The Elegant Universe
Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
by Brian Greene · first published 1999
65% recommend32% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Clear, accessible popular-science tour of string theory that first builds up special and general relativity and quantum mechanics; recommended for curious general readers new to modern physics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this refreshingly clear book, Brian Greene, a leading string theorist, relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind the search for the ultimate theory. String theory, as the author vividly describes, reveals a vision of the universe that is sending shock waves through the world of physics. Thrilling and revolutionary ideas such as new dimensions hidden within the fabric of space, black holes transmuting into elementary particles, rips and punctures in the space-time continuum, gigantic universes interchangeable with minuscule ones, and a wealth of others are playing a pivot
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…space/time -- in short, you're always moving in space and time, and the more you move in space, the less you move in time. Vice-versa. Brian Greene does a pretty good job of explaining all this in the Elegant Universe. If you're into this kind of thing, check it out.
on “Why nothing can go faster than the speed of light” ↗Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" does a very good, completely non-technical, job of explaining the conflict between the two theories. It then goes on to explain why String Theory is one possible solution to the problem.
on “Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy” ↗…William Gibson Zero History - William Gibson 11/22/63 - Stephen King The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss Non-fiction: Ghost in the Wires - Kevin Mitnick The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene The Trouble With Physics - Lee Smolin Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit The Lean Startup - Eric Ries Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne Built To Last - Jim Collins Business…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗Feynman QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter; Penrose The road to reality; Greene The elegant universe; Greene The fabric of cosmos; Greene The hidden reality; Hofstadter Gödel, Escher, Bach; Asimov Understanding Physics; Ivanov Easy as pi; Boyer a history of Mathematics; Robbins What…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗A Brief History of Time is the book by Stephen Hawking. It's really approachable and easy to read. I also liked The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. That was the first book I read where the author was able to explain both the standard model of physics and special and general relativity in ways that made sense to me.
on “The Oldest Galaxies in the Universe” ↗…found a good description or explanation of string theory for the layman. I look, but then I always run into Brian Greene What do you find lacking in Greene's description or explanation? I found "The Elegant Universe" pretty good.
on “The Admiral of the String Theory Wars (2015)” ↗Deutsch's The Fabric of Reality is cool. I prefer Greene's The Elegant Universe, though.
on “Reading list for those who love to learn” ↗…vibration mode of the string would potentially be encoded as the type of particle), or you can describe how the strings move through three dimensions. As for recommended reading, I liked Brian Green's The Elegant Universe.
on “Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram” ↗An excellent book that addresses this topic is The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene. You likely already knew it but consider this a reminder to actually read it if you haven't! It was bitrotting on…
on “The Reality of Quantum Weirdness” ↗I was please to see that the list contains the two science books I recommend to everyone. The Elegant Universe (1999) Brian Greene The Selfish Gene (1976) Richard Dawkins
on “Steven Weinberg: Science books for the general reader” ↗…but a fluid one, dependent upon the type of probe we use to measure distance, and how we count the states of the probe." [2] Brian Greene also explains why in an accessible way in the Chapter 10 of The Elegant Universe [3], which I recommend. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-duality [2] http://www.superstringtheory.com/basics/basic6a.html [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elegant_Universe
on “Study reveals substantial evidence of holographic universe” ↗Prior to reading Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe, I was unfamiliar with the details, but under the assumption that the string theory is sound. Greene is one of its chief popularizers (as well as a minor researcher), and writes with great clarity on…
on “In a numerical coincidence, some see evidence for string theory” ↗…Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg[3] Hyperspace - Michio Kaku[4] Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit[5] The Trouble With Physics - Lee Smolin[6] About Time - Paul Davies[7] Time Reborn - Lee Smolin[8] The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene[9] The Hidden Reality - Brian Greene[10] The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene[11] Quantum Space: Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe…
on “Ask HN: Recommended Books on Physics?” ↗…asking too much but I wonder what the world would look like if academic papers were actually fun to read. Brian Greene is probably considered a pariah around here but I really enjoyed reading his book The Elegant Universe.
on “Putting out the hardware dumpster fire” ↗…and general relativity, in a way similar to what I gave in the prior comment (much of mine was ripped off from this, with my contribution just the probably introduction of errors) is Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" [4]. I grabbed this when it was free on Amazon Prime Reading a few months ago, and just recently started it. I'm only about 15% of the way through, but it has been quite good so far. The relativity material…
on “Scientists use an atomic clock to measure the height of a mountain” ↗