- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: National Academy Press (Trade); 1 edition (Jan 29 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0309084075
- ISBN-13: 978-0309084079
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 640 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #447,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The universe, as physicists have come to know it, is a very strange place, filled with particles known as quarks. Space itself, physicists have come to understand, is curved, and there may well be more than the three spatial and one temporal dimensions we have become accustomed to. Making sense of these fascinating but complex ideas for the general reader is a difficult task, one that science journalist Siegfried (The Bit and the Pendulum) accomplishes deftly, with wit and insight. Siegfried attempts to provide answers to the two basic questions that absorb physicists today: "What is the universe made of?" and "How does the universe work?" Although his answers, like those of the physicists he writes about, are tentative and contingent on the next major discovery, Siegfried brings clarity and a great deal of enthusiasm to the search for understanding. He does a superb job of explaining how mathematical advances have led to an amazing array of "prediscoveries," from the existence of antimatter to the concept of an expanding universe. He also looks to the future and outlines numerous weird possibilities, from minuscule superstrings to parallel universes. Along the way, he presents a thoroughly engaging, if just a bit eclectic, history of physics. Siegfried has turned a difficult subject into a book that is difficult to put down.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Siegfried's title is a pun of sorts, referring both to strange matter, i.e., matter composed of up, down, and strange quarks as opposed to normal matter, composed of only up and down quarks, and perhaps also to some of the most recent nonstandard proposals of theoretical physicists and cosmologists. These include supersymmetry, string theory, various suggestions concerning the nature of the dark matter that seems to permeate the universe (and is hypothesized to explain gravitational forces), and multiplicities of dimensions going beyond the familiar three for space and one for time. Siegfried is a science journalist who has obviously devoted much time and thoughtful attention to discussions with the leading researchers in these esoteric areas. Without using mathematics, he has produced a very readable study that should give intelligent lay readers a good idea of what theorists are up to and why they are venturing into this remarkably challenging terrain. Recommended for college and large public libraries. Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
AS THE SECOND millennium of the Christian era ended, many people feared that the world would, too. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
AS THE SECOND millennium of the Christian era ended, many people feared that the world would, too. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, misleadingly tame, and cheesy,
By J A W (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontiers of Space and Time (Paperback)
I'm fascinated by the peripherals of science--dark matter, black holes, string theory--so in theory I should love a book like this. In theory.The universe is strange (thanks mostly to Quantum Mechanics). The title of this book implies an analysis of how strange the universe can be in the borderlands of science. However, if you want a book about how strange the universe *isn't*, than this book is for you. The title is betrayed by the tame speculations and interpretations of concepts that are better outlined in entry-level astronomy textbooks (like WIMPs and black holes). Siegfried's conclusions emphasize how unified and harmonic the universe is, how in sync the universe is w/ our math. That's fine, that's reasonable, it's also bait and switch. If you want an unprovocative book, get this. I expected a cutting-edge, substantive analysis of the "strange matters" out there, like dark matter, "cosmic fluid", string theory--an analysis that is unafraid to balance what we do know w/ what is possible. What I got was science for Victorian tea-sippers, biographies of the likes of Einstein (that's all fine and good...for books about EINSTEIN, this is a book about STRANGE MATTERS), and groaningly lame cultural references (that are allegedly, jokes). Behold, the first popular science book that has a footnote on Nancy Kerrigan! I really wanted an indepth and comprehensive analysis of dark matter, I didn't get it. Also, I found Siegfried's writing uninspired and confusing, and I'm someone who has a basic understanding of the material. I don't know how much use it would be to someone who has just heard of the photoelectric effect and gluons. Of course, the bad jokes make you want to skip a couple of paragraphs and you get lost. I'd recommend "Borderlands of Science" by Sheffield instead as the text that fullfills the promise of "Strange Matters" title and subtitle. Also the works of Greene and Gribbin for string theory and black holes. "The Universe Next Door" by Chown, a book I haven't read, also looks promising. Skip this unless you've had a serious deficit of Nancy Kerrigan references in your life.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The strange and the stranger,
By
This review is from: Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontier of Space& Time (Hardcover)
Siegfried not only manages to make some very strange theories (like dark matter, superstrings, etc.) reasonably intelligible but also gives us an understanding of the kind of people who develop them. He also tackles some interesting questions, e.g. how can a set of equations (such as Maxwell's) turn out to yield more information than the writer put into them? How do pre-discoveries occur?The book can be tough going at times but always interesting. A personal note: many times when researchers are contending about esoterica, I found myself asking: so what? What difference do any of these issues make to people outside the field? Why should we care whether there are superstrings or not?
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontier of Space& Time (Hardcover)
Tom Siegfried really knows how to explain things. Parallel universes, superstrings, anti-matter--what the &$%! are all these things??? I admit at times I've always wondered whether the physicists are making it all up, it all sounds so odd. Siegfried, however, presents all these concepts lucidly, with flair and wit as a bonus. It is, indeed, a strange, strange world that we live in.
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