» Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe

Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Sketchy and somewhat out of date
Comment: I can only give this book a very lukewarm endorsement. My two complaints were that it is sketchy and somewhat out of date.

Sketchy --- By sketchy I mean that it does not explain anything in depth. This book just skims the surface of string theory and most of the subjects covered are discussed just superficially. This is not, in and of itself, a necessarily bad thing. In fact, for some audiences it is actually a desirable feature. High school students and those who just want a brief introduction to string theory and some aspects of modern physics may find this just what they want, but those who want a somewhat more in depth discussion will be disappointed. While superficial, the book does give an overviews of many subjects, namely: quantum mechanics, relativity theory, QED (and the difficulties with renormalization), the Standard Model (and its deficiencies) and cosmological features such as dark matter, dark energy, black holes and the big bang theory. There are also a lot of thumbnail biographies of people like Evariste Galois, Stephen Hawking and Vera Rubin scattered throughout the book.

The book is largely about superstring theory, but there is no clear distinction between this and string theory. (I think that the former refers to the fact that superstring theory incorporates supersymmetry into string theory, but this is never stated in this book.) There is a discussion of symmetry, but Noether's theorem (a major reason for considering symmetry) is never mentioned. In contrast to the obvious enthusiasm shown by the authors for superstring theory, it is not a theory ascribed to by the majority of physicists. While the authors do admit that there is no experimental verification for superstring theory, they neglect many other criticisms. For example, Lee Smolin (who is never referenced in this book) and others have pointed out that there are many, many, variations of string theory, but no way to determine which is the right one (or if any one of them is correct). The above-mentioned criticisms should not, however, be taken as a completely negative assessment of this book. As has been mentioned, a lot of material is covered, although in not as detailed or balanced a manner as I would have liked. You, however, may be looking for as less detailed treatment of and this would then be a good book for you. The style is breezy and informal and you can learn a lot from the time spent with this book.

Somewhat out of date --- The cover of the book states that it has been revised and updated, but it seems that it has only been updated to 1995. (There is another version of the book, with a slightly different sub-title which was published in 1998, so some of the following comments may not apply as much to this 1998 version.) Twelve years is a long time for a subject like string theory. The authors tout superstring theory as the most up to date idea, but it has now being supplanted by M theory. This need not be a problem if one is interested in superstring theory as of 1995 and if one takes some of the claims put forward by the authors with a grain if salt, but this is a problem if you want something more closely resembling the current view of particle physics. As a general rule I think that one should only spend time with modern physics books, prepared for a general audience, that were written within the last 5 years (at the outside). I wish that I had paid more attention to my own rule, but the revised and updated statement above the title of the book fooled me. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One man's view of higher dimensions
Comment: This volume takes you through Kaluza-Klein formalism and there is some math that must be understood for an insightful experience. Some of the material is dated, and Dr. Kaku's string theory has taken a beating in the scientific community of late.

However, this book is still one of the best introductions to the fifth dimension and the integration of time, electromagnetism, and gravitation.

There are books that are best described as mind candy; Dr. Kaku's works are a brain feast that will nourish your intellect and imagination for as long as your remain lucid.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very interesting and within reach of ordinary folks like me...
Comment: I really liked this book. It found it easier to understand (and less gee-whiz) than Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe (paperback and CD). Kaku and his co-writer presented a very clear description of what hyperspace would look like to four-dimensional creatures such as ourselves. (This was the first clear layman's description I have read.) I only wish I understood better the quantum mechanics that "vanquished" Newton's and Einstein's propositions about gravity in very small spaces; perhaps some drawings would have helped. In addition, perhaps a chart or diagram of basic sub-atomic particles would have helped.

Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the book. Thompson's co-writing makes it intelligible to lay persons such as myself. The one element that Kaku leaves out is whether string or superstring theory is "testable." In dimensions of the size of 10^-18 cm, perhaps we cannot really make testable predictions, as Greene asserts in his book and CD.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Books That Will Make You Think
Comment: This fascinating book will take you through the realm of cosmology, physics, and the world of mathematics. However, the book at times can be hard to understand because it uses very hard language and refers to several theories and scientist. It is necessary to have small background knowledge in physics and in many of the scientists and theories the book mentions. It mentions scientist such as Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, Hawkins, Newton, Maxwell, Feynman, Glashow, Nambu, and many more. The book mainly talks about the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics; however, it does mention several other theories too. It talks about Quantum Mechanics and Einstein's theories in detail; therefore, those theories are easy to follow. Nevertheless, once the book starts talking about all the theories that came in response to Quantum Mechanics and the Grand Unifying Theory the book becomes hard to follow. This book tells the history of how several theories have evolved and are being developed to create one theory that unites the four fundamental forces of the world. The four fundamental forces are electromagnetism, gravity, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force. All these forces are very different, however, with the Superstring Theory; all these forces will be unified. I recommend this book because it will change you perception of the universe all everything that is around us. It will baffle your mind with new ideas that seem to be science fiction, yet are somewhat true. This book is also a great book to learn the basis of the theory of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and many more astonishing theories that have shaped the way we view space, time, and the world.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book
Comment: This isn't Kaku's best book-its one of his earlier efforts and his writing skills have gotten quite a bit better since then. However I still recommend this book. At the time I read it, I was studying electrical engineering in college and one day I ran into a friend in the student union. He started talking about all this physics stuff he was reading and how it was blowing his mind. It was like he had been through a religious conversion. He promised to let me borrow the book and it was Kaku's Beyond Einstein. A very easy read, Kaku got me hooked on physics right away, exposing me to ideas like extra dimensions and grand unified theories of particle physics I had never heard of in my engineering studies. He follows the standard historical treatment, talking about Maxwell, Einstein and the development of quantum mechanics. While it is a bit "breezy", its thoroughly enjoyable reading filled with historical antecdotes and nice descriptions of Einsteins spacetime warps. Then after the big bang he heads into his favorite topic, talking about extra dimensions and string theory. I was so hooked by this I began buying up every pop physics book I could find and soon changed my major from electrical engineering to math/physics. After reading Kaku engineering actually seemed mundane. Anyway, like I said this isn't Kaku's best book because his writing style has matured and he writes a lot better now. But the book is a gem that I recommend to those interested in science.

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