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Title details for The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene - Wait list

The Fabric of the Cosmos

Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

by Brian Greene
Michael Prichard
Audiobook
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From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.
Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past?
Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science’s new and deeper understanding of the universe. From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe. Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that “time’s arrow” is a relic of the universe’s condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional “multiverse,” pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities.
Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.
With 146 illustrations
Jacket photograph by DB Image/Brand X Pictures

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 12, 2003

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739353271
      • File size: 655165 KB
      • Duration: 22:44:55

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Religion and science agree on one thing: Beyond our perception lies a world very different from our own. This book, says Brian Greene, is about "the men and women of science, who have peeled back layer after layer of the cosmic onion, enigma by enigma, and revealed a universe that is at once surprising, unfamiliar, exciting, elegant, and thoroughly unlike what anyone ever expected." Filled with details about what reality looks like to current physicists (and how they arrived at their conclusions), this book talks about high concepts in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. Michael Prichard lends a comfortable, authoritative voice to the fascinating topic. S.D. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Stephen Hawking may be the more renowned scientist, but when it comes to explaining cutting-edge physics to the lay reader, he comes second to Brian Greene. This recording introduces superstring theory, an attempt to solve one of science's most perplexing problems: how to reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics. Not only is Greene a superb stylist who introduces these concepts without jargon or mathematics, he also has a grab bag of imaginative analogies for ideas that are impossible to visualize--such as the extra spatial dimensions that superstring theory requires. Erik Davies may not be a physicist, but he's entirely comfortable with the material, and he delivers it at just the right pace. Most importantly, he feeds on Greene's enthusiasm and passes it along to the listener. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 9, 2004
      String theory is a recent development in physics that, by positing that all which exists is composed of infinitesimally small vibrating loops of energy, seeks to unify Einstein's theories and those of quantum mechanics into a so-called "theory of everything." In 1999, Greene, one of the world's leading physicists, published The Elegant Universe
      (Norton), a popular presentation of string theory that became a major bestseller and, last fall, a highly rated PBS/Nova series. The strength of the book resided in Greene's unparalleled (among contemporary science writers) ability to translate higher mathematics (the language of physics) and its findings into everyday language and images, through adept use of metaphor and analogy, and crisp, witty prose. The same virtues adhere to this new book, which offers a lively view of human understanding of space and time, an understanding of which string theory is an as-yet unproven advance. To do this, Greene takes a roughly chronological approach, beginning with Newton, moving through Einstein and quantum physics, and on to string theory and its hypotheses (that there are 11 dimensions, ten of space and one of time; that there may be an abundance of parallel universes; that time travel may be possible, and so on) and imminent experiments that may test some of its tenets. None of this is easy reading, mostly because the concepts are tough to grasp and Greene never seems to compromise on accuracy. Eighty-five line drawings ease the task, however, as does Greene's felicitous narration; most importantly, though, Greene not only makes concepts clear but explains why they matter. He opens the book with a discussion of Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus
      , setting a humanistic tone that he sustains throughout. This is popular science writing of the highest order, with copious endnotes that, unlike the text, include some math. (Feb. 16)

      Forecast:
      With a first printing of 125,000, Knopf clearly hopes this title, a main selection of BOMC, will at least match the sales
      of The Elegant Universe. Greene, a charismatic speaker, is going all out for the book, with a 14-city author tour and much major media, including an appearance on
      Letterman. Simultaneous Random House Audio editions will extend the book's reach: expect high interest and big sales.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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