The Elegant Universe

If you love to make your head hurt, this is the book for you. Total trip.

I love this book! I am somehow really curious about string theory but I am not sure which book I should start to read. I am glad this is the starting point for me to read about string theory. I do enjoy all of the analogies that Brian Greene uses, I know it is not really representing the real scenario, but for a non-physicist like me, it is already more than enough. However, the last 2 chapters before the epilogue were quite exhausting. My reading speed is significantly slower when I enter these chapters. But, it is a nice journey from Brian Greene. I will definitely read the other books from him.

Brian Greene is quick becoming one of my favorite non-fiction authors. I have followed his world science festival and read atleast one of his other books. He has a way of explaining complex and confusing ideas that make these concepts easier at least to understand on a more basic level.

The elegant universe goes over the history of string theory and its relationship to Einstein theory of relativity and how physicist have sought to overcome the apparent contradictory nature of classical physics with quantum physics.

I really liked his explanation of the speed of light for example being a constant and not limited by relative motion or apparent velocities of the observer.

In addition to that I now have a better understanding of how the sub-sub atomic world works with multidimensional cosmic strings of vibrating energy works

However I did give 3 stars for 2 reasons really and in the end maybe not related to Greene himself. Some of the concepts and ideas he was trying to express were difficult to understand and did come across a bit dry. However the reality is that the subject matter involved is not simple and even physicist have said they don't understand it lol.

Greene also states there is no smaller fundamental element of matter than these strings but the same thing was said about atoms and particles at one point as well so I don't know how he can say that with surety

Overall however another great read by Brian Greene who has proven himself to be an effective science educator with unique effective and relatable wa of explaining complicated and difficult to understand concepts. I look forward to reading more from him

Short Review: The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene - I think that this is a good book for people with a science background. My science back ground is poor and while the writing is good it is still over my head. I got through about 60 percent and by that time I was understanding less and less because I hadn't understood the earlier parts well enough. It seems well written.

My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-elegant-universe/