Rating: 
Summary: A Well Written Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
Review: This is a remarkably well written and lucid introduction to some very complex ideas. J. Boyd is one of the scientists at the NASA-Ames laboratories. He gave me his copy of this terrific book with the recommendation that it was a good introduction to the principles behind quantum mechanics.The Ames laboratories in California is conducting research into the fascinating world of nano-science. The nano world may be the most powerful new areas of understanding. "Nano" is the space between one atom and about 400 atoms. At this level quantum behavior begins to replace the Newtonian (no relation) physics you and I are used to. The world "nano" means one-billionth and is usually used in reference to a nanosecond (one billionth of a second) or a nanometer (one billionth of a meter). In this world of atoms and molecules, new tools and new techniques are enabling scientists to create entirely new approaches to manufacturing, computing and to health resulting in new and very powerful capabilities. ... To understand fully the future impact on nano-science and it will be significant, I felt it imperative to try to understand the basics of quantum mechanics. Greene is a very engaging young physicist at Columbia University and he does a solid job of carrying you into very complicated topics in understandable ways. Nonetheless there are places in the Elegant Universe where this book is best read about six pages at a time with a few minutes for thinking through the ideas he has explained. We are in an era of amazing change in our understanding of the universe and this book is a very readable introduction to the science behind those changes.
Rating: 
Summary: Very easy to understand
Review: Greene is just so good in illustrating complex ideas using simple examples. Even a non-technical person will enjoy reading it. String theory is just so interesting I'm getting hooked. If you want to learn more about spacetime, relativity and string theory, but are afraid that these topics are too difficult to understand, this book is perfect for you.
Rating:
Summary: This is how to learn about it
Review: Two of the most important discoveries of modern physics, general relativity and quantum mechanics, were essentially irreconcilable for decades. Only revolutions in an area called string theory have made them compatible and introduced a theoretical framework that hopes to give us an understanding of every aspect of the unvierse and its phenomena. Brian Greene, himself a physicist whose contributions helped string theory along in its adolescence, describes the essential problem with relativity and quantum mechanics and how string theory has resolved it. He goes on to elucidate the most recent version of "superstring theory," and the cutting-edge research which promises to incorporate that into an even more all-encompassing theory. He delves into aspects of cosmology that string theory has helped explain, such as black hole thermodynamics and the first few fractions of a second after the Big Bang. Greene's explanations are both cogent and understandable by the everyday person, even if they require some non-trivial effort to grasp completely. He glosses over the mathematical underpinnings of the theory when necessary, but gives perfect illustrative examples to support the sometimes counterintuitive nature of they physics. Don't expect a quick read -- unless you have a strong background in physics, many concepts will require multiple readings to digest. Still, this book will give you a level of familiarity with the research to understand articles in any popular medium and appreciate the new vistas open to us.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent account of an intriguing theory in progress
Review: The Elegant Universe is surely the best book written for the general public about the current attempts at unifying all of physics under the umbrella of string theory (and, more recently, M-theory). After a brief introduction, Greene spends four chapters discussing special relativity, general relativity, and quantum mechanics and explaining, necessarily loosely, how the latter two contradict each other in extreme environments like black holes and the immediate aftermath of the big bang. These chapters, even more so than the rest of the book, are extremely accessible, and I for one have not seen a better non-mathematical introduction to these topics. The remaining ten chapters discuss string theory, in which the contradictions between general relativity and quantum mechanics are settled by regarding the elementary particles not as points but rather as strings whose properties (e.g., mass, charge) are determined by how they vibrate. In the latter chapters, Greene also introduces us to M-theory, an extension of string theory which throws two- and higher-dimensional membranes into the picture along with strings and serves to unify the five different types of string theory that existed before 1995. As Greene eloquently shows us, there are a lot of very interesting things about the world according to string theory--perhaps the two that jump most immediately to mind are the properties of the six extra curled-up dimensions required for the theory and the types of tearing and sewing-back-together that (as co-discovered by Greene himself) the universe can undergo. Greene's own involvement in the development of string theory allows him to give us an interesting personal view of some of the theory's discoveries, and also made it easier for him to get candid interviews with the likes of Ed Witten, Cumrun Vafa, and many other heavyweights in the field. Especially near the end, this part of the book is somewhat heavier reading than were the first few chapters, but someone with a little bit of experience in undergraduate physics and/or a good deal of concentration and patience ought to be able to follow it pretty well, while most readers should still be able to get the basic ideas. My main complaint about the book (and the main reason I'm only giving it 4 stars) is that it really doesn't come through quite as much as it should that string theory is still nothing more than a theory, with its development still very much in progress. Physicists don't seem to be anywhere near a point where they even really know what the basic equations of the theory are. It does make a fair number of predictions, but most of these won't be able to be tested experimentally in the foreseeable future. If and when physicists are able to write down and solve the equations of string theory (Greene doesn't attempt to speculate as to whether that's likely to happen any time soon), the results will be compared with what we already know, and if the results match up, it will be awfully hard to argue against string theory. But Greene seems to want to convey the discoveries of string theory as already being established truths about the universe, which seems to be pushing it a little bit. However, whether or not its postulates are correct, string theory is extremely interesting--that's why I enjoyed reading this book, and I suspect that, when push comes to shove, that may be the biggest reason that string theorists devote their careers to studying it. 50 years from now, physicists may regard the science discussed in The Elegant Universe as an interesting historical diversion, or they may regard it as the foundations of a theory of everything--in any case, The Elegant Universe provides us with a lucid picture of the development of a fascinating branch of physics.
Rating:
Summary: Very Easy to Understand
Review: It's really easy to get while keeping all the essential parts of the universe.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: String theory presents an interesting challenge. Unlike the continual development of our picture of the universe throughout history, string theory is a viewpoint that was not constructed based on experimental findings. Rather, it is a theory that has been proposed to solve the great problem of modern physics -- how to resolve quantum mechanics with general relativity. Brian Greene has been involved with the development of string theory and actually enters the narrative later on in this book. He obviously shares the view of his other string theorists that the idea is far too beautiful not to be true. He tries to sprinkle his commentary with cautionary reminders that the whole thing could be thrown out the door at any moment if an experiment proves it wrong. Even if you don't believe that string theory (or its spawn, M-theory) is true, Greene's metaphorical writing takes the reader down a breathtaking path of extraordinary thinking and brilliant logic. It's simple enough for the amateur to at least begin to comprehend, and Greene throws in the hard math for those who went a bit beyond calculus in college. There are new ideas flowing around string theory every day, and Greene will have to come out with a new edition before too long. This book strives to allow everyone to grasp the fundamentals behind this potentially revolutionary concept. It's a task in which he succeeds.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant Explanation of an Elegant Universe
Review: Ah, the scintillating, supersymmetric stage whereupon siteth superstring theory! Enough play, this book is the layman's guide to the hardcore regions of physics. No more idle play with particle physics and atomic physics. Forget nuclear physics and neutron physics. Brian Greene attacks with ferocity the underlying heart of matter: elementary particle physics, the most difficult branch of physics and all intellectual endeavors ever undertaken by the human mind. Greene first lays the groundwork for the main focus of his book. He elucidates relativity, then quantum mechanics, and finally the incompatibility between these two pillars of modern science. Once these formalities are out of the way, Greene takes superstring theory by the reigns. He introduces the concept of the vibrating string, how strings resolve the incompatibility between QM and RT, the necessity for extra dimensions, the shape of these dimensions, the predictions of superstring theory, experimental evidence for this theory, further esoteric predictions of superstring theory, difficulties currently residing within the theory, and future prospects, to name but a few of its selling points. Greene is a master of analogies which help him explain many of the concepts in his book with relative ease. His use of analogies for well known concepts, such as blackbody radiation and the photoelectric effect are novel and cute. It is a relief to see care taken to think up of new analogies than simply borrowing from the earlier pedigrees! Very well done! When all is said and done, this book might not be all that easy of a read for some. Having a thorough and extensive physics background and a true, deep passion for physics, this book simply quenched my thirst. Nothing was of any suprise. However, for the newbie, it may be difficult to digest three enourmous theories in only several hundred pages, and furthermore, requires a fair amount of love of the subject to be truly moved and appreciative of the content. After all, only a dedicated person would really want to read about surface geometry and spatial dimensions. Nevertheless, this book offers a good report on the progress of cutting edge physics.
Rating:
Summary: Theoretical physics for the masses!
Review: An excellent book. Excellent. The books starts by outlining Einstein's relativity theories and quantum mechanics, then moves into a deep exploration of string theory. Greene uses easy to follow examples to reinforce many of the important facts, and his prose is very readable. Above all he presents strings for what they are...a theory. Very even-handed, and a great book for anyone with a mild interest in the intimate workings of our universe.
Rating:
Summary: A dimension for everyone!
Review: Even if string theory someday turns out to be the wrong answer, this book still stands as an example of how to write science for the masses. The somewhat-educated masses, perhaps. It did take concentration to read this book, and some memory of high-school and college courses to understand it. The writing was beautifully clear, however. There were plenty of illustrations and examples and a noticeable absence of mathematical formulae. Those who, like me, read this type of book to find out what's going on in other scientific fields will love it. Besides, just carrying this book around will impress friends and relatives!
Rating: 
Summary: Vaporware
Review: This book, and string theory itself, is like the ultimate software demo: very slick, glitzy, claims to do everything, will solve all your problems, makes you want to go place an order for the product right now. Only with a little digging do you find out that the engineers haven't even written a line of working code, and haven't even figured out how to implement the basic algorithms. My advice: wait for the beta version.
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