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Brian Greene

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality (Allen Lane Science S.) Hardcover – 26 Feb. 2004

by Brian Greene (Author)

4.6 1,879 ratings

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We are living in what is often referred to as 'the golden age of cosmology'. The study of string theory has led in recent years to fast and furious progress being made towards the discovery of the long-searched-for Theory of Everything. If it comes,this theory will describe a universe very different from that which common sense suggests - a quantum universe in which time and space can be measured only relatively, and nothing is certain. In THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS, Brian Greene shows why, explains how far we have come, amd speculates on how far we still have to go.

Print length

592 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Allen Lane
Publication date

26 Feb. 2004
Dimensions

16.5 x 3.7 x 24 cm
ISBN-10

0713996773
ISBN-13

978-0713996777
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Amazon Review

Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos with its questions about the limits of space and time and the texture of reality certainly looks a bit daunting to the uninitiated. Cosmic ripples, 11 dimensions to the universe and string theory that is somehow connected to a "Theory of Everything" are all a bit alien if you never really got to grips with Newton, let alone Einstein. It might look very heavyweight, but Greene is an excellent communicator and what he's writing about is perhaps the greatest intellectual challenge we face.

There is no doubt that speculation about the nature of the heavens is very ancient. After centuries of thought "we still can only portray space and time as the most familiar of strangers". But enormous advances in understanding have been made especially over the last few decades. Whether we are high-flying city slickers or impoverished cattle-herders in the third world, speculation about space-time "takes on an almost mystical quality: we're considering the fate of the very things that dominate our sense of reality" according to Greene.

Over the last century we have become much better acquainted with previously hidden features of the Universe, especially thanks to Einstein. Greene summarises these as "the slowing of time, the relativity of simultaneity, alternative slicings of spacetime, gravity as the warpings and curving of space and time, the probabilistic nature of reality, and long range entanglement were not on the list of things that even the best of the world's nineteenth-century physicists would have expected to find just around the corner." And yet they are attested to by both experimental results and theoretical explanations. Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, is one of the foremost players in contemporary string theory and authored a bestselling book The Elegant Universe for which he won the Aventis Prize in 2000.

In The Fabric of the Cosmos Green avoids mathematical formulae, which can be an immediate turnoff for most general readers. Clearly he knows that visually we can deal with abstract and/or difficult concepts much better than when they are presented in words. Consequently, he uses a very clever selection of excellent and well designed illustrations to help get his ideas across. There is an excellent index, plenty of notes and suggestions for further reading, which will allow those more in the know to take matters further. And, there is a glossary for us ordinary mortals who need every now and again to check up on our understanding of things such as quarks, Higgs particles, braneworld scenario and M-theory. --Douglas Palmer

Review

'An astonishing ride. As a popularizer of exquisitely abstract science, he is both a skilled and kindly explicator' -- the New York Times

'I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It manages to be both challenging and entertaining: it is highly recommended' -- the Independent

'The Fabric of the Cosmos is a magnificent challenge to conventional ideas' -- Financial Times

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allen Lane; First Edition (26 Feb. 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0713996773
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0713996777
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.5 x 3.7 x 24 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,269,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 266 in Particle & High-Energy Physics
- 1,615 in Cosmology (Books)
- 3,913 in Astronomy (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.6 1,879 ratings

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Brian Greene

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Brian Greene received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and lives in New York City.

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Dr. H. A. Jones

A theory of (nearly) everything

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 4 February 2010

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The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, time and the texture of reality, by Brian Greene, Penguin, 2004, 592 ff.

A theory of (nearly) everything
By Howard A. Jones

Essentially, as the title indicates, this is a book about cosmology - the nature and origin of the universe. In order to do justice to his subject in this quite extensive book, and as the subtitle suggests, the author has covered a quite huge subject area. We have Newton's Laws and Einstein's Relativity Theory, and a discussion of the incompatibility of the latter in some respects with another edifice of twentieth century physics, Quantum Theory. Then we have Superstring Theory, which offers some hope of being able to bridge the theoretical divide. Greene makes much of the arrow of time and `the defining role it plays in everyday life and its intimate link with the origin of the universe' because `[n]othing in the equations of fundamental physics shows any sign of treating one direction in time differently from the other'.

We have come to rely on science as the foundation of truth and reality. However, the author notes that `[the] overarching lesson that has emerged from scientific enquiry over the last century is that human experience is often a misleading guide to the true nature of reality': which leaves room to admit the ideas of some philosophers like Locke and Kant about the real or noumenal essence of the material world and some spiritual notions of eastern mystics about the world as maya.

The laudatory reviews printed on the back cover of this book are entirely justified and should not be dismissed as publishers' hype. The book covers some of the same ground as Hawking's seminal work for the general reader, A Brief History of Time (some 200 pages in length), but Greene's is much more extensive in its coverage and probably easier for the reader not familiar with contemporary physics: though that is not say that this is gentle bedtime reading!

This book will certainly give the little grey cells a good workout but, even with a Master's degree in physics myself, I found it fascinating and informative. There's a five-page Glossary of some of the technical terms, over 40 pages of Notes, a couple of pages of suggested Further Reading, and a comprehensive Index.

Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
The Arrow of Time: The Quest to Solve Science's Greatest Mysteries (Flamingo)

2 people found this helpful

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Philip M

Thought-provoking and informative, Greene's ability to explain complex theory is unparalleled.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 24 May 2019

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I have many books explaining general relativity and string theory – none of which I actually finished. And none of which I actually understood! But Brian Greene’s book is a breath of fresh air. The Financial Times described it as “sending shivers down the spine” – and it did with me.

Greene has a unique ability to lead you by hand through the most complex, mind-bending and bizarre mysteries of our universe – gently and carefully coaxing you through unexpected layers of reality just beneath the surface of our everyday experiences. From dark matter to space warps, quantum mechanics and string wiggles through 11 dimensions, Greene is thought-provoking, highly informed and above all, completely grounded and witty.

Make no mistake; this is an extraordinarily complex subject which even particle physicists are still attempting to understand. So this is not going to be an easy read. But I actually finished it – and now at last I have a fair understanding of the theoretical physics of how space and time came to exist. You might consider reading Greene’s “The Elegant Universe” first - he simply is marvellously talented; these two books offer no better introduction to general relativity and quantum mechanics.

10 people found this helpful

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Normann Aaboe Nielsen

Be prepared to be challenged

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 April 2004

Verified Purchase

Overall impression: It is a challenge to read this book, especially if you are not completely up-to-date with your physics. Mind you, the challenge is sound and good - its not a bad experience, far from it!
It gives me a good feeling to read a book that is dealing with very complex matter but written by one of the "hot" scientists in the field. The book is complex because the science that it wants to detail for us is very complex - but the presentation is made available for the intelligent reader. It is very clear that the author really knows the stuff inside-out and he is generally very good in presenting it.
I have only a few complaints, where the most grave is this: The illustrations are horrible! It is clear that they have been prepared on a computer (with colors) and then reduced in size, and printed in grayscale. They are very difficult to comprehend because details drown in the bad rendering. The publisher should have advised against using colored backgrounds!
The second complaint has to do with the extensive footnote / backnote system. It really breaks the reading rythm to flip to the back of the book up to 30 times per chapter. I would suggest a better editing here, to reduce the flipping around. The damn thing is that the backnotes are really interresting and could easily be placed in the text.
Because of these two irritations I can only give the book 4 stars - it really demands 5, but the editing should have been better.

18 people found this helpful

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Michael C. Hall

Seamless Cloth...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 13 January 2011

Verified Purchase

Having finished "In Search Of Time" (D. Falk) and on the back of an increasing interest in all things Quantum, i challenged myself to tackle this on the back of Greene's reputation. I'm not scared to say that in order to get as much out of it as i could on the first read it took me a good few months, but it was time very well spent. You know it has had an impact when you find your idling moments considering key elements from the book, waiting at traffic lights and considering symmetry and such. That's a major goal achieved for a book like this i would have thought, to encourage people to challenge their thinking is a fantastic thing to achieve; in fact, it matters.

I have no physics background and found it consise, readable well structured and not at all as condesending as some books in this area may be. The fact that there is already 60 odd reviews for this book and i'm writing this should say to you that it's essential - actually, it would easily make my top ten favourite books of all time, without question. I took more away from this book than all my high school science classes combined.

5 people found this helpful

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