 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | There is an ill-concealed skeleton in the closet of physics: "As they are currently formulated, general relativity and quantum mechanics cannot both be right." Each is exceedingly accurate in its field: general relativity explains the behavior of the universe at large scales, while quantum mechanics describes the behavior of subatomic particles. Yet the theories collide horribly under extreme conditions such as black holes or times close to the big bang. Brian Greene, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the two pillars of physics can be reconciled in superstring theory, a theory of everything. Superstring theory has been called "a part of 21st-century physics that fell by chance into the 20th century." In other words, it isn't all worked out yet. Despite the uncertainties--"string theorists work to find approximate solutions to approximate equations"--Greene gives a tour of string theory solid enough to satisfy the scientifically literate. Though Ed Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study is in many ways the human hero of The Elegant Universe, it is not a human-side-of-physics story. Greene's focus throughout is the science, and he gives the nonspecialist at least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the road to knowledge. --Mary Ellen Curtin |
Average Customer Rating:   Reading it now. I just wanted to say that this book is great. I am a newcomer to physics and string theory and so far I have been able to gain a grasp on the concepts rather quickly. Brian Greene explains them in ways that are easy to visualize and understand. His vocabulary is impressive and I have learned a ton of new words to use myself. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning a handful of new material. Great Book! This book gave me a very good overview of modern physics and where the physics community is headed in the coming years. Descriptions of physical theories are presented with easy to understand analogies for those with little to no background in physics. A standard in M-Theory A standard in M-Theory (I consider the term "string theory" a misnomer, since it isn't just a theory of strings) that will be hard to beat. Brian Greene took Stephen Hawking's place as the best disseminator of cutting-edge physics among the masses. That alone is a reason good enough to own all of his books (The Fabric of the Cosmos, Greene's second book, is also a masterpiece).
I own and read pretty much all the bestsellers on string/M-Theory and its implications (Hyperspace, Parallel Worlds, Warped Passages etc), as well as all of Hawking's books, and my conclusion is that The Elegant Universe is the only must have for any non-technical physics passionate. All the basics of M-Theory are there, very well explained, so that after you finish the book you do get the feeling that you understood the principles of the theory. Many of the books I read on this subject leave you with a rather vague understanding of the topics presented, either because of the author's poor writing skills, or because of the exaggerated amount of ballast information. But this is not the case with The Elegant Universe. The book is absorbing from start to finish, and even the classical topics such as general relativity and quantum mechanics, which many of the readers might already be familiar with, are presented in such a clear way, that they are also worth to read.
The information on M-Theory is very comprehensive. Sure, the book was published in 2000, so the latest developments are not covered, but for that I guess we'll have to wait for The Elegant Universe, volume 2. But for what this book is intended to be, an introduction to M-Theory, it doesn't get any better than this. Much Ado about Nothing. I looked forward to reading this book with bated breath. At last someone who claims to know enough about Superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the final, or near-final Theory of Everything. Perhaps Feynman was wrong, after all. Perhaps Brian Greene could "...explain it (all) to the average person," even if Feynman couldn't although he has "been worth the Nobel Prize." I gave it a try.
The first part of the book is a fairly long-winded dissertation of the Einsteinian past. No matter, quantum mechanics would set it all right, Brian assures us. Well... they didn't. What is more, each succeeding chapter, more-or-less contradicted each previous one. I know that we are all just a bunch of primitives who barely scratched the slate of knowledge, but is it really necessary to fill some 400 pages with all the things that we got wrong? Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it. But I have been said to be prone to mental masochism.
As Shakespeare had said, it's mostly Much Ado about Nothing. Why nothing? Because: "If the atom's outer boundary is established by the 'mean radius of the outermost electron orbital' or something like that, the atom is waaaaaaaaaaay over 99% free space." I got this from the Internet. It sounds convincing. It seems that that's what the book's mostly about. About free, or (excluding massless forces) empty space. Or about... almost nothing. Sorry Brian. It's an excellent exercise in 'scientific' doublegook. I'm sure your next book will set us straight. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to multiuniverses. They sound like fun. And, after all, isn't that what life is really about?
Stan I.S. Law (aka Stanislaw Kapuscinski) authored a number of fiction and non-fiction books, some available on the Amazon. He gives his version of the Universe in: Elohim - Masters and Minions (Sequel to One Just Man)
Never trivial and readable An introduction to the interesting topic of super string theory written by a real expert. The first 5 chapters are dedicated to Relativity and quantum mechanics with emphasys on why they are not each other consistent. |  |
Select button not working? 
