Universe on a T-Shirt: The Quest for the Theory of Everything

Rating:
Summary: No jacket (or physics degree) required...
Review: "Universe on a T-Shirt" is perfect for anyone who wants a concise, easy-to-read guide to one of the great quests of human civilization: the search for the ultimate laws of physics -- the "Theory of Everything." This quest ranges from the speculations of the Greek philosophers, through relativity, quantum mechanics and the latest developments in string theory. These are forbidding subjects for many physicists let alone the interested layperson, but science journalist Dan Falk has managed the difficult task of getting across their basic ideas, and wider significance, in an entertaining way. The science is leavened with just the right amount of human interest and historical detail. The book is well illustrated with black & white photos, diagrams and cartoons, and includes a recommended reading list for those who want to explore further. It would make a great gift for a high school student interested in science.

Rating:
Summary: Good attempt by a journalist.
Review: By my standard only three stars, but it does not mean book is bad. This is a brief history of science that led to creation of modern cosmology and our current knowledge of the Universe. Not for Scientific American readers though.
Book targets general population, people who read about Cosmos and science in daily newspapers.
Written nice and easy, but advanced reader who studied works of scientists like Brian Greene, Lee Smolin, John Barrow, Martin Rees or Steven Weinberg, should not bother.

For discussion about religion and science (do we have God-designer or not?) it is better to check Victor Stenger's "Has Science Found God".
Also, a good alternative is Timothy Ferris: "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" - same topics.

Rating:
Summary: on science, simplicity, and the quest for truth...
Review: Dan Falk's Universe on a T-Shirt is an informative and entertaining tour of mainstream science-from Democritus to string theory-guided by a single, reining principle: that science is the pursuit of an aesthetic of simplicity, and that the culmination of this pursuit, the theory of everything, will be simple enough to grace a t-shirt.

Written in clear, clever, friendly prose, the book is easy to understand yet thorough; it serves as an excellent introduction for novices in the topics of physics and cosmology, but is full of fun facts, amusing anecdotes, and intriguing insights for the more knowledgeable reader. History is brought to life through brief biographical portraits of each scientist and thinker who has played a key role in the ongoing search for the ultimate theory, and the reader emerges from Falk's journey with an exciting sense of not only what is going on in science, but of what science itself is all about.

Speckled with illuminating quotes from physicists working in the field, Universe on a T-shirt dares to ask not only where physics is headed, but whether or not it is headed down the right path. Should notions like beauty and simplicity necessarily pave the road to truth, Falk asks. And will the ultimate theory mark the end of physics? Falk doesn't cower from the philosophy that lurks at the heart of physics. Instead, he embraces it, and allows the reader to delve into some of the most fundamental questions about the nature of reality. The author sympathetically writes of the layman's sense of cosmic alienation-perhaps this book can help those afflicted feel at home in the universe, and a part of the inspiring quest to truly understand it.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but lacking
Review: First I'd like to point out that I am one of those readers who have read the popular books of many of the cosmologists and physicists mentioned in this book. And I agree with a previous reviewer that if you have read Martin Rees and John Barrow, this might not be a very interesting book.

But I had a good time reading it. It is short and concise. Lots of chapters (I think the longest is about 5 pages or so) which makes this a very easy book to read.

The main problem is that the task of crunching the search for a "theory of everything" through the ages into a book of about 200 pages is impossible. That is probably why this is a book with no mention of anything but "western" theories.

I also found the last chapter on where God is in everything rather confusing. It seems as if the book's editor wanted to cut it but it was left in as some sort of compromise. It provides an afterthought but takes the narrative off track.

Dan Falk has written a good book for lay people who find Stephen Hawking inaccessible and who don't feel at home with more theoretical books. But the entire concept of "putting theories on a t-shirt" which every section ends with, says a lot about this book: simplification is king. And that is why it only gets three stars from me.

If you would like to read a really good book about scientific history, read Mendeleyev's Dream by Paul Strathern. It is everything this book is not.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for the Scientifically Challenged
Review: For someone like myself coming from a traditional Arts background and with a 25 year career in the Human Services where the word "quantum " anything is a foreign language, I am used to being on the outside looking in when it comes to the mysterious ( but compelling ) world of science. Not any longer. Reading Universe on a T shirt was nothing short of an epiphany for me. The author's well thought out presentation and friendly conversational language , complete with a well placed dose of subtle humour just when you thought things were getting a bit dry, made this book user friendly at minimum and warmly engaging at its best.

Being an amateur star gazer with a life long interest in Astronomy, I was drawn to this book because of its relevance to various theories in Astronomy and Space exploration, most of which escaped my very limited knowledge of Science of any kind. Perhaps it was the quirky title and interesting cover image that captured my attention and lead me to take a chance on what I hoped wouldn't be just another science book that I couldn;t understand. I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to read a comprehensive but not overly detailed history of all the "great s" of Science and their discoveries as well as an overview of all the major theories. When I realized, with some degree of what I can only describe as shock, that I actually understood at a very basic level, Mr. Falk's presentation of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity( the wonderful illustration of Alice and Bernice on a moving train and the accompanying explanation really clinched it for me )I began to harbour wild eyed thoughts that maybe my guidance counsellors were wrong all those years ago when they told me that I was a "people person" destined for a career in the Humanities and Human Services exclusively. This book actually made me believe,well for a brief moment anyway, that perhaps a potential scientist has been laying dormant inside of me all this time , waiting for just the right moment to be awakened..

Especially insightful and satisfying was Mr. Falk's final chapter, "what does it all mean? Science, God and the limits of understanding" and how he brings it all together for a brief but provocative contemplation of philsophy and spirituality and how they integrate with scientific thought...or do they?

This book will be a permanent fixture in my library for reference as well as inspiration and I eagerly look forward to the author's next book.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Overview of Physical Science Over the Ages
Review: I'd highly recommend this book. There's a lot of popular physics books out on the market, but Falk manages to set his apart from the rest. Clear writing and a good story made it an entertaining read. Falk explains difficult concepts well, like relativity and quantum mechanics, without going into unnecessary details. And the best part is that he puts current search for a unified theory in context of the rest of western civilization, starting from the ancient Greeks. It's a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Easy read on a challenging subject
Review: This book is a very easy read for even those who are non-scientists but are interested in the history of science. This book focuses mostly on cosmology and particle physics and the attempts made by scientists to unite the two areas with one theory ... the Theory of Everything.

Right now the two biggest theories in physics are Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, which deals with gravity and big things (i.e: galaxies and stars), and the Quantum Theory, which deals with small things (i.e: atoms and quarks). The poblem is that the two of them don't mesh, they don't play well together.

Falk's book is an overview of the history leading to these two discoveries, and the search for a theory that will explain these two theories in one framework.

Very easy read, very informative, highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Quest
Review: This book is about more than scientific formulae. It is about the dream of capturing the profound, fundamental truths behind the physical realities of our Universe, and those who have pursued that dream. And it is told in a light, readable and enjoyable manner. Both mind-expanding and cocktail party fodder at the same time. Great stuff.

Rating:
Summary: No double slits, but still good
Review: This book is really a history of the scientific search for the structure of the universe since Greek times. It does not stray from a its direct path to the latest thinking about string theory. Thus, though quantum theory is often at the center of the discussion, the double slit experiment is not mentioned, since the author apparently feels it is not necessary for his main point that quantum theory is "weird". I agree with the author's approach on this point. There is also essentially no math in the book. The only formula is Einstein's famous E = M times c-squared, and there is a numerical example to illustrate the inverse square concept, and that's it for math. I've done a lot of reading about quantum theory over the last few years and am a math professor by trade, but still found this one of the best books I have read. I especially enjoyed how the author handled the history. It is true the last chapter on the meaning of it all could have been omitted, but I the book is stronger for including this philosopical material. Highly recommended.