The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

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Vintage, 2000 - 447 pages
In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of 11 dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter -- from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas -- is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.

Greene uses everything from an amusement park ride to ants on a garden hose to illuminate the beautiful yet bizarre realities that modern physics is unveiling. Dazzling in its brilliance, unprecedented in its ability to both illuminate and entertain, The Elegant Universe is a tour de force of science writing -- a delightful, lucid voyage through modern physics that brings us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.

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About the author (2000)

Brian Greene was born on February 9, 1963 in New York City. After attending Stuyvesant High School, where he was a classmate of fellow physicist Lisa Randall. Brian Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to major in physics. He graduated with a bachelor's degree, and went on to earn his doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating in 1987. Greene joined the physics faculty of Cornell University in 1990, and was appointed to a full professorship in 1995. The following year, he joined the staff of Columbia University as a full professor; this remains his current position. At Columbia, Greene is co-director of the University's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP), and is leading a research program applying superstring theory to cosmological questions. He has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and a related PBS television special.

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