The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory [B0166]

2003 PB. A new edition of the New York Times bestseller?now a three-part Nova special: a fascinating and thought-provoking journey through the mysteries of space, time, and matter. Now with a new preface (not in any other edition) that will review the enormous public reception of the relatively obscure string theory?made possible by this book and an increased number of adherents amongst physicists?The Elegant Universe "sets a standard that will be hard to beat" (New York Times Book Review). Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter?from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas?is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy. String theory is the key to the Unified Field Theory that eluded Einstein for more than thirty years. Finally, the century-old antagonism between the large and the small-General Relativity and Quantum Theory-is resolved. Through the masterful use of metaphor and analogy, The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated viscerally accessible and thoroughly entertaining, bringing us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A wonderful book covering General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and String Theory/M-Theory. The authors passion for the subjects comes through in his comprehensive discussion of the physics phenomena."; "It can make your head spin when He talks about things like Calabi-Yau shapes and curled up six-dimensional spaces, but it stretches your brain. Would recommend to anyone who just wants something to get a taste of the development of string theory and the field of physics as a whole."