- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; illustrated edition edition (23 July 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 047146595X
- ISBN-13: 978-0471465959
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.4 x 2.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 936,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
“…remarkably accessible….” (Sky & Telescope, February 2005)
“Halpern dug out some historical details that other writers miss and this helps make the string picture more complete” (Focus, December 2004)
Many physicists are continuing to work toward the fabled goal of a “theory of everything.” A successful theory would unify the four known physical forces – gravity, electromagnetism, and the nuclear strong and weak forces – and case some light upon newly discovered cosmological phenomena and puzzles. Quite a few theoreticians are attempting to use postulated extra dimensions to come up with a workable product; fantastic as it may seem, a universe containing ten or 11 dimensions offers considerable promise. Halpern (physics & mathematics, Univ. of the Sciences, Philadelphia) takes a historical approach to examining the advancement of multidimensional theory. Kaluza, Klein, Einstein, and many other contributors over the past 100 years are discussed, and their work is described at a level appropriate for a general audience. Only Halpern’s terminology and the pace of the discussion in the last few chapters will challenge nonspecialists. Recommended for academic and large public libraries. – Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI (Library Journal, July 2004)
Ever since Plato first told his students the allegory of the cave, people have wondered whether dimensions exist beyond the three we immediately perceive. An extra dimension—time—played a role in Einstein’s work, although he saw it only as a necessary evil to get his equations to work. Other scientists were more receptive: mathematical physicists Oskar Klein and Theodor Kaluza made higher dimensions an integral part of their attempts to discover a “theory of everything” that would tie together strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism and gravity. Halpern explains that over the past century gravity has been the shadow flickering on the walls of the cave hinting at other realms. Why is it so weak compared with electromagnetism? With string theory, and its successor, M–theory, physicists speculate that gravity “leaks” back and forth between our reality, an 11–dimensional “brane” (or membrane) and other branes, perhaps as close as a millimeter away. Halpern masterfully creates word pictures to illustrate mind–bending scientific theories, and he paints highly detailed sketches of the scientists involved—sometimes too detailed, leading readers to lose the thread of the narrative. Science buffs won’t find much new here, but for average readers, this is an accessible account of the search for what lies behind our dim perception of reality. B&w photos. Agent, Giles Anderson. (July 16) (Publishers Weekly, June 7, 2004)
“…remarkably accessible….” (Sky & Telescope, February 2005)
“Halpern dug out some historical details that other writers miss and this helps make the string picture more complete” (Focus, December 2004)
Review
"A marvellous book––very clear, very readable. A brilliant introduction to the math and physics of higher dimensions, from Flatland to superstrings. Its greatest strength is a wealth of fascinating historical narrative and anecdote. I enjoyed it enormously." —Ian Stewart, author of Flatterland
"A remarkable journey from Plato′s cave to the farthest reaches of human thought and scientific knowledge. This mind–boggling book allows readers to dream strange visions of hyperspace, chase light waves, explore Klein′s quantum odyssey and Kaluza′s cocoon, leap through parallel universes, and grasp the very essence of conscience and cosmos. Buy this book and feed your head." —Cliff Pickover, author of Surfing Through Hyperspace
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Is the cosmos just a shadow play? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Is the cosmos just a shadow play? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is more, much more, than the usual treatment of relativity, Kaluza-Klein theory, Yang-Mills and hyperspace that one finds in mass-market publications. It does not assume previous knowledge of these subjects, so the reader is introduced to them in a logical, understandable manner. But the physics itself is only part of what makes this book special.
What Paul Halpern does so well is create a thoughtful, flowing, compelling, easily-digested history of dreams -the dreams of real people with incredible scientific abilities, but also suffering the same human frailties and fateful circumstances as the rest of us. Brilliant theoreticians have had to create original, transcending scientific advancement under conditions that most people would find daunting, from the 1930s, when famous German universities with rich mathematical traditions were decimated overnight, to Islamist Iran which caused at least one future physicist to begin his escape to Canada on horseback.
Physicists have had to contend with all kinds of obstacles in the quest for a Theory of Everything (as Einstein termed it), not least of which were their own internal disagreements that were sometimes based on rather capricious criteria. Einstein, rather famously, was known for dismissing quantum theory on the grounds that God does not play dice, but in his later years he went beyond that, apparently trying to place himself in God's position to decide which direction to pursue. Pretty amazing stuff.
It's not all serious. There are some laughs here as well, such as Klein and Ehrenfest trading messages in Jocular Physics (reflecting the political times) and a supersymmetrical goof on the song "Macarena" (complete with lyrics).
Today, eleven dimensional M-theory is the standard. The book includes a splendid explanation of what this is and how it was derived. Care is taken to clarify difficult concepts, diagrams are offered, and research is neatly summarized. One is struck by how closely the author is plugged in to the current physics community and the breadth of his experience in multiple theoretical pursuits.
For me, the best aspect of the book is the original research that went into it. Dr. Halpern personally interviewed John Wheeler, Peter Bergmann, Stanley Deser, and others intimately connected (or related) to the icons of twentieth-century physics. He not only researched Einstein's letters and papers but tells us what they say about the character of the man and the meaning of his efforts. You are not only reading about the essential structure of the universe but also gaining valuable insight into human perspective and ambition. A great job by a great author.
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The title and subtitle of the book do not indicate the real subject: this is about the history of the different theories which have lead to todayâs theories about supersymmetry, p-branes and indeed parallel universes. The theories itself are explained, but not much in detail.
Most part of the book tells about the people behind the theories, who they were or are, and what exactly they discovered. In this way, we get a good overview of all theories, successful or not, and how they lead to the current thinking.
The book succeeds in putting all (well, most of them, I suppose) theories in their own place in time, and explains also why some theories had a following and why others did not succeed. The author put much emphasis on the approach of using higher dimensions, and why the scientist used those higher dimensions or sometimes completely strayed away from them. In the end, it is a rather good overview of the different theories, and because of the fact that a timeline is followed, it gives you the feeling that indeed theories sometime just follow from other theories.
As said, the author talks a lot about the people behind the theories. Sometimes this allows for funny anecdotes, but it gets a bit tedious: all scientists are born out of parents, have lived somewhere and studies somewhere else, got married (and eventually divorced), but this is too biographical to really learn something about them. Also, the book gets overloaded with names (I estimated about 400 different names used on less than 300 pages), instead of focusing on the science issues.
As a consequence, you will not find detailed explanations about the theories, or many examples. I see the book thus as a good additional read, but you have to know already something about the search for a âtheory of everythingâ, before you should start reading this book.
Most part of the book tells about the people behind the theories, who they were or are, and what exactly they discovered. In this way, we get a good overview of all theories, successful or not, and how they lead to the current thinking.
The book succeeds in putting all (well, most of them, I suppose) theories in their own place in time, and explains also why some theories had a following and why others did not succeed. The author put much emphasis on the approach of using higher dimensions, and why the scientist used those higher dimensions or sometimes completely strayed away from them. In the end, it is a rather good overview of the different theories, and because of the fact that a timeline is followed, it gives you the feeling that indeed theories sometime just follow from other theories.
As said, the author talks a lot about the people behind the theories. Sometimes this allows for funny anecdotes, but it gets a bit tedious: all scientists are born out of parents, have lived somewhere and studies somewhere else, got married (and eventually divorced), but this is too biographical to really learn something about them. Also, the book gets overloaded with names (I estimated about 400 different names used on less than 300 pages), instead of focusing on the science issues.
As a consequence, you will not find detailed explanations about the theories, or many examples. I see the book thus as a good additional read, but you have to know already something about the search for a âtheory of everythingâ, before you should start reading this book.
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