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.
Today physicists and mathematicians throughout the world are feverishly
working on one of the most ambitious theories ever proposed: superstring
theory. String theory, as it is often called, 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. String theory proclaims that
all of the wondrous happenings in the universe, from the frantic dancing
of subatomic quarks to the majestic swirling of heavenly galaxies, are
reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one
single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy, a
billionth of a billionth the size of an atom. In this brilliantly
articulated and refreshingly clear book, Greene relates the scientific
story and the human struggle behind twentieth-century physics' search
for a theory of everything.
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.
