The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

A new edition of the New York Times bestsellernow a threepart Nova special: a fascinating and thoughtprovoking journey through the mysteries of space, time, and matter. Now with a new preface (not in any other edition) that will review the enormous public reception of the relatively obscure string theorymade possible by this book and an increased number of adherents amongst physicistsThe Elegant Universe sets a standard that will be hard to beat (New York Times Book Review). Brian Greene, one of the worlds 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 matterfrom the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovasis 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 centuryold antagonism between the large and the smallGeneral Relativity and Quantum Theoryis 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 twentiethcentury 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.