The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
Book Review: Excellent primer on developments in physics
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want one book that spans most of current leading edge thinking in physics and cosmology written in an elegant and accessible style this is it. The other thing I liked about this book is the parallels with eastern mysticism and the concept of the limitations our sensory experiences may im pose on our capacity to understand the world around us.Book Review: Excellent.
Summary: 5 Stars
I first got interested in quantum mechanics a few years ago after seeing Brian Greene's THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE on NOVA. I read the book as soon as I could get my hands on it, and was absolutely fascinated.
I am not a scientific person (I was an English major in college), but I was profoundly intrigued by the topics covered in ELEGANT UNVIERSE. It was rare that I would turn a page without encountering another mind-expanding, breath-taking concept. Whether or not they liked it, my friends were also getting a crash course on quantum mechincs. "One more interesting thing I read in that physics book..." I probably said on a daily basis.
When I heard Brian Greene was publishing another book, I was very excited. FABRIC OF THE COSMOS proved to be another great book for those interested in learning more about the mind-bending concepts of quantum physics, who might not have the academic background to understand it all in the language of math.
FABRIC has a slightly narrower, less survery-style scope than UNIVERSE did, but I think both books will ultimately appeal to a rather large audience. Greene focuses here on the intimate nature of time, matter, and what can be considered real.
FABRIC is a great follow-up to Greene's earlier book, but I would suggest interested readers start with the THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE and then move on to FABRIC.
Book Review: Exceptional Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I just sat down to write a glowing review of Brian Greene's new book, and was frankly shocked to see the few, but inaccurate, reviews among the many positive ones.
I am a high school science teacher and, among other books, have been using Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe in class for a few years, so I know it extremely well (the students love it--the book has even inspired a couple of our students to study physics in college). I just devoured The Fabric of the Cosmos, so I now know it well too. It is a fresh, original, highly creative presentation of a tremendous amount of material, most of which is not covered in The Elegant Universe. To say otherwise is wrong. The retired physics professor who sent in a review a few days ago said it really well: in this book, Brian Green tackles the "big" and most puzzling discoveries that were not part of his first book.
For example, I've been searching for years for an understandable and complete explanation of the Einstein-Rosen-Podolski effect (if you don't know what this is, you are in for a treat when you read the book). The Fabric of the Cosmos finally gives one. I've read many attempts in previous books (and articles too), but no explanation I've ever read comes anywhere near the clarity and fullness of the one given in The Fabric of the Cosmos. After years of people trying to explain this effect in layman's terms, this book finally succeeds.
The chapters that talk about whether time flows and why it has a direction, whether space and time should be thought of as physical substances, and experiments on quantum time, are equally lucid and entertaining, as are the chapters on recent advances in cosmology, Superstring theory, teleportation, and even the charming discussion of speculations on time travel. (None of this was in The Elegant Universe. I know this for a fact, having read The Elegant Universe with my class every year for three straight years.)
In summary, this is a true marvel of science explication. I am now adding it to readings for my class. I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Extensive explaination of cosmology but too intricate for leisure reading
Summary: 4 Stars
The Fabric of the Cosmos (TFOTC) is one of the most complex non-fiction general reading books you could obtain. It is nearly 500 pages of heady cosmology. Brian Greene, a superstring expert, is able to take an extremely difficult topic and make it less difficult to come to terms with, but this should not be confused with making cosmology simple for everybody. Even those familiar with cosmology might require more than several readings to get the material.
TFOTC is about the microscopic even though the title suggests that we will be mostly looking through a telescope, it is predominantly looking through a microscope. It is important to note though that TFOTC is not a book that is entirely devoted to string theory. If you want a book about string theory then Greene's previous work, The Elegant Universe, is the book you want to read. Three quarters of this book is about spacetime and relativity. The final quarter is about string theory in terms of relativity, the big bang and inflation.
Part 1 Reality's Arena, deals with space and time in terms of classical physics, quantum mechanics, cosmology, spinning buckets of water, Isaac Newton, Ernst Mach, Gottfried Leibniz, relativity and the absolute, special relativity, general relativity, spacetime, quantum laws, probability waves, interference patterns, particle spin, the double slit experiment, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen.
Part 2 Time and Experience, treats the topics of the flow of time, simultaneousness, the arrow of time, time-reversal symmetry, entropy, the delayed choice quantum eraser experiment and decoherence.
Part 3 Spacetime and Cosmology, delves into the history of the universe, symmetry, cosmic evolution, stretching spacetime, Higgs boson, the grand unification, the Big Bang, inflation, dark energy, the cosmological constant, the formation of galaxies and the origin of time.
Part 4 Origins and Unification discusses string theory, Planck length, Planck time, Branes, M-theory, Edward Witten, Paul Dirac, gravity, extra dimensions and cyclic cosmology.
Part 5: Reality and Imagination looks at space and time travel and comes up with a number of ideas about how time travel could be achieved (although the author thinks it highly unlikely). Teleporters and Time Machines are also described but the author presents more problems than resolutions with these topics. There is a good discussion of worm holes.
This type of book being so all inclusive is hard to come by and in that respect you can't help but appreciate how much Brian Greene knows and has committed to the page. It truly is an impressive book on cosmology.
There is surprisingly little about black holes (probably because Stephen Hawking already does it so well) but Greene's work covers a lot more on entropy, relativity, inflation theory and gravity. If it is entropy, relativity, gravity and inflation theory you want to learn about then TFOTC is where it is at. Many readers will find that it would probably be much better to start with TFOTC and then move onto The Elegant Universe, even though The Elegant Universe was written before this book. Both books can be read stand alone although there is some cross-referencing.
TFOTC has a huge number of footnotes. I found myself keeping two page markers and constantly flipping back and forth between the two. Sometimes this breaks the flow and other times it reveals something more but a lot of it is for the `mathematically inclined reader'. Greene's examples are hit or miss, but most are well presented. Sometimes his examples (usually involving Simpson characters or Mulder and Scully from the X files) are some of the best for any book of its kind (such as the relativity examples) but occasionally they fall short (such as the important inflation examples). Still though, it is hard to find anything else that even attempts to explain these topics in laymen's terms. The book also covers a considerable number of apparent paradoxes and this means that you may find yourself going back several steps in order to make one step forward. This is just the nature of the topic though and the author can hardly be held to fault.
If you know that this book does make you work then there is a good possibility you will read it through to the end. If you are expecting cosmology made so simple a child could get it, you are misleading yourself. There is really no such thing as cosmology for the layman and TFOTC is far from easy. Several readings may even be warranted but that makes it all the more reason to own. You know that one day you will go back to it again and certainly as a reference you will find no better source to give you an idea of where cosmology stands at the start of the 21st century and what is on the horizon.
Book Review: Fabric Of The Cosmos
Summary: 5 Stars
Great read, some parts you'll cover twice. Its great for those of us who are tired of discussing politics and sports. Pick it up.