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.