The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory |...

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory | Brian Greene | Incredible

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The Elegant Univer...

	The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory Brian Greene Vintage Books, 2005 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 505 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Elegant Book

You emerge on the other side of this book intellectually on par with the most cutting edge physicists of today: Well, minus all the complex mathematical equations and technical jargon of course. However, from a conceptual platform, you are able to visualize the kind of ground breaking ideas that have driven quantum physics into a brave new world of our reality. The author has a gifted ability to simplify complex physical concepts with sensible and intuitive examples that meshes seamlessly with our notions of common sense; that too, without "dumbing down" the key complexities of the theories put forth. It is a testament to his great reputation indeed, for Brian Greene, the author, a prominent mover and shaker in the field of Superstring Theory, to be able to construct a conceptual world for the lay person without burdening the readers with complex formulas and mathematics.

The book commences on the exploration of Einstein's notion of relativity, followed by the foundations of quantum physics, with both these fields having occupied physicists for the better half of the 20th century. Greene goes on to elaborate the frictions, paradoxes and inconsistencies arising from attempts of eminent scientists to reconcile these two extremely different scientific dogmas that both seem to define our reality. Enter String Theory, a revolutionary new discovery that turns physics as we know it on its head by not only merging general relativity and quantum physics into a single plausible framework, but also harboring new insights and implications on the nature of reality. These insights include a universe of 11 dimentsions, mathematical predictions for supersymmetry and the possibility of space-time ruptures, an area in which Greene has been most productive in, and for whose contributions he has been highly respected for. We see the 21st century as a kind of Renaissance for physics, as String Theory, with the ardent and novel outburst of myriad conceptual discoveries, has evolved into Super-String Theory and finally the M-Theory, perhaps the true "Theory of Everything" that has been the Holy Grail of Physics from the days of Einstein. However, the common thread running throughout the book is the idea of "symmetry", an overarching concept that accounts for the word "Elegant" in the title of this book.

Not only are the rhetoric superb and visual examples highly intuitive, the author's tone is brimming with excitement and passion for the subject matter, the kind of enthusiasm that seeps out onto the readers, making them want to take a journey with Greene as he explores the universe. Furthermore, the author gives full credit (and refernces) to all the key contributors of modern science from the more familiar names like Newton, Einstein, Bohr, and Hawking to the less prolific (at least to the lay person) but equally brilliant personalities like Kaluza, Klein, Calabi, Yau, Fermi, Bose and a host of other eminent scientists. Reading this book was like being invited to a soiree for dinner and conversation with all these scientific minds in one room. Furthermore, the author, although passionate, remains admirably objective in his postulations, acknowledging the weaknesses and flaws in such a dynamic new field, and establishing caveats for the readers before they move on from controversial topic to controversial topic.

This is a great book, one that takes the readers step by step on an adventure into inner space and outer space simultaneously. We gain a better understanding of "what we are" in the bigger picture although deeper questions like "Who we are" and "Why we are here?" remains up for grabs. However, like Greene endorses, the closer we come to discovering the nature of the universe, the more we are equipped and prepared to tackle these deeper questions with scientifically viable answers. Notice how I have refrained from going into too much detail on the content of the book itself; that would be tantamount to giving away "spoilers" for a gripping suspense novel or movie; And I know how we all hate that!

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Incredible

Brian Greene does an incredible job of describing nature's most elusive properties in simple, easy to understand language. It is truly an amazing feat to be able to reveal the mysteries of the universe in such a way that almost anyone can understand. You don't need to be a physicist to be immediately enthralled in his highly involved discussions about special & general relativity, quantum mechanics, and superstring theory. I cannot imagine that anyone could pick up this book and not be kept up at night pondering the unbelievable behaviors in both the cosmic and atomic realms.

I am not unfamiliar with the tantalizing strangeness of the universe, being student at MIT, but this book has elevated my understanding of the universe and changed the way I look at the world around me. His creative and enlightening analogies form a new perspective on things that you may think you understand. Things as basic and fundamental as mass, gravity, and light lose all resemblance to commonly held beliefs. Nature behaves very strangely in its most fundamental state. This is one book that everyone can benefit from reading and there is no reason why it should not find its way on everyone's bookshelf.

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Clearly understandable description of scientific research

This book reads like a novel. Greene manages to make a very complex subject accessible via clear and often humouristic analogies to bring home the essence of scientific thinking.

overly optimistic

this was my introduction to string theory and after processing it all, some things just dont compute. the concepts are presented clearly enough, accompanying illustrations are informative and theres an absolute glut of imaginary scenarios to help explain theoretical and mathematical ideas (some clever, some contrived and others unoriginal, such as einsteins relativity train), but theres a glaring lack of solid evidence for the theory, not to mention what comes across as lazy science. analogies and speculations seem to be offered in the context of a proof, which doesnt serve to boost credibility. for example, performing the calculations that describe the properties of an imaginary two-dimensional "garden-hose world" or even a six-dimensional manifold simply doesnt prove that hidden dimensions exist in the real world, but the author seems to believe the reader will have no choice but to accept it as most likely being true. granted, that may be overly simplifying (and undermining) the genuine mathematical achievements that underpin the staggering framework of the theory, which is certainly more than ive contributed to any scientific field. the fact is, however, as admitted in the book, the conclusions being reached by string theorists are based on (necessary) approximations, assumptions and, curiously repeated throughout nearly every chapter, hope. im sorry, but hope shouldnt be enough to convince even the casual, unbiased reader, never mind the professional skeptic. personal opinions on the science aside, the book is well written and even if i do perceive brian greenes level of enthusiasm to be unwarranted, it actually makes the reading more enjoyable.

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Big ideas, little data

Like most articles and books on string theory and related topics, I just can't deal with all the speculation and the paucity of data. As one physicist noted in Scientific American, string theory is worse than wrong. Because the speculation is so similar to the ancient yogic concepts that I believe to be true, my attitude could change if someone could figure out how to actually put some of the ideas to the test. In the meantime, I must conclude that I would never have been able to get my Ph.D. dissertation accepted by the examining committee if I had written the kind of tomes that string theorists write.

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