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Summary: A Feast of a Book!
Review: This book is a sheer delight to read! Brian Greene's clarity of thinking and joy of exploring the quest for the ultimate physics theory come clearly through as he describes how superstrings just might be the "common thread" that runs through this universe from the tiniest quantum bits to the largest relativistic bodies. Are you curious to know how all these dimensions can exist in our universe unseen? Greene brilliantly describes memorable analogies (such as an ant seen from a distance to be walking along on a garden hose) that give readers a clear sense of what hidden curled dimensions might feel like... and he writes about physics with such grace and style! If you've hungered to know how to better understand hidden dimensions and superstrings, this book is guaranteed to first pique and then satisfy your appetite.
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Summary: A real trip!
Review: Greene gives a stimulating trip through the history of physics from relativity to superstring. The text is easy to read and provides great visualizations of even the most abstract concepts.
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Summary: Good introduction to Superstring theory
Review: Provides an excellent introduction into the development of Superstring theory in the past century or so.
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Summary: Wonderfully written
Review: Ive been reading several books on RT/QM like "Relativity Simply explained [Martin Gardner]", "Alice in Quantum Land" etc. but this is so far the best i have read. the scenarios that Brian sets are fantastic. Esp I like the Grace/George and time-dilation examples. Even if the main theme of the book is about strings, i doubt you will find a better explanation of relativity elsewhere. And slowly when the author moves to string theory.... its just wonderful. As gripping as a Holmes story.
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Summary: The User-friendly Universe
Review: This is an amazing book which allows those of us without degrees in physics or mathematics a glimpse into the secret workings of our universe as represented by the merging of theories concerning relativity and quantum mechanics. The resultant 'superstring' or M-theory pitches us into a headlong roller-coaster journey, where photons slip through walls, the universe propagates more universes and the fabric of space is filled with vibrating gravitons pulled hither and yon by stars and black holes. A real thriller, full of plot twists and dramatic revelations, which make it a compulsive page turner. If it were fiction, it would seem too far-fetched!
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Summary: Universal Truth For Dummies
Review: For 10 years I tried to understand Einstien's Relativity without success. In less than 100 pages (the first "section" of this wonderful book), Greene took care of that! The most compelling thing I found about this though, was that it seems, the deeper we get into science, the closer we come to proving that there is a universal consciousness.
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Summary: well tailored
Review: Einstein: If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.I should state my prejudice, as clearly as Brian Greene states his. I do not believe that we are smart enough to guess deep secrets without a scintilla of experimental evidence. String theory is not yet science, though it may become science. Whether it does or not, this easy-to-skim book will serve as an interesting sociological document. It does an honest and courteous job setting up the problem that string theory addresses: the construction of a predictive quantum theory of spacetime. Personally, I found that the protracted metaphors tended to run away with themselves, and I soon tired of the girlfriend with her grenade, the problem of saving the world from a terrorist bomb, the child-hating landlord, Jim and Slim, and other less than elegant devices. Yet it seems from other reviews that these helped some readers, which is all that really matters. The best part is chapter 9, which is frighteningly honest about the lack of evidence for either supersymmetry or strings. While there is no way of falsifying an idea, what are we left with? A choice of tailor. Brian Greene shops at Green-Schwarz-Witten the Tailors, catering for folk with a taste for divergence-free extended objects in the early universe. Being more conservative in taste, I shop at Dyson-Feynman-Schwinger the Tailors, who neatly remove infinities from the interactions of point particles, modelling processes on planet earth. About such issues of taste, there can be no useful discussion, beyond the obvious point that a diversity seems desirable. The most lively part is chapter 11, where the author no longer speaks on behalf of a taste-group, but lets us know his personal excitement while helping to discover a really neat bit of math - mirror symmetry - which is right or wrong quite independently of physics. The cloudiest part is chapter 12, for which a summary might be: M-theory will turn out to be the M-theory of M-theory. This book should do no harm to science that has not already been done. In communicating the excitement of intellectual challenge, it may do good. Best of all, string theory might turn out to be, like most innovations in science, a mixture of predictive new ideas and demonstrable mistakes. But I know only one reliable sieve for removing epicycles and dress sense: experimental testing of the best laid schemes of mice and theorists. It was a joy to work under that discipline in the 60s and 70s. Right now, we are less fortunate, in having a quantum theory of extended objects that has gotten to the age of 25 without ever receiving a birthday present from observation. Let us hope that its middle age is more exciting.
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Summary: An Elegant Book
Review: Dr. Greene has written the most understandable and enlightening book on quantum mechanics and string theory for the lay person. His strong use of descriptive analogies allow you to approach a degree of comprehesion you wouldn't have thought possible. When introducing a particularly difficult concept, he advises the reader to reread the the passage. I never thought of this kind of book as being a page-turner, but this definitely was. You'll have to excuse me as I'm going back to reread it.
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Summary: My below Planck 'brane' and Big Bang brain experience remind
Review: me of the "balance of boldness and humility"(A.N. Whitehead) that is the essence of the exacting spirit science. One might also experience pain and joy that are not balanced until page ... A challenging read is worth it ! I am going after Ed Witten's works and I can't multiply without a calculator !
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Summary: mind expanding view of "reality"
Review: Searching for the "answer"? Well this book opens up a whole new way of seeing "reality". Mr. Greene gives an account of the search for the ultimate theory which most anyone can follow and get a feel for the importance of what it all means. I would recomend this book to anyone interested in Quantum physics or any other high energy physics
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