknowledgments