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The Fabric of the Cosmos (Space, time, and the texture of reality)
by Brian Greene

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22435.The_Fabric_of_the_Cosmos?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Fabric of the Cosmos (Space, time, and the texture of reality)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349222m/22435.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22435.The_Fabric_of_the_Cosmos?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Fabric of the Cosmos</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/509.Brian_Greene">Brian Greene</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5619958?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 3 of 5 stars I found the book's subject matter more interesting than its content. Often Dr. Greene attempts to pronounce theory as established fact and struggles to relate the impacts of the discoveries of physicists to individuals. His grand explanations and analyses tend to rely on only a few pieces of scientific fact (like the uniformity of background microwave radiation) to explain vast and sweeping theories. Certainly this book represents a massive simplification of extremely precise and technical information, however it sometimes seems that Dr. Greene's theoretical bent allows him to make leaps of logic or to transcend scientific explanation at a rate slower than the speed of light, but faster than the reader's mind.
 
 Give extra-ordinarily high marks to Dr. Greene for his thorough and accessible explanations of complex scientific theory, such as Einstein's theory of relativity, Schrodinger's Cat, and the essentials of quantum dynamics. While Greene sometimes ventures off into the aether (he so fervently attempts to displace), it is his thorough attention to meta-theory that informs the reader.
 
 Finally, Greene's treatment of string theory receives mixed reviews. He went to great lengths to be thorough, covering many possible manifestations and impacts, however his treatment of the possible unifying theory of physics becomes jumbled and confusing. Perhaps this reflects the feeling of the science community at large, at first mystified by the hope of unification, later confounded by the unexpected complexity of the new theory. Often it seems that Dr. Greene's allegiance to and personal preference for the theory allow him to gloss over its short-comings, and he does very little, besides paying lip service, to discuss other theories.
 
 The book is a dense read, offering a wealth of information in an easy-to-handle format (complete with diagrams and logical explanations). The reader must understand that Dr. Greene is a theoretical physicists, and so the book sometimes reflects a preference for possibility over probability, for theory over experiment, and for hope above the empirical (for example, on the existence of higgs fields (of which no empirical proof exists and the importance of which, according to Greene's analysis, are lessened by string theory) Greene states that new sets of experiments in higher powered particle accelerators will hopefully produce favorable results). THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS will teach the reader, will raise interesting questions, but it will not, with certainty, live up to its title: to reveal the physical texture of space and time.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/342028?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Jared's review
rating:
recommended for: people new to physics, people with interest in general education

I found the book's subject matter more interesting than its content. Often Dr. Greene attempts to pronounce theory as established fact and struggles to relate the impacts of the discoveries of physicists to individuals. His grand explanations and analyses tend to rely on only a few pieces of scientific fact (like the uniformity of background microwave radiation) to explain vast and sweeping theories. Certainly this book represents a massive simplification of extremely precise and technical information, however it sometimes seems that Dr. Greene's theoretical bent allows him to make leaps of logic or to transcend scientific explanation at a rate slower than the speed of light, but faster than the reader's mind.

Give extra-ordinarily high marks to Dr. Greene for his thorough and accessible explanations of complex scientific theory, such as Einstein's theory of relativity, Schrodinger's Cat, and the essentials of quantum dynamics. While Greene sometimes ventures off into the aether (he...more I found the book's subject matter more interesting than its content. Often Dr. Greene attempts to pronounce theory as established fact and struggles to relate the impacts of the discoveries of physicists to individuals. His grand explanations and analyses tend to rely on only a few pieces of scientific fact (like the uniformity of background microwave radiation) to explain vast and sweeping theories. Certainly this book represents a massive simplification of extremely precise and technical information, however it sometimes seems that Dr. Greene's theoretical bent allows him to make leaps of logic or to transcend scientific explanation at a rate slower than the speed of light, but faster than the reader's mind.

Give extra-ordinarily high marks to Dr. Greene for his thorough and accessible explanations of complex scientific theory, such as Einstein's theory of relativity, Schrodinger's Cat, and the essentials of quantum dynamics. While Greene sometimes ventures off into the aether (he so fervently attempts to displace), it is his thorough attention to meta-theory that informs the reader.

Finally, Greene's treatment of string theory receives mixed reviews. He went to great lengths to be thorough, covering many possible manifestations and impacts, however his treatment of the possible unifying theory of physics becomes jumbled and confusing. Perhaps this reflects the feeling of the science community at large, at first mystified by the hope of unification, later confounded by the unexpected complexity of the new theory. Often it seems that Dr. Greene's allegiance to and personal preference for the theory allow him to gloss over its short-comings, and he does very little, besides paying lip service, to discuss other theories.

The book is a dense read, offering a wealth of information in an easy-to-handle format (complete with diagrams and logical explanations). The reader must understand that Dr. Greene is a theoretical physicists, and so the book sometimes reflects a preference for possibility over probability, for theory over experiment, and for hope above the empirical (for example, on the existence of higgs fields (of which no empirical proof exists and the importance of which, according to Greene's analysis, are lessened by string theory) Greene states that new sets of experiments in higher powered particle accelerators will hopefully produce favorable results). THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS will teach the reader, will raise interesting questions, but it will not, with certainty, live up to its title: to reveal the physical texture of space and time....less

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