A leading theoretical physicist takes us on a lively tour of quantum field theory, the most fundamental description we have for what makes up the universe.

In Everything Is Fields, the leading theoretical physicist and Cambridge professor David Tong reveals a startling truth: that, at the most basic level, we are made not of particles or forces but of fields, fluidlike substances stretched throughout the entire universe. He takes us on an exuberant tour of quantum field theory, the underlying mathematical framework of our deepest description of the fundamental laws of physics. With his infectious wonder, wit, and keen appreciation of the absurdities and serendipities of his field, Tong buoys our journey through the most difficult topic in theoretical physics with lively stories of the scientists who made key discoveries along the way. He revels in all that we’ve learned about our world and illuminates the questions we’re still trying to answer about this breathtaking vision of physics, one that describes everything from the smallest subatomic particle to the dynamics of the entire universe.

David Tong is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge whose research focuses primarily on quantum field theory and its applications to diverse areas, including particle physics, gravity, string theory, cosmology, condensed matter physics, and geometry. He holds a Simons Investigator appointment and has received, among others, the Adams Prize and the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. The author of the recently published Lectures on Theoretical Physics textbook series from Cambridge University Press, Tong is a prolific science communicator who brings physics to life through humor, history, vivid metaphor, and a keen appreciation of the felicities (and absurdities) of his field. He lives in Cambridge, UK.