Rating: 
Summary: Best Book I've read in years
Review: This book answers questions that I never even knew enough to ask. It broadens the mind and makes physics and the mysteries of the universe accessible, even to me, a nonscientist. I'd never heard about quantum entanglement (distant things influencing each other without anything travelling between them) and the discussion was so thrilling that that chapter alone was worth the price of the book. There is so much here, cosmology, M theory, universes on branes but the author pulls it all together in a totally coherent and entertaining way. Physics is developing rapidly and this book provides a foundation for understanding today's breakthroughs. It's a great read.
Rating:
Summary: The Fabric of the Cosmos
Review: Brian Greene within his book will take you into the unknown and where most people would say you could never go, but a lot of those same people have very closed minds. We must open up our minds and look beyond what we know as true to day, for tomorrow will unlock doors we never knew existed. Mr. Greene has the type of mind that we all need, without it, we would all be stuck in the past without a tomorrow.The book is a must read-Larry Hobson- Author "The Day Of The Rose"
Rating: 
Summary: A good continuation to "The elegant universe."
Review: I went to Mexico on holiday with 4 books and returned only with this and the travel guide.
I had good days in the beach watching the ocean and reading about universe.
This book is enough good to let you feel near scientific research everywhere you are.
It only should need a good surgeon to become perfect:eliminating Mulder and Scully , and above all Lisa and Bart could make it a damn good book.
To undertand why I can recomend you to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Time--Absolutely relative or relatively absolute?
Review: No one could read the first chapter and not finish this book! I savored every page of it from start to finish. Brian Greene has a unique combination of talent that you JUST DON'T SEE in such an outstanding scientific mind. 1) He can write! 2) He is clearly one of the top physicists in the field of Superstring/M-Theory. 3) He is a born teacher. 4) Did I mention he can write? Through brilliant use of analogy, Greene makes the most mind boggling concepts easy to grasp. This is a book for lay people, as evidenced by the absence of equations in the text...they are included in the notes section at the end along with more robust theoretical details. The book takes you through the usual history of quantum physics and cosmology, as it must do to provide the background necessary to understand where we are now. He moves from the earlier understandings to the most current developments in a manner that makes very difficult subjects accessible to everyday people. The question of why the arrow of times moves relentlessly forward is answered in this book, and that is no mean accomplishment. In fact, the infusion of knowledge is so gentle that after 500 pages I was amazed at how much was covered and even more amazed that I understood it. The subject matter itself is fascinating. Greene's writing ability makes it enjoyable at the same time. His injection of humor put the icing on the cake. A small example: "...Ordinary experience confronts us with two types of phenomena: those that have a clearly delineated beginning, middle, and end...and those that are cyclic, happening over and over again (the changing seasons, the rising and setting of the sun, Larry King's weddings)." Now some might find his highly imaginative analogies can get a bit corny, but I saw them as brilliant--and they do the job of illuminating complex ideas. I really can't recommend this book highly enough to those who want to learn! One last thing...you can read the whole book without consulting the notes at the end. This is great for continuity and readability. Just don't fail to read the "Notes" section when you finish. It serves as a brief refresher to cement the new ideas into your head, and expands on the more complicated concepts. Whatever happened to the 10-star ratings? 5 stars are not enough!
Rating:
Summary: The One Book to Read
Review: I loved The Elegant Universe.I loved The Fabric of the Cosmos even more. In showing the state of the art of unified theories, The Elegant Universe explained alot of physics with unsurpassed clarity. Yet, there were discoveries I had read something about in other books that The Elegant Universe did not discuss, and I longed for Brian Greene to bring his powers of explanation to these subjects too. (I even wrote him an email saying so). The Fabric of the Cosmos answers my longing in abundance. This book not only covers relativity but also the long debate about Mach's principle and what "space" means. It covers quantum mechanics, but goes further by taking on the debate regarding observers and measurment, and provides the clearest, most understandable discussion of quantum entanglement (the "EPR paradox) that I have ever seen in print or any other format. The chapters on cosmology are equally great, and the final sections bring the work on unification and string theory right up to the moment. I can't say this is an easy book, perhaps a little easier than
The Elegant Universe, but definitely a challenge. It is worth it. By the end, the poetry of the universe is yours to behold.
Rating:
Summary: Very good but helpless in front the new unusual discoveries
Review: I liked the Elegant Universe and I enjoyed The Fabric of the Cosmos even more. Anyway this thought provoking book cannot answer the big puzzles that heap in my e-mail delivered from space exploration e-zines. It is hard to digest the mysterious intense stars formation in the early universe, the unanticipated location of the quasars in humble homes and the discovery of huge (about 80 times heavier than the sun) stars that orbit each other in just 3.7 days. These brain twisters can find surprisingly elegant clarification in the "firework universe", described by Eugene Savov in his book Theory of Interaction the Simplest Explanation of Everything. This book will make your day if you take some mental effort to understand how the texture of reality is laid bare in it.
Rating: 
Summary: as bad as it gets
Review: If you enjoy this book, you probably never studied physical theory.
Rating:
Summary: Spacetime Physics For Everyone
Review: Brian Greene is a phenomenon; a leading string theorist at Columbia U., he's somehow found enough time, in a full schedule of research and teaching, to write two best-sellers and honcho a major PBS special about this formerly recondite, but now very well-known indeed, field of contemporary physics. What's his secret? First of all, he's writing about things that every intelligent and inquiring person wants to know more about: Time's Arrow - why is time such a one-way trip? Big Bang cosmology - how did the Universe get started? Grand Unification - what is the ultimate physical description of Nature? Secondly, he writes about these things in such a way that non-physicists can understand them. No equations, just a patient, careful, and clear explanation of some of the most fascinating, important, and new ideas in contemporary particle physics and cosmology. Greene talks up, not down, to his readers. There are a lot of books about popular physics on the market today, and many of them are quite good. What makes this book special is how Greene manages to get inside the reader's head, by explaining things in a way that makes sense, and by anticipating and answering so many of the questions that a reader might have about these ideas. I really wish that I had Prof. Greene as a teacher when I studied this stuff in school! One hint about reading this book - do pay attention to the notes, because they are an essential part of the book. Think of the book as the "lecture," and the notes as the "question and answer." I'm happy to add my praise to the chorus for this very good book. You can judge my sincerity from the fact that I originally borrowed it from the local public library, but after reading it all the way through, I then went out and bought a copy for myself!
Rating:
Summary: Highly instructive writing about space and time
Review: Before buying a newly published book, I almost always read reviews on it. However, I bought this book as soon as it was published without following the usual procedure, because the previous book by the same author, "The Elegant Universe," proved Brian Greene's high ability of clear writing on cutting-edge physics. This new book even exceeded my expectation. Greene, who made a number of important discoveries in superstring theory, explains about the present understanding of space and time starting from historical ideas from Newton's days and reaching the possible experimental confirmation of extra dimensions predicted by theoretical models as well as future allusions. The book is written for laypersons without using equations in the main text, but includes about 40 pages of notes for the expert reader. Thus scientists and engineers can also enjoy it very much. The author makes good use of analogies, among which I liked the one about Bell's inequality best. Expert readers may find explanations in earlier chapters a little too lengthy, but this book has the following instructive feature: Greene's explanation often made me have a small question, but on reading ahead, I found that the author had expected the same question and had given the answer to it in the text or in a note! I believe that many of the young readers of this book would be interested in becoming a physicist or a cosmologist to study the deep mysteries of space and time.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Breadth
Review: I've read a LOT of books on cosmology, astrophyisics, quantum physics and so on. This book puts them all together. It doesn't have depth in any one field, but its beauty is tying what appear to be disparate fields together. I've heard that this is recommended for novice readers. I don't think that's true. You need enough knowledge of the terminology in order to appreciate his weaving of the facts together. It's a GREAT book for those of us who can't get enough of this stuff!
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