For a century, science has invalidated 'soft' questions about truth, beauty, and transcendence. It took considerable courage therefore for Frank Wilczek to declare that such questions are within the framework of 'hard' science. Anyone who wants to see how science and transcendence can be compatible must read this book. Wilczek has caught the winds of change, and his thinking breaks through some sacred boundaries with curiosity, insight, and intellectual power. --Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Before there was Science, there was Natural Philosophy. In this authoritative, ever-surprising, and lavishly illustrated account, Frank Wilczek brings the grand quest that so captivated Pythagoras, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, Noether, and a host of others both up to date and back to life. --George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral

Anyone who has studied physics knows the startling beauty of those rare times when the clouds part and you see that math and reality are the same thing. With Wilczek's new book, readers can catch a glimpse of that beauty without having to know the math. --Noah Smith, Stony Brook University; author of “Noahpinion”

Frank Wilczek starts this fascinating book with the intriguing question: Does the world embody beautiful ideas? What follows is a masterful, intellectual journey, surveying a breathtaking tapestry of physics, art, and philosophy. One could ask Wilczek's question differently: Does this book embody beautiful ideas? The answer would be a resounding Yes! --Mario Livio, astrophysicist, author of Brilliant Blunders

In contemporary art, Beauty has faded, a prosaic artifice, a distraction from deeper raw truths, maybe even ugly truths. To the exceptional physicist Frank Wilczek, Beauty has proven a luminous ally, a faithful advisor in his discoveries of remarkable truths about the world. Ever in pursuit of truth, Frank guides us in a calm and winsome meditation on this subtle question: Is the world beautiful? --Janna Levin, author of How the Universe Got Its Spots

A beautiful treatise on a beautiful universe, this delightful series of meditations on the nature of beauty and the physical universe roams from music, to color vision, to fundamental ideas at the very forefront of physics today. In lesser hands such a romp could easily degenerate into a kind of new age mystical mumbo jumbo. However, Frank Wilczek is one of the deepest, most creative, and most knowledgeable theoretical physicists alive today. Read him or listen to him and you will never think about the universe the same way again. And if your experience is like mine over the years, you will definitely be the better for it. --Lawrence Krauss, author of A Universe from Nothing and The Physics of Star-Trek

If you've ever wondered what physicists mean when they describe a theory as 'beautiful,' A Beautiful Question is the ideal place to find out. Wilczek is both one of the greats of the subject, and not afraid to engage non-technically with the wonderful complexities and intangibilities of the mysterious beauty that lies at the core of our understanding of the physical world. --Peter Woit, author of Not Even Wrong

A Beautiful Question is a compelling introduction to the triumphs and challenges of modern physics, presented as a meditation on the role of aesthetics in the search for a deeper understanding of nature, and the deeper meanings of that search for humanity. Full of historical background and infused with the author's generous humanity, this is indeed a beautiful book, one I recommend to anyone interested in where science is going, written by someone who, by his many lasting contributions to science, has earned our attention. --Lee Smolin, author of Time Reborn and The Trouble with Physics

In this exquisite and remarkably accessible book, Frank Wilczek explores our cosmos as a work of art, revealing hidden beauty at all levels from the Galactic realm down to the subatomic microworld that his trailblazing research has elucidated. His ability to see what others overlook makes him an inspiring guide not only for scientists, but also for artists and all curious people. --Max Tegmark, author of Our Mathematical Universe

A truly beautiful book, in design, in content, in the insights that Frank Wilczek shares. This book helps me see how one of the world's leading thinkers thinks, using beauty as a tool, as a guide in finding not only the right problems but the right solutions. In Wilczek's mind, there is no clear separation between physics, art, poetry, and music. Why do physicists call their theories beautiful? Immerse yourself in this book, wallow in it, sit back and relax as you wander through it, and you'll soon understand. --Richard Muller, author of Physics for Future Presidents