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Original Essays | June 11, 2013
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The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Realityby Brian Greene
Staff Pick
Using Simpsons and X-Files examples, Brian Greene explains our current understanding of the universe. Whereas The Elegant Universe was primarily about the obscure, largely theoretical world of susperstring theory, Fabric of the Cosmos holds to more solid ground. Greene is a good communicator and illustrates complex issues well. Folks wanting to learn more about relativity, quantum mechanics, and the main points of string theory should find this a good starting point.
Using Simpsons and X-Files examples, Brian Greene explains our current understanding of the universe. Whereas The Elegant Universe was primarily about the obscure, largely theoretical world of susperstring theory, Fabric of the Cosmos holds to more solid ground. Greene is a good communicator and illustrates complex issues well. Folks wanting to learn more about relativity, quantum mechanics, and the main points of string theory should find this a good starting point. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:From Brian Greene, one of the world's leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.
Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science's new and deeper understanding of the universe. From Newton's unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein's fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics' entangled arena where vastly distant objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe. Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that "time's arrow" is a relic of the universe's condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional "multiverse," pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities. Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world. Review:"This is popular science writing of the highest order...Greene [has an] unparalleled ability to translate higher mathematics into everyday language and images, through the adept use of metaphor and analogy, and crisp, witty prose...He not only makes concepts clear, but explains why they matter." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review:"[Greene's] excitement for science on the threshold of vital breakthroughs is supremely contagious. The Fabric of the Cosmos is as dazzling as it is tough, and it beautifully reflects this theoretician's ardor for his work." The New York Times
Review:"Nonspecialists will relish this exhilarating foray into the alien terrain that is our own universe." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review:"The best exposition and explanation of early 21st-century research into the fundamental nature of the universe as you are likely to find anywhere." Science
Review:"Perhaps the single best explainer of abstruse science in the world today....Greene has a gift for finding the right metaphor." The Washington Post
Review:"I recommend Greene?s book to any nonexpert reader who wants an up-to-date account of theoretical physics, written in colloquial language that anyone can understand." Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books
Review:"As pure intellectual adventure, this is about as good as it gets....Even compared with A Brief History of Time, Greene's book stands out for its sweeping ambition...stripping down the mystery from difficult concepts without watering down the science." Newsday
Review:"Greene is as elegant as ever, cutting through the fog of complexity with insight and clarity. Space and time, you might even say, become putty in his hands." Los Angeles Times
Review:"Highly informed, lucid and witty....There is simply no better introduction to the strange wonders of general relativity and quantum mechanics, the fields of knowledge essential for any real understanding of space and time." Discover
Synopsis:From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Elegant Universe, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.
Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene has set himself a daunting task: to explain non-intuitive, mathematical concepts like String Theory, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Inflationary Cosmology with analogies drawn from common experience. From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can instantaneously coordinate their behavior, Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world. About the AuthorBrian Greene received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He joined the physics faculty of Cornell University in 1990, was appointed to a full professorship in 1995, and in 1996 joined Columbia University where he is professor of physics and mathematics. He has lectured at both a general and a technical level in more than twenty-five countries and is widely regarded for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in superstring theory. He lives in Andes, New York, and New York City.
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