Wonderland – Jesse Schelfhout

Science Reads

Mr Tompkins in Wonder/land

Jesse sChelfhout fell asleep in a physics lecture but lacked the imagination to dream of Wonder/land Image cover art by John Hookham, published by Cambridge University Press.

Alice is not the only one to have had adventures in Wonder/land.

In a 1965 sequence of short stories written by theoretical physicist and cosmologist George Gamow, Mr Tompkins in Wonderland and Mr Tompkins Explores the Atom a bank clerk by the name of Mr C. G. H. Tompkins finds himself in strange places where the laws of physics are quite different to what we are familiar with. Much like Alice, Mr Tompkins finds himself stumbling through an enigmatic world where he, along with the reader, is introduced to some of the most bizarre predictions and observations from modern physics. Don’t be scared off by the fact that this is a story about physics, as this book is geared towards those with only a casual interest in the subject. Gamow was a brilliant physicist, and his writing is charming, witty, and illuminating, as he explores the weird and wonderful world of modern physics and all its complexities through the eyes of a very ordinary character.

The first part of the omnibus explores the strange consequences of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity on time, space, and movement, while the second part explores quantum mechanics, the structure of atoms, and particle physics. Through alternating scenes

of physics lectures by the Professor, and Mr Tompkins’ dreams when he falls asleep during those lectures, readers are introduced to physics concepts from both the perspective of a newcomer and of an expert, and so most readers should find that they are catered for.

In one dream, Mr Tompkins finds himself in a city where the speed of light is just 16 km/h (rather than the usual value of about one billion km/h), causing a cyclist travelling near this speed to appear contracted lengthwise and to experience time passing more slowly — describing the so-called length contraction and time dilation from the Theory of Relativity.

In another dream, readers (and Mr Tompkins) are also introduced to the concept of time dilation resulting from acceleration; a “a very old lady” addresses “a gentleman obviously in his forties” who has just stepped off a train, as her grandfather (you may have heard of something similar called ‘The Twin Paradox’). The Professor then explains the concept of spacetime curvature to Mr Tompkins in a manner so simple that a Flat Earther might accidentally discover that the Earth is curved.

Mr Tompkins also explores what would happen if the laws of physics were slightly different. Here I must emphasise that the laws of physics in Wonderland are the same as on Earth, in the sense that they are described by the same equations. However, the book explores what happens when three of the fundamental constants in these equations are given drastically altered values, such as the effects of a much slower speed of light, as mentioned earlier.

We learn that a change in the gravitational constant leads to a ‘closed’ universe of about 8 km in diameter, in which an object tossed in any direction will loop back after a short time. Turning from relativity to quantum mechanics, perhaps the less well-understood of the two topics, we learn that an increased value of Planck’s constant leads to a place where objects can be in multiple places at once or travel through barriers — so-called quantum tunnelling.

The physics of the first half of the omnibus holds up well even some eighty years after its first publication. To my knowledge, there is no experimental evidence at odds with its theoretical underpinning – even the open questions about the large-scale structure of the universe still lack definitive answers.

In contrast, there have been several developments relating to the second half of the omnibus since its publication. To identify a few, the protons (and neutrons) considered to be fundamental particles in Gamow’s time were found to be comprised of quarks, neutrinos are now on solid ground, and muons are known to be leptons (not mesons); these all lie in the Standard Model of Particle Physics.

Having been written in the forties, the stories are far from perfect in their representations of race and gender, with colonial and patriarchal undertones pervading the text. The version I read also contained a significant number of minor typographical errors which detracted from the flow of the narrative. Despite these flaws, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in Gamow’s stories, both for physicists and muggles alike. I see opportunity for a sequel guided by a woman professor exploring some of the many great discoveries of the last 60 years, or even a version of Through the Looking-Glass – exploring what might be in the future of our own Wonder/land.