Out of This World: Colliding Universes, Branes, Strings, and Other Wild Ideas of Modern Physics [Hardcover]

Out of this World - Colliding Universes, Branes and other Wild Ideas of Modern Physics by Stephen Webb is a humble exercise in reminding one not to judge a book by its cover.
I was surprised by the difference between my initial judgment (by its title & cartoonish cover) and my evolving sense of appreciation for the depth & thoroughness this author brings to a general lay-audience. Stephen Webb provides a clear & accessible introduction to the most important subjects in fundamental physics while bridging the gulf between "gee wiz" popular science books (e.g. "Fabric of the Cosmos") and the deeper, more technical treatments that top out at the Undergraduate and Graduate level. Keep in mind this book is, strictly speaking, categorically qualitative (i.e. non-mathematical). The 11 chapters are subdivided into succinct & digestible sections with generous figures, tables and photographs (145 total) illustrating concepts of physical processes and the key physicists involved. A 14 page Glossary, 2 page Bibliography, and a fairly thorough 6 page index close out the book.
The scope of this book is grand in its broad range of subjects is covered in a concise no-nonsense, no-holds barred language. Group Theory & Gauge Symmetries, Special & General Relativity, Quantum Theory, the Standard Model of particle physics, Quantum Field Theories (Electroweak (QED) & Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), Big Bang cosmology, and a fairly comprehensive coverage of Grand Unified Theories (GUTS), Supersymmetry (SUSY), Superstrings and M-Theory. All these subjects are put into proper historical context placing appropriate credit to the key physicists.
After an introductory chapter, Webb leads us through a profundity of symmetry principles in chapter 1: continuous & discrete symmetries, spatial & temporal translations, Noether's Theorem (symmetry & conservation laws: time-energy, rotation-angular momentum), mirror & parity symmetry, Lorentz transformations/invariance principles. The chapter concludes with a rather nice qualitative treatment on mathematical groups - introducing the reader to Special Orthogonal/Unitary (SO(N), U(1) & SU(N)) and exceptional Lie groups and their importance to symmetries in fundamental physics.
In chapter 2, the author crafts a beautiful real-world example of a practical application of both physics on a large scale (General & Special Relativity) and small scale (Quantum Mechanics: Planck scales, the Uncertainty principle and virtual interactions) by discussing how these "Twin Pillars of Physics" make the Global Positioning System possible.
Chapters 3 & 4 are my favorites. They quickly bring you through the way high energy physics produces and classifies the constituents of our Standard Model. The key concepts of units of energy, rest mass, Electric charge and spin; Fermions & Bosons, leptons, and the Quark model of Hadrons are fleshed out for our edification. Also, a fascinating aside reminds us that the World-Wide Web was created at the CERN accelerator facility in Europe and foretells of the next generation "Grid" global network system. Local Gauge Symmetry, Dirac field, QED, Feynman diagrams, perturbation & renormalization programs; the Strong interactions of SU(3)c Quark-Gluon, & color and the SU(2) X U(1) Electroweak plus Higgs unification close out chapter 4 with a nice ring. Chapter 5 is a quick but inclusive read where the fruits & faults of SU(5) GUTS and N=8 SUSY are aired out.
The early history of extra dimensions (1919 Kaluza-1926 Klein) and Edward Witten's 1981 eleven dimensional compact manifold paper are introduced in chapter 6. Chapter 7 brings us through the meat of Superstring Theories proper where Veneziano, Nambu, Susskind; Schwarz & Scherk; Calabi-Yau, Green, Witten, and Gross, Harvey, Martinec & Rohm ("Princeton String Quartet") are given due credit in the development of the Theory. Loop Quantum Gravity shows up in a one-page aside. The five types of consistent Superstring Theories are spelled out towards the end of the chapter.
Chapter 8 is titled "The Story of M". Here, Webb covers electromagnetic duality, monopoles & superconductors (`t Hooft, et. al), QCD again, heterotic SO(32), s and t duality and finally M-Theory itself. As with the rest of the book (and In the spirit of true scientific practice), the author includes both good arguments for and general criticisms against these theories. These pros & cons are given fair "air-time". D-BRANES and Black Holes are added to the mix in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 is a brisk cruise through the "Holographic Universe" principle via anti-de Sitter spacetime (AdS), Conformal field (CFT) and large-N theories.
The closing chapter (11) is a great synthesis & synopsis of some earlier travels through the lands of Quantum Fields, the Standard model of particle physics, symmetries & symmetry breaking; gravity waves & missing matter; extra dimensions, Strings, "Brane worlds", the Anthropic Principle, and "coming attractions" in high energy physics (HEP)...
All in all, this book is a substantial complement to my extensive library of physics multimedia. "Out of this World" undeniably meets my expectation for a great author to bridge the yawning gap we autodidacts crave to step across between purely pop-science to academic textbooks in the subject. I have to recommend this book to all seriously interested physics laymen who want a bigger & better picture of the way we humans strive to understand how the Universe ultimately works...
I'll read it several times and eventually pass my copy around when all this knowledge gestates & gels in my mind. Great work Webb!

The first book I ever read by Webb concerned the Fermi Paradox and was written in an enjoyable and easy style. He takes the same approach in this new one "Out of This World". The subject, on the surface anyhow, seems in some ways less-friendly - super string theory and the building blocks of the universe - but he handles it in the same easy style that a non-mathematician or scientist (such as myself) can understand.

I had recently read "Elegant Universe" and found Webbs examples more approachable. It also goes further in some areas (though on the whole I think the two compliment each other). I consider myself technically minded but not too knowledgeable of physics other than what I covered at school. His level of explanation gave me a deeper insight and the coverage of black-holes and gripping. Normally I could not imagine using the words "page-turner" in describing a book like this, but there where points where I wished my commute was longer. Whoever thought I'd understand zero to eleven dimensions!

In short I would recommend this book. It is one of the few books that has changed and shaped the way I look at the world around me. There were a few points here and there which I could not understand but that wasn't a failing on the authors part rather mine (I mean in the end, it is deep physics!).

Before I begin what may be construed as a rant, I'd like to say that I did complete this book and that I enjoy books of this genre on a regular basis.

"Colliding Universes, branes, strings and other wild ideas of modern physics" screams the cover. The cartoonish cover art further reinforces the idea that the reader is in for a fun ride. Sadly this book suffers from being entirely too technical for its own good. I've read every single stephen hawking book so I do not consider myself ignorant in this area. Yet I found myself lost amidst the jargon that is littered too liberally throughout this book. Somewhere between learning about SU(2)s and the SU(5)s I found myself thinking that I'd rather be driving a SUV. I think after reading this I care about as much for the X or Y boson as I do for their namesake chromosomes.

To be fair I did find the last third of the book to be interesting and not quiet as dense. And the book does cover a wide range of theories, from particle physics to strings and branes. But I still could not help feeling cheated in the end.

If you're a casual reader who just likes to to read up on concepts without getting too deep in the technical aspects of it, this book is not for you.

If you're a total newbie looking for your first book on the wild side of physics, I suggest anything by Stephen Hawkings. This book may turn you off the genre entirely.

If you're looking for something a bit more technical, but not quiet going into equations you might enjoy this book.

Personally I'd just recommend Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawkings. A superior book, by a far superior author.