Parallel Worlds: A Journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos in Science and Inquiry

Jun 16, 2013 Mike W rated it liked it

This is a good summary of developments in physics over the last century, from relativity and quantum theory, to the many worlds hypothesis and string theory (or M-theory). As usual, Kaku does an excellent job of conveying the majesty of physics and the mysteries it has opened up. But this book does not cohere as well as some of his other books, like "Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory", which covered much of the same ground.

The title comes from the notion that there This is a good summary of developments in physics over the last century, from relativity and quantum theory, to the many worlds hypothesis and string theory (or M-theory). As usual, Kaku does an excellent job of conveying the majesty of physics and the mysteries it has opened up. But this book does not cohere as well as some of his other books, like "Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory", which covered much of the same ground.

The title comes from the notion that there is not one universe, but many. This is implied by the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, which suggests that everything that is possible, actually occurs in some universe. This offers one solution to the mystery of the "finely tuned universe", that some fundamental constants in nature seem to be tuned just right for the development of intelligent life, since ours is just one of an infinite number of universes, the vast majority of which have radically different properties which would make them inhospitable to life.

The idea of paralell universes also comes out of M-theory, the latest incarnation of string theory, which is currently the best hope physicists have for uniting Einstein's general relativity with the quantum mechanics of Heisenberg and Bohr, both of which had hitherto seemed correct, and yet contradicted each other.

I wonder, though, in reading this book whether modern physics has gone off the rails, whether the physicists have become so captivated by the elegance of their abstruse theories that they have become rather divorced from empirical reality. I recall Heisenberg warning about the postulation of realms that are even in principle unobservable by us, which he considered rather more religion or metaphysics than science.

The weakest part of the book is when Kaku speculate about future soceities. he talks about type I, type II and type III civilizations, classified according to the soruces of energy they use and the power that they are able to harness. But he attributes to these technologically superior civilizations attributes (like cosmopolitan tolerance) that seemed to be grounded more in the author's hopes than in any reality. The skeptical reader will recall, on reading these passages, that some of the most technologically advanced societies have also been the most barbaric, like Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union.

Still, this is an engaging book, well worth reading. I especially liked Kaku's discussion of religion. His reflections of modern physics and the mathematical order it seems to have revealed have led him to a panentheist conception of God similar to that of Spinoza and Einstein, not to the atheism that many associate with science. ...more

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Jul 01, 2011 Lois Gresh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

I enjoy all of Michio Kaku's pop science books. Not too technical, not too dumbed-down - a perfect mix of thought-provoking speculative science aimed at those of us who don't happen to hold advanced degrees in Physics. ...more

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