The Art of Physics

Seven Ideas to Make Sense of the World

ZAHAAN BHARMAL

How thinking like a physicist can change the way we view social, political and economic challenges

Can physics make sense of the world? This is the question Zahaan Bharmal asked himself while sitting in a hotel lobby at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It was winter 2020, just two months before the Covid-19 pandemic. Other urgent topics such as climate change, war and conflict, and democratic instability also loomed large. Compared to the brilliant minds convening in Davos, Zahaan felt he had little to offer. But he did have one thing going for him: physics.

THE ART OF PHYSICS is about the hidden, surprising and sometimes beautiful ways in which concepts from physics are being applied to problems far beyond its usual realm. These include some of the biggest challenges facing us today, from irrational decision-making, through unsustainable economic growth and wealth inequality, to election volatility and even the prediction of wars before they happen.

Drawing on cutting-edge research and eye-opening insights from quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, chaos and complexity theory, materials science and more, Zahaan reveals what these ideas mean not only for the world at large but also for us all as individuals.

Zahaan Bharmal has a degree in physics from the University of Oxford. After working on policy issues for the UK government and at the World Bank, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to Stanford University where he earned a master's in business administration. Since 2008, he has worked for Google, currently as senior director of strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has written about space and science for the Guardian and is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

AGENT

Peter Tallack

PUBLISHER

Piatkus (Little, Brown)

PUBLICATION

January 2025

STATUS

Proposal and sample chapters

LENGTH

80,000 words

RIGHTS SOLD

• UK & Commonwealth (Little, Brown)