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The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (Paperback)
by Brian Greene
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Science, Origin of universe, Science for non-experts |
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¥ 158.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
An incredible book and a fascinating read that anyone can access, it goes through most of 20th century physics, starting with relativity, then onto quantum mechanics before going full bore into string theory. |
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Author: Brian Greene
Publisher: Vintage; Reissue edition
Pub. in: February, 2000
ISBN: 0375708111
Pages: 464
Measurements: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00705
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0375708114
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- Awards & Credential -
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. |
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- MSL Picks -
This book offers an enjoyable ride through a lovely landscape of Superstring theory/M theory. The author is an active researcher and a popular writer in this field who is also known for his presentation on PBS's NOVA about quantum cosmology. Since the postulation of special theory of relativity, Einstein and subsequent physicists have struggled to explain the four natural forces of the most basic components of matter; the electromagnetic force; the strong and weak nuclear forces; and the gravitational force by one unified field theory (a.k.a., theory of everything: Superstring/M Theory). This theory must unify the forces of the cosmos, and forces of microcosm thereby explaining the creation of heaven and earth.
The author covers significant amount of material in simple clearly written non-technical and non-mathematical form. The book is described in four parts; first two parts introduces theory of relativity and quantum mechanics and the unholy marriage of the two that results in the complexity of understanding the forces of the cosmos and subatomic forces. The latter two parts describes Superstring theory that evolves into more focused M theory to explain all physical forces of nature. This theory suffers from lack of experimental evidence, but rests solely on mathematical calculations. Hence it was subjected to heavy criticism during early years of the theory by leading physicists. However it has emerged as a winner as the theory grew out of academic obscurity to leading contender in quantum cosmology. The book has interesting tales about the leaders of the field such as Ed Witten who is strongly favored as the true successor of Albert Einstein. The author's enthusiasm and excitement about his involvement in this field is evident abundantly, when he discovers that fabric of space tears and repairs itself. This book is lot more informative and enjoyable than Michio Kaku's Hyperspace (see my review of this book).
At the end of the book, notes to each chapter, Glossary of scientific terms, and suggested books for further reading offers stepping stones to more enthusiastic readers for furthering their knowledge. The author has done an excellent job of writing this book, and I encourage you to buy it: But he could have considered writing a chapter on mathematical methodology and some basic approaches to calculations that probably would have made this book one of the top few in this field.
(From quoting Rama Rao, USA)
Target readers:
All science readers with an open and curious mind, history, philosophy and English majors, and anyone else interested in the origin of the universe.
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Brian Greene received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He joined the physics faculty at Cornell University in 1990, was appointed to a full professorship in 1995, and in 1996 joined Columbia University where he is professor of physics and mathematics. He has lectured at both a general and a technical level in more than twenty-five countries and is widely regarded for a number of ground breaking discoveries in superstring theory. He lives in Andes, New York, and New York City.
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From Publisher
[Greene] develops one fresh new insight after another... In the great tradition of physicists writing for the masses, The Elegant Universe sets a standard that will be hard to beat. - George Johnson, The New York Times Book Review
In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of 11 dimensions where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter-from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas-is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.
Green uses everything from an amusement park ride to ants on a garden hose to illustrate the beautiful yet bizarre realities that modern physics is unveiling.
Dazzling in its brilliance, unprecedented in its ability to both illuminate and entertain, The Elegant Universe is a tour de force of science writing-a delightful, lucid voyage through modern physics that brings us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.
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| View all 14 comments |
D. Nishimoto (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
String theory suggests the smallest components of the Universe have no mass content, the small fundamental component, and occupy spatial dimension. Strings have a huge tension causing them to contract in size to 10 -33 centimeters and the energy of the string is typically high because of the tension of the string because more energy is required to put the string in motion. The vibrations in the string are in discrete units; the length of a string is planks length meaning hundred billion billion times smaller (10 20 power) than the nucleus of an atom. Strings can not be direct verified, yet, and an accelerator a million billion times more powerful would need to be built to verify that a string is not a particle. Strings are always experiencing some quantum vibration and where quantum jitter is negative reducing the energy of the string, such that a graviton can be described as having zero mass particle transmitted at the speed of light.
String theory becomes the unification theory. Each string can undergo a huge variety of different vibration variety known as resonance; different vibration patterns of a fundamental string give rise to different masses and forces; particles like photons, graviton, weak gauge bosons, and gluons are strings resonating at different energy levels; all strings are the same, however, they resonance with different amplitudes and frequencies and the shorter the wavelength the greater the energy and greater energy means greater mass and the mass of a particle determines its gravitational properties. For example a graviton plank tension is 10 39 power of a ton.
If the universe is super symmetric, the particles of nature must come in pairs whose spin differs by a spin, thus partnering matter and force particles. Photons, gluons, and weak gauge bosons have a spin of 1, whereas, a graviton has a spin of 2. An electron and positron string can combine to form a photon string. The strings on the collision course are oscillating string loops, the string travels a bit and releases the energy; creation and cancellation, what a waste.
Superstrings needed higher dimension to explain super gravity and theories encompassing gravity and super symmetry. Kuluza-Klein, 5th dimensional space demonstrated that string can vibrate in extended dimension that are tiny and curled up and for string theory to make sense, the higher dimensional math model required 10 dimensions plus one for time. Calabi-Yau spaces suggests six dimensions could be represented in one tightly curled up, complicated knotting geometric structure. Calabi-Yau spaces have homes and families of lowest energy string vibrations. Multiple holes means the patters of string vibration would fall into multiple energy families. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
While much of this book is probably too dense for beginners, there is hardly a better source for informed laypeople to learn about the latest theoretical advances in astrophysics. In this particular informed layperson's view, Einstein's relativity explains the vast cosmology of stars and galaxies, while quantum mechanics explains the subatomic realms of quarks and electrons. Unfortunately these two theories of the cosmos come into conflict in extreme situations such as black holes and the big bang, with that pesky old gravity messing up the orderly theoretical functioning of the universe. Brian Greene's specialty, string theory, is the most audacious and currently believable candidate for Theory of Everything, though the theory has mostly been built from esoteric developments in bizarre mathematics and thought experiments, rather than direct observation.
Here Greene explains with remarkable precision and understandability how string theory works and where it currently stands, but the science is so complex that even his great writing leads to lots of head scratching. Early in the book Greene does a fantastic job of introducing string theory itself, remarkably in just two paragraphs, and in the next few chapters gives the most understandable non-mathematical explanations for relativity and quantum mechanics that I've ever seen. The rest of the book gets more complicated and the vast esoteric vagaries of string theory can be a real strain on the brain, but Greene deserves much credit for kicking off the reader's deep thoughts on some really extreme scientific concepts. And finally, Greene spends a sizeable portion of the book explaining that string theory is just that - a theory - which is not fully accepted by all physicists. Greene gives credit to all his colleagues where credit is due, openly admits to the weaknesses of the theory, and speculates on possible theoretical improvements. That makes many of the negative reviews here, which are obviously from some of Greene's more narrow-minded and professionally jealous university competitors, invalid and unworthy of further discussion. |
Daniel Sanderman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
Either love him or hate him: Brian Greene and his book are here to stay. Recently, I have been intrigued by the ideas of physics and have been digesting the work of a few physicists (and there seems to be a number) who also write extremely well. Alan Lightman comes to mind (Great Ideas in Physics) and I must say that Greene's book does a much better job explaining Special & General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics to a reader without much of a physics background. The first couple hundred pages of this book truly surprised me, as I was impressed with Lightman's treatment of these areas, not knowing that such a good account was out there. If you're looking for an introduction to Relativity and Quantum Mechanics and the debate surrounding the two, you've come to the right place.
I also enjoyed Greene's chapters that gave the overview of strings and the general shape of the theory. Many of the later chapters are highly technical and, while I read them carefully, I know that the ideas will not stay with me long, particularly in places where Greene has not provided a nice visual metaphor to help the solidify the concept. Greene is so good at doing this in earlier chapters, one wonders if he simply got tired as the book progressed or if the complexity of the subject matter has simply advanced beyond a point where metaphors can even begin to latch onto the concepts they are aimed at clarifying. In either case, this book is truly memorable for certain images and metaphors and these concepts will stick in your mind.
Is this a book for the masses? Yes and no. I think that most educated persons will be able to get much out of the first couple hundred of pages, but you may need to spend some time with them making sure that you are understanding it. As the chapters march on, you will find yourself losing interest and getting lost in some of Greene's explanations. I think that only someone with some background in physics will understand everything that is held between these pages, but this should not deter you from reading it. No matter what you think of string theory, Brian Greene's book is very intriguing and a nice read-even for a Philosophy/English major.
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Tristan (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
Modern physics is based on the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics, both of which have been proven true, which creates a devastating problem. Mathematically, the theories contradict each other and, according to Greene, cannot coexist. This problem led physicists like Einstein to try and find a universal theory that underlies these two and allows them to work harmoniously. They brought on the string theory, which is considered to be the complete theory that contains all of our knowledge on the universe and how it works. Brian Greene is, as said on the book, one of the world's leading string theorists and recounts all of the different aspects and ideas that coincide with the string theory. Some of them are extremely bizarre and surprising, like an eleven-dimensional universe or the random, chaotic activity of particles on the quantum level, but Greene uses realistic allusions to help people with even the mildest of backgrounds understand. I never thought I could comprehend the idea of more than the four conventional dimensions, but Greene's use of an ant and a hose cleared it all up for me. Same goes for the likes of black holes, gravity, relativity, accelerated motion, particle movement, and so on.
Most of us choose to live life like we witness it and not accept the idea that our "safe" and "predictable" universe is far more complicated and strange than we imagine. How many people know that it is possible to walk through a wall if your particles line up perfectly (extremely rare but possible) or that in empty space, particles are constantly appearing for instants of time before vanishing forever? At some point, we need to accept the fact that if we are walking down the road and pass a stationary fire hydrant, that hydrant's claim of being the one in motion past a stationary us is just as legitimate. If you find the fact that you can stand outside a black hole's gravitational pull for one year and make earth age 10,000 years fascinating, then Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe is the perfect book for you.
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