Growing up in Rome, Giorgio Parisi was mesmerised by the swirling flocks of starlings in the skies at dusk. Closer study showed a peculiarity: the densest and most active part of the flock was at the edges and not the middle.
As a physics student he realised that a huge complex of cameras was needed to show the flock in 3D depth and unravel the secrets of the birds’ behaviour. He discovered that the birds worked in small communities, and that individuals focused on the bird ahead and behind, and not beside.
This led into his main work of understanding the seemingly random behaviour of subatomic particles and the fundamentals of quantum physics. There was a pattern. For this he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2021 — because, in the immortal formula of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he had touched on the fundamentals of life, the universe and everything.
We have to approach the challenges of science, the universe and everything with optimism and courage
He tells of his adventures in thinking in an alarmingly brilliant, witty and brief book In a Flight of Starlings. It is matched by a brilliant and funny essay by another Italian quantum physicist, Carlo Rovelli, called White Holes.
What happens when a black hole ends? A clue from Stephen Hawking suggests that it leaks light, therefore energy — and so goes on as a white hole — and for a very long time indeed. Both books are full of colourful tales — about the game of Monopoly, F1 racing, fighter pilots, detectives and story-telling, from Dante and the ancients to Einstein on God playing dice.
Both proclaim there is a need for fundamental science as well as technology. Random study can lead to great breakthroughs — think Fleming and penicillin.
Moreover, science isn’t just for specialist scientists — as we all need to grasp the fundamentals of climate, demography, medicine and quantum, which is about to turn our world upside down. For this non-physicist, these books are as exhilarating as a wild swim in a Frisian lake.
We have to approach the challenges of science, the universe and everything with optimism and courage. And, if these essays are anything to go by, this is a load of fun.
