Saturday 6 March 2010

The elegant universe


The preface reminds us that the two important theories which constitute the pillars of modern physics, quantum mechanics and relativity, were born almost at the same time, at the beginning of the 20th century. However, explains Brian Greene, physicist and author of this book, these two theories, which deal with the infinitely small and the infinitely large, are not compatible. The aim of this assay, published in 1999, is to present the string theory, which may allow to merge and reconcile all theories of physics. The beginning of the book is rather easy to read, all the more because Wallace et Gromit or everyday life objects are called to rescue to explain the concepts in a pedagogic way. Unfortunately, I abandoned around page 250 (out of 602) because the concepts were becoming more and more complex and their applications less and less obvious..

My mark: -1/4 (not finished)