"A good scientific theory is like a symbolic tale, an allegory of reality," writes physicist Giovanni Vignale. "Its characters are abstractions that may not exist in reality; yet they give us a way of thinking more deeply about reality." Here he compares the creations of theoretical physics—that most abstract of sciences—to the works of great writers and artists. The same imagination and passion lie behind both, Vignale declares. In a lyrical, unorthodox journey ranging from the pendulum to relativity and quantum mechanics (with touches of Bulgakov, Magritte, and Walt Whitman), Vignale celebrates the beauty of the abstract heart of physics.