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Brian Greene explains them in ways that are easy to visualize and understand. 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. 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.
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.
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 this is not the case with The Elegant Universe.
Brian Greene took Stephen Hawking's place as the best disseminator of cutting-edge physics among the masses. 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.
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. 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. 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.
But for what this book is intended to be, an introduction to M-Theory, it doesn't get any better than this.
Perhaps Feynman was wrong, after all. almost nothing. Don't get me wrong. Well. It sounds convincing.
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. 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. they didn't. I'm sure your next book will set us straight. At last someone who claims to know enough about Superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the final, or near-final Theory of Everything.
Sorry Brian. It seems that that's what the book's mostly about. 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. What is more, each succeeding chapter, more-or-less contradicted each previous one.
I enjoyed it. They sound like fun. I looked forward to reading this book with bated breath. About free, or (excluding massless forces) empty space. Or about. It's an excellent exercise in 'scientific' doublegook. As Shakespeare had said, it's mostly Much Ado about Nothing. And, after all, isn't that what life is really about.Stan I.S.
No matter, quantum mechanics would set it all right, Brian assures us. Law (aka Stanislaw Kapuscinski) authored a number of fiction and non-fiction books, some available on the Amazon. But I have been said to be prone to mental masochism. Why nothing. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to multiuniverses. He gives his version of the Universe in: Elohim - Masters and Minions (Sequel to One Just Man)
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.
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