Universe on a T-Shirt
The Quest for the Theory of Everything
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
No scientific quest is as compelling as the search for the key to understand the universe—the elusive unified “Theory of Everything”—a theory so concise it could fit on a T-shirt. Lively and thought-provoking, Universe on a T-Shirt tells the fascinating story of the search for the Holy Grail of physics.
Dan Falk places this intriguing story in its historical context, tracing the quest from ancient Greece to the breakthroughs of Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein, to the excitement over string theory and today’s efforts to merge quantum theory with general relativity. With as much emphasis on history as on science, Falk’s accessible approach is ideal for anyone intrigued by the advances in modern physics but still wondering what theoretical physicists are searching for, and why. Today’s physicists use sophisticated methods, but their goal—the search for simplicity—has not changed since the time of the ancient Greeks. Universe on a T-Shirt is filled with quirky personalities, brilliant minds, and bold ideas—high science and high drama.
"An admirably concise and comprehensive overview of cosmology . . . [that] offers intriguing insights into the philosophic and personal outlooks motivating the scientists involved, from the ancient Greeks through Newton and Einstein . . . [and] Stephen Hawking and Ed Witten.”—Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This volume begins with a quote from physicist Leon Lederman: "My ambition is to live to see all of physics reduced to a formula so elegant and simple that it will fit easily on the front of a T-shirt." Such a "Theory of Everything" is the holy grail of contemporary physics, and Falk, a widely published science writer and broadcaster, spends most of his book recounting the various stabs in that direction made by scientists over the past millennia. Beginning with Aristotelian physics, Falk races through the scientific revolution, general relativity and quantum mechanics, winding up with an exploration of the current best hope for unification, string theory. Falk's prose is familiar and clear, and the book hangs together well, with the exception of an unexpected detour into the philosophy of science in the last chapter. In particular, the author has a knack for popularizing modern physics though the narrative reaches back to the ancient Greeks, it's strongest once Falk attains the 20th century. The book as a whole offers an accessible, if cursory, overview of the history of physics (it's the kind of book that refers to atoms as "nature's Lego set" and has an occasional topical one-panel comic embedded in the text) and is a reasonable introduction to physics past and present for readers with little science background. B&w illus.
