false 132695 5 It's difficult, writes Lee Smolin in this lucid overview of modern physics, to talk meaningfully about the big questions of space and time, given the limitations of our technology and perceptions.<p> It's more difficult still given some of the contradictions and inconsistencies that obtain between quantum theory, which "was invented to explain why atoms are stable and do not instantly fall apart" but has little to say about space and time, and general relatively theory, which has everything to say about the big picture but tends to collapse when describing the behavior of atoms and their even smaller constituents. Whence the hero of Smolin's tale, the as-yet-incomplete quantum theory of gravity, which seeks to unify relativity and quantum theory--and, in the bargain, to move toward a "grand theory of everything." Smolin ably explains concepts that underlie quantum gravity, such as background independence, the superposition principle, and the notion of causal structure, and he traces the development of allied theories that have shaped modern physics and led to this new view of the universe.<p> Although he allows that "it has not been possible to test any of our new theories of quantum gravity experimentally," Smolin predicts that a solid framework will be established by 2015 at the outside. If he's correct, the years in between promise to be an exciting time for students of the physical sciences, and Smolin's book makes an engaging introduction to some of the big questions they'll be asking. <I>--Gregory McNamee</I> 1031152 2000 Three Roads to Quantum Gravity total:93|5:23|4:32|3:31|2:6|1:1| 93 349 149 16 2 0 false false Fri Oct 16 18:38:22 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 19:36:27 -0700 2009 http://homepages.ecs.vuw.ac.nz/~visser/S...

This book isn't too bad but I don't think I retain much. the feline analogy and cosmological evolution are cute ideas, and the black hole stuff is fascinating. but much of it is extremel...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Jul 06 06:59:21 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 07:03:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 07:46:11 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 07:00:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 19 14:33:57 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 16 22:41:02 -0800 2009 The Trouble with Physics was a fatherly introduction to the current state of the edges of theoretical physics and I was hooked. Needless to see, I w...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 03 11:50:42 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 23:49:19 -0700 2007
"...the first principle of cosmology must be 'There is nothing outside the universe' . . . Th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 13 17:41:20 -0700 2007 Fri May 02 14:52:20 -0700 2008
"The Holy Grail of modern physics is the theory of 'quantum gravity'. It is a search for a view of the Universe that unites two seemingly opposed pillars of modern science..." et ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 10:26:03 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 03:27:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 01 09:35:09 -0800 2008 Thu May 07 14:42:19 -0700 2009 1
When he wrote this b...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 12 13:22:16 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 21:24:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 12 10:03:29 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 12 05:19:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 01:07:46 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 15:15:06 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Sep 14 23:59:55 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 15 00:08:01 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jul 31 09:15:18 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 09:15:18 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Tue Feb 12 19:37:22 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 19:38:36 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sat Aug 18 08:47:33 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 18 14:26:17 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 14 09:54:55 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 09:56:11 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sun Nov 15 08:53:33 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 08:53:33 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 13 12:21:48 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 12:21:48 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 09:55:33 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 09:55:33 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 21 23:21:40 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 23:21:40 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=132695