{"id":838,"date":"2016-02-08T02:24:19","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T02:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/?page_id=838"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:52:04","slug":"home-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Page"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Sean\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t

I’m interested in how the world works at the deepest levels, which leads me to do research in physics and philosophy. My current interests include foundational questions in quantum mechanics, spacetime, statistical mechanics, complexity, and cosmology, with occasional dabblings elsewhere. My new book is The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Quanta and Fields<\/em><\/a>, where I introduce modern physics with all the details, in a way accessible to anyone. I host a podcast, Mindscape<\/em><\/a>, where I interview smart people about all sorts of interesting ideas.<\/p>\n

My official title is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins<\/a>, and I am also Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute<\/a>. I live in Baltimore with my wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette<\/a>, and two cats, Ariel and Caliban<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t

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Latest and Greatest<\/h1>\n
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\n\t\t\tUpcoming Events\t<\/h3>\n\t
There are no upcoming events.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tView Full Calendar\n\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThe Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Quanta and Fields\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Quanta\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t

A new book that explains the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, field theory, and particle physics in unique, compelling detail.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t

Learn how physicists really think about the laws of nature.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Details\n\t\t<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\n\t\t\tMindscape Podcast\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t348 | Jessica Riskin on Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Life as Creative Agency<\/a>\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tMarch 23, 2026\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tListen\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t347 | Andrew Guthrie Ferguson on How Your Data Will Be Used Against You<\/a>\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tMarch 16, 2026\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tListen\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t346 | Erica Cartmill on How Human and Animal Minds Think and Play<\/a>\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tMarch 9, 2026\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tListen\n\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m interested in how the world works at the deepest levels, which leads me to do research in physics and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-838","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6516,"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/838\/revisions\/6516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}