The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

Sep 24, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, 2012, particularly-drunk-reviews

So my buddy Ryan introduced me and Jo to his new girlfriend this past weekend and she's a mathematician (who is clearly not very good at it, because Ryan with a girlfriend doesn't add up - ZING!), so I was like "Do you think we're all simulations in a big futuristic game of The Sims?" and her face just lit up, like "I've been waiting for someone to ask me this all my life!" She is adorable, and we geeked out about parallel universes for like half an hour while Ryan and Jo made big exaggerated si...more So my buddy Ryan introduced me and Jo to his new girlfriend this past weekend and she's a mathematician (who is clearly not very good at it, because Ryan with a girlfriend doesn't add up - ZING!), so I was like "Do you think we're all simulations in a big futuristic game of The Sims?" and her face just lit up, like "I've been waiting for someone to ask me this all my life!" She is adorable, and we geeked out about parallel universes for like half an hour while Ryan and Jo made big exaggerated sighing noises. "Hey, just let us know when you want to talk about something that's not the nerdiest bullshit ever." "Okay, that will be never because we're best friends now." I said that. Ryan's girlfriend probably thinks I'm just okay.

And that's why this is a great book: because it's wicked fun to talk about all this shit. Whee, multiverse! says my avatar. You ever hear that theory that once computers get to the same complexity as human brains, they'll sortof automatically develop consciousness? Scientists think that because otherwise there's something we totally don't get about consciousness, and who needs that? Lame. So here's the thinking: if that's true, then we'll probably have it by around 2020. And once we have artificial intelligence, what are we going to do with it? Put it in video games, obviously. We know this because we are people, and that's the kind of shit people do. So we're going to have these virtual worlds, just like The Sims except the people in it will actually be aware, and we'll all play these virtual world games on our Playstations. And that means there'll be like thousands of virtual worlds with conscious inventions in them interacting with each other. And that means that only one of all the worlds featuring conscious beings is the real one; the rest are video games. And that means that odds are the world you're reading this in isn't the real one. Just statistically, it's more likely that you're a collection of sprites that some pimply teenager created near-arbitrary rules for.

That's nuts, right? Crazy nuts! Batty! Among other things, it means that there's a God after all, because whatever pimply teenager is playing this particular game that I'm in can delete this game whenever he wants, or make an asteroid hit Brazil, or make Kate Middleton show her boobs. For most intents and purposes, that is God.

Also, it raises this question: is Pimply God doing a good job? Is this particular world a good one? Or is he an asshole? If all the sim worlds were ranked from most pleasant to least, where would this one fall? If you set a bunch of AIs up in a fairly nice place, will they probably fight? Is there like an Aggression Slider so you can make us more or less likely to fight? What would this world be like if Pimply God was deep in the throes of puberty? Or is this it?

Ryan's girlfriend thinks we are most likely virtual - seriously, serious people think this whole thing makes perfect sense - but I think I lost her with the puberty bit.

This is the craziest and last theory in Hidden Reality. There are eight others, and they're not mutually exclusive. The least crazy theory is that space is infinite, and infinite is a lot, so somewhere beyond what we can ever see, given the speed of light, there will be a world just like ours, and infinite worlds just like ours, because infinite means everything, including a world where everything happens and will happen exactly like it has and will in this world you're in now with the sole exception that, instead of reading this review, you personally decided to make a sandwich.

Infinite is a lot.

Everything in Hidden Reality is theoretical, so there's no pressing reason for you to read this book. (Or any of the rest of the books, while we're on the subject. Pimply God read Shakespeare and was like "Ha, that's cool - it rhymes and everything, sometimes! I mean, it's terrible compared to real-life literature, but not bad for artificial intelligence.") But whee, multiverse! Four stars, says my avatar, as Pimply God happens to narrow his focus on my apartment just to see what's going on near Boston and says "That sim there just called me pimply! Here's a random asteroid, how ya like me n(less)

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Jan 23, 2012 R.L. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, cosmology, non-fiction, kindle

This is a pretty dense book. Some of the footnotes have footnotes!

I'm sure it must be very difficult for an author of a popular science book to walk the line between, on the one hand, providing enough technical information to make the arguments cogent, and on the other, miring the reader in a bog of difficult concepts and facts. My hat's off to Dr. Greene for giving it a try on some of the most out-there ideas that can be imagined.

Some very interesting ideas, but ultimately, for me this was al...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, science, physics

Brian Greene really is one of the best popular science writers. His books give you a real sense of being guided by someone who genuinely knows what they're talking about, who uses metaphors effectively, and who effectively weaves the traditional material in with the new points he is making. He also approaches science with curiosity untainted by dogmatism. He is very much open to speculation, but equally open to the speculation not panning out.

This book is about different concepts of the Multiver...more Brian Greene really is one of the best popular science writers. His books give you a real sense of being guided by someone who genuinely knows what they're talking about, who uses metaphors effectively, and who effectively weaves the traditional material in with the new points he is making. He also approaches science with curiosity untainted by dogmatism. He is very much open to speculation, but equally open to the speculation not panning out.

This book is about different concepts of the Multiverse. Greene devotes a chapter to each of what he defines as the major types and then has one or two additional chapters on questions like whether these theories are testable and broader implications.

The multiverse's he consider include the quilted multiverse (which is just our universe extending out infinitely, leaving the possibility of endless accidental repetition -- which follows from some cosmological theories that follow the big bang), the inflationary multiverse (a product of repeated episodes of inflationary expansion, which follows from the addition of inflation to the previous theories), three multiverses that come from different versions of string theory (brane, cyclic and landscape), a quantum multiverse (which is Everett's Many Worlds interpretation, and is more conceptual), a holographic multiverse (which comes from the study of black holes and string theory), and simulated and ultimate multiverses (the last two coming from computer simulations and a deeper mathematical world).

In every case, Greene does a good job of describing the physical theories that lead, usually by accident, to the implication that there is a particular type of multiverse, discusses the scientific status of those theories, and addresses issues around testing them. In the end, Greene has some sympathy with Steven Weinberg's adage that the problem with physics is that we do not take our theories/equations seriously enough as a real description of the world. The example he cites is the Positron, which was a byproduct of Dirac's solution of a math problem that turned out to be real. Greene clearly leans towards the view that the same is true of the multiverse, but he doesn't do much to tip his hand about which one.(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Nicholas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: physics

I purchased this on the strength of Brian Greene's past works and find him to be consistent in his clarity of explanation.Although I had a few sticky moments with some elements of string theory and the explanation of the concept of infinity, on the whole it went well.I didn't get the same revelatory experience I got from "Fabric of the Cosmos",as most of the multiverse theories are extensions of areas he has covered previously and as the book is written with the assumption of little or no prior...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Tomhl rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first half of this book is an expansion on some of the various multiverse concepts mentioned only briefly in Greene's earlier The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos (which overlap each other a little). I was an enthusiastic reader of those, and enjoyed this deeper look at what the scientific basis of those might be, in somewhat the same style. But for the second half of the book, I want to mention specific chapters, as I feel the value of the writing swings wildly.

7. Science and t...more The first half of this book is an expansion on some of the various multiverse concepts mentioned only briefly in Greene's earlier The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos (which overlap each other a little). I was an enthusiastic reader of those, and enjoyed this deeper look at what the scientific basis of those might be, in somewhat the same style. But for the second half of the book, I want to mention specific chapters, as I feel the value of the writing swings wildly.

7. Science and the Multiverse. This chapter for me raised some troubling issues as to what is actually science and what is interesting philosophical speculation. He goes a bit further out on the limb of the anthropic principle than I am usually comfortable with. Greene reasons about infinities of universes in the a number of different types of multiverse, based on a sample size of 1. It could be we are typical, and the exclusion of so many possibilities is valid, or it could be we are atypical. I mean, it's cool, you know, but not so reasonable. The cover article of the April 2011 issue of Scientific American concerns related issues in inflationary cosmology. See "Quantum Gaps in Big Bang Theory; Why our best explanation of how the universe evolved must be fixed or replaced" by Paul J. Steinhardt, Princeton.

8. The Many Worlds of Quantum Measurement. This is possibly the best explanation of the uncertainty principle I have ever read. It gave me new insights into the Schrodinger equations, and addressed some concerns that have bothered me for years. This chapter alone justified reading the book.

9. Black Holes and Holograms. I think I understand about information and the event horizon of black holes, but the holographic multiverse totally baffled me. Too many analogies and twists and turns in the explanation. I guess you have to do the math to get this one - or take it on faith, which I refuse to do.

10. Universes, Computers, and Mathematical Reality. This chapter concerns epistomology and information theory. What's it doing in a physics book?

Taken as a whole, the book was fascinating and worthwhile - but gets patchy in the second half. (less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Richie de Almeida rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

Just an Audible book, so not really like reading the actual thing. I still absorbed a lot of the material, but I didn't *earn* it...

The first half of the book is more or less rehashing the stuff I'd read in the first two books. Even some of the second half was familiar.

Greene's descriptions of entropy as a tool for understanding physical phenomena and theory is just as interesting as it was in the second book. It still boggles me a bit how a concept can be used as a fairly precise tool. Precise...more

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May 18, 2011 notgettingenough added it

Shelves: haven-t-read-but

Not enough Simpsons in it.

Written after Manny's here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..., because somebody has to stand tall and write the tough reviews.

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Nov 04, 2011 Scotchneat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, non-fiction

For the first time, I actually get how and why physicists are hot for multiverses and string theory. Greene is a very accessible writer, and he has a way with analogies that make it easy to grasp the theory behind M-Theory.

And when I say multiverse, I actually mean multiverses. Greene gives a wide range of possible ways this may come about. I think the quilt has some merit, and like I said, even branes come out of it with some common sense.

Even if you aren't big on the math, you will easily foll...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Ariadna73 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Check out what I wrote in my blog:

http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2...

10-13-2011: Finished finally! Not very easy to understand; but very nice to read. I finished it with big effort; but I don't think that I got a lot of the things he said. However; I am looking forward to reading something else of this author in the near future.

08-05-2011: I am trying hard to keep up with all the equations and mathematical explanations; but I have been about to give up. However; somewhere around chapter fi...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Abbe added it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-library

Amazon.com Review

The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos here treats all viable alternate realities to a laudably fair shake. For a book exploring the most far-reaching implications of bleeding-edge mathematics, The Hidden Reality is surprisingly light on math, written as it is "for a broad audience ... its only prerequisite the will to persevere." Such perseverance pays off with a motley cast of potential universes featuring doppelgängers, strings, branes, quantum probabilities, hol

...more

Amazon.com Review

The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos here treats all viable alternate realities to a laudably fair shake. For a book exploring the most far-reaching implications of bleeding-edge mathematics, The Hidden Reality is surprisingly light on math, written as it is "for a broad audience ... its only prerequisite the will to persevere." Such perseverance pays off with a motley cast of potential universes featuring doppelgängers, strings, branes, quantum probabilities, holographs, and simulated worlds. The result is that rare accomplishment in science writing for a popular audience: a volume that explains the science and its consequences while stimulating the imagination of even the uninitiated.

Oliver Sacks on The Hidden Reality

Brian Greene is not only a profound cosmological thinker--a pioneer of string theory--but a writer of exceptional clarity and charm. His books--_The Hidden Reality_ takes us deeper still, and it has a special personal quality and warmth that is evident from the opening of the book, when Greene recollects how, as a boy, he was fascinated by the multiple reflections in parallel mirrors. He has never lost this childlike wonder at the world of physics, but he brings it now to examining theories of multiple universes, of the continual birth of universes, starting long before our own. . . and destined to continue, perhaps, to the end of time.

In the 1930s, as a boy myself, I read

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. "There was a time when ÿuniverse' meant ÿall there is,' " writes Greene, but soon we may have to redefine that word, along with our own meager understanding of the cosmos. A theoretical physicist and celebrated author, Greene offers intrepid readers another in-depth yet marvelously accessible look inside the perplexing world of modern theoretical physics and cosmology. Greene's book The Elegant Universe explained late 20th-century efforts to find a unified theory of everything, culminating with string theory. But string theory opened up a new can of worms, hinting at the possible existence of multiple universes and other strange entities. The possibility of other universes existing alongside our own like holes in "a gigantic block of Swiss cheese" seems more likely every day. Beginning with relativity theory, the Big Bang, and our expanding universe, Greene introduces first the mind-blowing multiplicity of forms those parallel universes might take, from patchwork quilts or stretchy "branes" to landscapes and holograms riddled with black holes. With his inspired analogies starring everyone from South Park's Eric Cartman to Ms. Pac-Man and a can of Pringles, Greene presents a lucid, intriguing, and triumphantly understandable state-of-the-art look at the universe. Illus. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Feb 16, 2013 Mac rated it 4 of 5 stars

I heard Brian Greene interviewed on Radiolab, and he was fabulous; he provided fascinating ideas about parallel universes clearly interspersed with vivid examples, all presented through a pleasing mix of confidence and humility. So with that interview as background, I read Greene's The Hidden Reality, and it is excellent, exhibiting the same qualities of the interview.

Additionally, the book is very well written. Greene writes with an effortless, clear prose, a logical progression from idea to id...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Derek Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars

There's not much I can add in praise of Greene's scientific writing that I haven't put into reviewing "The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos." Greene is, hands down, the best science writer I've ever read, on so many levels it amazes me.

Here he tackles the most mind-blowing aspect of cosmology: the fact that the mathematical unfolding of every cosmological theory today leads unfailingly to the idea that we are but one in a (usually) infinite collection of universes, collectively r...more There's not much I can add in praise of Greene's scientific writing that I haven't put into reviewing "The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos." Greene is, hands down, the best science writer I've ever read, on so many levels it amazes me.

Here he tackles the most mind-blowing aspect of cosmology: the fact that the mathematical unfolding of every cosmological theory today leads unfailingly to the idea that we are but one in a (usually) infinite collection of universes, collectively referred to as a "multiverse."

Just as the search for an ultimate particle has led us down through the atom to the nucleus to the proton to the quark to (possibly) the string, so the search for ultimate "bigness" expanded from the Earth to the solar systems to the galaxy to the galactic cluster to the universe, now it has downgraded the entire universe to but a button in the sewing drawer of existence.

Each branch of physics – quantum mechanics, string theory, cosmic inflation, holography, etc. – has posited (or more correctly been led mathematically) to a slightly or in some cases radically different view of what the multiverse would look like. It's silly to go into all of them in a review, especially since I couldn't touch either the detail or the elegance of Greene's presentation. But a couple theoretic setups struck me for one reason or another.

The Quantum Multiverse assumes – again through mathematical necessity – every probabilistic outcome of a quantum event is actually realized and creates a separate branching universe. In other words, if I've got this right, the probabilities inherent in "quantum jitters" cause every single particle at every instant to generate a range of universes that each goes its own way. Seems like things would get crowded, no matter how you figure the separation of these universes. Despite the math involved, the conclusion seems silly. I'm 99.99999% sure it's hooey. Of course, that .00001 may be off somewhere creating a place I'd rather be, who knows?

The Ultimate Universe, based on the idea that math IS reality, claims, rather simply but all-encompassingly, that we should consider any possible universe, based on any possible mathematical system, to be a reality. Thus you might have universes with an entirely different set of mathematic laws where reality unfolds in ways we can't even imagine. You even have to include the universe of Nothing – the total empty universe.

I have two problems with this: First, can you really say mathematics = reality? Calculus leads to the computation of "instantaneous" speed and acceleration. But, in reality, there is no such thing: speed and acceleration are dependent on time, and in the instant, there is no time. Calculus is magnificently useful, but to say that it IS a form of reality? I can' swallow that. Second, the Nothing universe would have no math. Period. Seems to me to kind of blow that theory.

"The Hidden Reality" is the capstone of what, so far, has been Greene's trilogy. It's the most difficult of his three books, on some levels, but beyond engrossing. Reading it, I felt I too was in a different universe.(less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Socraticgadfly rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you want to see a weak theory oversold, read this book.

Greene can be clear, easy to understand, and even near-eloquent in explaining all the different types of multiverses. (I'll admit, though, that the details of how a quantum tunneling multiverse could work aren't 100 percent clear still.)

That said, there are some issues with the book.

First, on the "simulations multiverse" chapter, Greene naively claims that "sims" inside a universe could always figure out, eventually, that they were sims....more

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Nov 18, 2012 Jason Cox rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, science

Overview: An excellent primer on the various current theories of possible multiple universes and explanations of how they have arisen through scientific, mathematic, and psychological principles.
In More Detail
If you enjoy reading books that try to explain science on a layman's level, then you might want to consider this book. Especially, if you have a fairly basic understanding of physics and/or have read other significant books in this genre such as Stephen Hawking's excellent book A Brief Hist...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Anastasia Hobbet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having become enthralled last year with Lawrence Krauss, the physicist who is/was pals with two of my other loves, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens, I approached this book with all the coolness such devotion engenders. But the hidden reality is that string theory kinda makes some sense after all, kinda, or am I just an easy woman? Greene's lively, and self-critical telling of the theory's checkered history leaves me with a well-let's-wait-and-see-attitude. He doesn't make a defensive atta...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Nilesh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-non-fiction

The Hidden Reality is a brilliantly written book that does not impart as much proven knowledge as Fabric of Cosmos or The Elegant Universe but takes the readers to the highly speculative, part-philosophical ride on the nature of reality.

In the nine different multiverse theories discussed here, the underlying theme - as discussed towards the end - is that the only thing that does not make sense is why our universe can not be unique and special, the way our galaxy, sun or earth are not. The theor...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, favorites

Physics is a lot like gum. You can chew and chew and it will never disintegrate or form a predictable structure. Its elasticity suggests that it can be manipulated in an infinite number of ways, and quite easily, using one roll of the tongue. Plus it can be totally aggravating when it gets stuck somewhere and your attempts to break it off give you a hernia.

The Hidden Reality is the penultimate source for all the ambiguity at the heart of physics. Brian Greene serves up a spicy platter of nine di...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Bengt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hidden Reality is an excellent armchair guide to some of the more bizarre and extraordinary ideas of theoretical physics. This book explores several candidate theories for parallel universes, while covering an extensive and chronological review of physics history and theory. What makes the content so accessible is Greene's unparalleled ability to elucidate monstrously complex ideas with clear, concise, and oftentimes humorous analogies. For the most part, Greene shows an adept command of the...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

This is Science light. Which means by staying away from the math and the deeper technicalese Greene gave us a book penetrable by the average reader. It is a tour of the many branches of modern physics which independently, or together, lead to the possiblity that this universe is not unique. Some suggest that it may not even be all that special. The great center piece is, of course, M-theory, the grand union of string and particle theory that practically mandates there be multiple universes. Gree...more

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Jan 16, 2012 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Once again Brian Greene demonstrates that he is very talented writer. He exemplifies the sort of person that the modern world so desperately needs -- a first-class scientist who can also effectively communicate both the findings and the excitement of modern science.

In this book, he introduces readers to several themes of modern physics and cosmology, all centering around the seemingly infinite universe about us -- the "quilted multiverse", the inflationary multiverse, string theory and the multi...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first book I had by Brian Greene was The Fabric of the Cosmos. I got it not long after it was releases and a friend asked me if he could borrow it not long after I received it in the mail, before I'd read it.

I said yes.

I didn't get the book back for several years, Dr. Greene had written more by then. Oh well.

This book (as is Dr. Greene's wont) is an attempt to take highly technical and advanced ideas and make them understandable to "us", "we", "the great unwashed", "the masses". I suppose i...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Jerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

This book presents nine different theories supporting the idea of parallel universes. These are consistent with current physics theory and observational data. At this time there is not enough data to discern which one if any might in fact be a true representation of reality.
One of the more interesting theories to me is the Quilted Multiverse.
An infinite universe can be divided into a series of spherical patches each the size of the cosmic horizon. The cosmic horizon is the distance that light c...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Gary Greenberg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook, science

Really thoughtful exploration of all kinds of alternative universes (multiverses)

From what I can retain, any of these can explain/predict multiple universes:

- cosmologically equivalent from alternative (or nested) cosmic expansions, with different or similar cosmological constants

- string-theory's Brame (membranes) in retreat or in variable contact with one-another

- probabilistic diverting streams from quantum theory's concept of indeterminate presence frozen into place upon detection, leaving o...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Mary Overton added it

It took me 8 months to read this book. My system is to read until my head is ready to explode, then stop for a month, then restart at the beginning. On the 4th attempt, I made it to the last page (or rather, Kindle location.) ...no guarantee of how much was actually understood. This is a book that pried open my mind. The brain is sore and ecstatic from the experience.

From the last chapter,
Table 11.1 Summary of Various Versions of Parallel Universes
1. Quilted Multiverse: Conditions in an infinite...more It took me 8 months to read this book. My system is to read until my head is ready to explode, then stop for a month, then restart at the beginning. On the 4th attempt, I made it to the last page (or rather, Kindle location.) ...no guarantee of how much was actually understood. This is a book that pried open my mind. The brain is sore and ecstatic from the experience.

From the last chapter,
Table 11.1 Summary of Various Versions of Parallel Universes
1. Quilted Multiverse: Conditions in an infinite universe necessarily repeat across space, yielding parallel worlds.
2. Inflationary Multiverse: Eternal cosmological inflation yields an enormous network of bubble universes, of which our universe would be one.
3. Brane Multiverse: In string/M-theory's braneworld scenario, our universe exists on one three-dimensional brane, which floats in a higher-dimensional expanse potentially populated by other branes - other parallel universes.
4. Cyclic Multiverse: Collisions between braneworlds can manifest as big bang-like beginnings, yielding universes that are parallel in time.
5. Landscape Multiverse: By combing inflationary cosmology and string theory, the many different shapes for string theory's extra dimensions give rise to many different bubble universes.
6. Quantum Multiverse: Quantum mechanics suggests that every possibility embodied in its probability waves is realized in one of a vast ensemble of parallel universes.
7. Holographic Multiverse: The holographic principle asserts that our universe is exactly mirrored by phenomena taking place on a distant bounding surface, a physically equivalent parallel universe.
8. Simulated Multiverse: Technological leaps suggest that simulated universes may one day be possible.
9. Ultimate Multiverse: The principle of fecundity asserts that every possible universe is a real universe, thereby obviating the question of why one possibility - ours - is special. These universes instantiate all possible mathematical equations.
Kindle location: 6079-6106

"....scientific discovery has shifted humankind's perspective on its place in the cosmic order. Over the course of nearly five centuries, the Copernican progression has been a dominant theme.... experience abounds with clues suggesting that we're a central hub around which the cosmos revolves. But the objective methods of scientific discovery have steadily corrected this perspective. At nearly every turn, we've found that were we not here, the cosmic order would hardly differ. We've had to give up our belief in earth's centrality among our cosmic neighbors, the sun's centrality in the galaxy, the Milky Way's centrality among the galaxies, and even the centrality of protons, neutrons, and electrons - the stuff of which we're made - in the cosmic recipe. There was a time when evidence contrary to long-held collective delusions of grandeur was viewed as a frontal assault on human worth. With practice, we've gotten better at valuing enlightenment.
"The trek in this book has been toward what may be the capstone Copernican correction. Our universe itself may not be central to any cosmic order.... The idea that reality based on a multiverse extends the Copernican pattern and perhaps completes it is cause for curiosity. But what elevates the multiverse concept above idle speculation is a key fact that we've now repeatedly encountered. Scientists have not been on a hunt for ways to extend the Copernican revolution.... Instead, scientists have been doing what they always do: using data and observations as a guide, they've been formulating mathematical theories to describe the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces that govern how those constituents behave, interact, and evolve. Remarkably, when diligently following the trail these theories blaze, scientists have run smack into one potential multiverse after another."
Kindle location: 6109-6128(less)

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Aug 10, 2011 Stephen Chen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book -- it was more difficult to understand than the Elegant Universe. Unlike the Elegant Universe, which spent a fair amount of time covering earlier developments in physics and quantum mechanics before getting to string theory, it moved more quickly into the actual new content, and honestly I enjoy reviewing those developments since I am not well grounded in them, so I missed that. But I did enjoy reading about the extent to which string theory has seen additional mathematical o...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, 2011

My background is mathematics and computer science with a fondness for cosmology and physics. I religiously watch the various science programs on PBS, the Science Channel, etc with their cursory overview of specific topics. Often they only rehash the same personalities with the same information from the last show I watched, which simply whets my appetite for more information. The Elegant Universe was the last of Greene's work I read, so chose The Hidden Reality for my latest science foray.

Overall...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Parsa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Unbelievable parallel, cyclic, quilted, holographic, simulated and many other scenarios that the string theory and the quantum physics allows to arrive at the same mind bending conclusion. We are such an insignificant being, in such an insignificant corner of such an insignificant universe, in such a vast and incomprehensible 'multi-verse'... The good news is, if you found your head spinning and feel like you are somehow lost in some unfathomable dimension of reality or mathematical complexity,...more

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Jun 11, 2011 The Abeyant rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

This is my first post on Good Reads, so we'll see how this goes. My fiancé has been on here for quite some time, and she insisted that I become part of the group, so here I am.

The book was a very smooth read for me, being someone who is comfortable with mathematics and science. All of the concepts and theories put forth in this book were things I had encountered before (via Through The Wormhole, in particular), and I feel that it greatly helped me to visualize what was being discussed, having se...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amazon review:
Take any of physics' major theories of the fundamental nature of the universe, extrapolate its math to the logical extreme, and you get some version of a (so far unobservable) parallel universe. And who better to navigate these hypothetical versions of the "multiverse" than Brian Greene? Normally an unflinching apologist for string theory, the bestselling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos here treats all viable alternate realities to a laudably fair shake....more

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Mar 03, 2011 Keith Akers rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a good book. For a popularization, this had some pretty heavy science in it. I'm a pretty smart guy and will have to re-read it to really have a better understanding. Greene really is a good writer, because even when you don't quite understand what he's talking about, he gives you enough of the broad overview so that you can go to the next section and feel that you haven't missed anything critical.

The section on "quilted multiverses" was pretty straightforward and I can claim to have un...more This was a good book. For a popularization, this had some pretty heavy science in it. I'm a pretty smart guy and will have to re-read it to really have a better understanding. Greene really is a good writer, because even when you don't quite understand what he's talking about, he gives you enough of the broad overview so that you can go to the next section and feel that you haven't missed anything critical.

The section on "quilted multiverses" was pretty straightforward and I can claim to have understood it. The next few parallel universes were a bit trickier, but I was with the program. When I got to multiple dimensions and the "landscape multiverse" with so many possible shapes to the extra dimensions that "kazillions" doesn't even begin to cover the number, this was something I wasn't quite so sure that I could explain to my wife.

I'm not sure I want to challenge Brian Greene on any scientific question, but the one point I would have some questions about were the simulated multiverses (as in the movie "The Matrix"). I think he may be shortchanging Goedel and Turing. I'm not convinced that a simulated multiverse sufficient to model all the creatures on our planet would not consume so much energy that it would be in effect less probable than an actual universe. My experience as a programmer is that the complexity of programs and the resources needed to design them go up exponentially with the size of the program. If that is the case, creating a universe might actually take less energy than modeling one. We would need to automate the process of computer design, but this essentially can't be done, and that's the point of Turing's thesis. There may be a practical upper limit on the size of simulated universes that we (or future super-intelligent beings in our universe) could ever design. This may be my confusion, but I'd like just a little more explanation here.

So, this book is recommended, and I hope to come back to it.

One final thing: though the book never utters a word about it, Brian Greene is a vegan. That anybody this smart is a vegan says something, I think, about where we should be headed as a species.
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