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Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?
 
 
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Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? [Paperback]

P. C. W. Davies (Editor), Julian Brown (Editor)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Geared to the layperson, a clear, concise, non-mathematical explanation of the "Theory of Everything" and its profound implications is followed by transcripts of interviews with most of the physicists involved in its development.

Book Description

Geared to the layperson, a clear, concise, non-mathematical explanation of the "Theory of Everything" and its profound implications is followed by transcripts of interviews with most of the physicists involved in its development.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
String theory has a very bizarre history. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Unsatisfying, Jan 9 2003
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This review is from: Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (Paperback)
Following the introduction, each chapter is an interview with a string-theory advocate (and non-advocate: Feynman) recorded for the BBC in 1987. If Davies actually did the interviews, he plays the role of interested layman well.

But there is a limit to what you can do in words to convey mathematical ideas. A book on physics with no mathematics at all CAN work if the subject treatment is broad rather than deep, and good metaphors employed. By contrast, the focus of this book is narrow and shallow. There is no mathematics, and not too many metaphors to help us bridge the gap. Plus, on occasion, the interviewees sound pompous and patronizing. A major part of the problem seems to be that the interviews are mostly statements of personal position on the nature of strings, and personal role in their development, rather than an attempt to educate. Anyhow, I was left hungry and disappointed that I had not learned more.

I recommend the introduction (70-pages - presumably by Davies). It is a very well written and educative layman's survey of modern physics leading up to strings. The book may be worth buying just for that.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting observation about "dimensions", April 21 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (Paperback)
This book's suggestion (briefly mentioned) that each "force" can also be considered a "dimension" is possibly the key to alien/UFO abductions -- aliens are using the different forces (electromagnetism, gravity etc) as routes for their travel throughout the universe. That explains how they have conquered the distance/time problems that we humans see with space travel, since we are still fundamentally functioning in the same four dimensions (length, width, depth and time) in which we have traditionally operated. Additional dimensions obviously don't have the same constraints as the original four, allowing relatively easy travel across what we would call billions of miles of space. I tried to convey this information to Whitley Strieber, author of "Communion," about alien abduction, but was unsuccessful. Alien encounters are not dreams or hallucinations. They are real, and the aliens are using Superstring theory for their travels.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars High standard radio program., Sep 30 2002
By 
Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (Paperback)
BBC program consisting of interviews with well known physicists about 'superstrings'.
This book contains a very good introduction of the quantum theory and of supersymmetry/superstrings for the layman.
Most of the interviewed (John Schwarz, Edward Witten, Michael Green, David Gross, John Ellis, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg) agree with the theory of superstrings, mainly because it is the only theory that could solve certain mathematical problems (infinities), without violating the laws of quantum mechanics and gravity.
Two disagree (Sheldon Glashow and Richard Feynman), mainly because the existence of strings in nature can not be tested.
For the moment (see among others, 'The elegant universe' by Brian Greene) it seems that superstrings is the only way to get forward in the search for a 'theory' of everything.
Not to be missed. Congratulations to the BBC.
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