Beyond Einstein The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe

by Kaku, Michio; Trainer Thompson, Jennifer

• ISBN13: 9780385477819
• ISBN10: 0385477813
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-09-01
• Publisher: Anchor

Summary

Beyond Einsteintakes readers on an exciting excursion into the discoveries that have led scientists to the brightest new prospect in theoretical physics today -- superstring theory. What is superstring theory and why is it important? This revolutionary breakthrough may well be the fulfillment of Albert Einstein's lifelong dream of a Theory of Everything, uniting the laws of physics into a single description explaining all the known forces in the universe. Co-authored by one of the leading pioneers in superstrings, Michio Kaku, and completely revised and updated with the newest groundbreaking research, the book approaches scientific questions with the excitement of a detective story, offering a fascinating look at the new science that may make the impossible possible.

Author Biography

Dr. Michio Kaku is a professor of theoretical physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard and received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and has taught at Princeton University. He is the cofounder of string field theory, has written eight books, and has published more than seventy scientific papers on superstrings, supergravity, and nuclear physics. He is the author of the widely acclaimed Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension, which both the New York Times and the Washington Post selected as one of the best science books of the year. Jennifer Trainer Thompson is a writer and the coeditor with Michio Kaku of Nuclear Power: Both Sides, which The Christian Science Monitor selected as one of the best books of 1982. Her other books include Hot Licks: Great Recipes for Making and Cooking with Hot Sauces, The Yachting Cookbook (coauthored with Elizabeth Wheeler), Trail of Flame, Jump Up and Kiss Me, and The Great Hot Sauce Book. Her articles on science, culture, travel, and food have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, Travel and Leisure, and Omni.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Theory of the Universe
Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?	p. 3
The Quest for Unification	p. 17
The Quantum Puzzle	p. 35
The Riddle of Infinities	p. 53
The Top Quark	p. 72
Supersymmetry and Superstrings
The Birth of the Superstring Theory	p. 81
Symmetry: The Missing Link	p. 99
Supersymmetry	p. 113
Beyond the Fourth Dimension
Before the Big Bang	p. 129
The Mystery of Dark Matter	p. 143
Cosmic Strings	p. 154
Journey to Another Dimension	p. 162
Back to the Future	p. 178
Beyond Einstein	p. 191
Notes	p. 201
Bibliography	p. 211
Index	p. 213
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.