The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes and the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything

by Paul Halpern

• ISBN13: 9780471465959
• ISBN10: 047146595X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The concept of multiple unperceived dimensions in the universe is one of the hottest topics in contemporary physics. It is essential to current attempts to explain gravity and the underlying structure of the universe. The history of how such an unfathomable concept has risen to prominence takes centre stage in The Great Beyond. The story begins with Einstein's famous quarrel with Heisenberg and Bohr, whose theories of uncertainty threatened the order Einstein believed was essential to the universe, and it was his rejection of uncertainty that drove him to ponder the existence of a fifth dimension.Beginning with this famous disagreement and culminating with an explanation of the newest "brane" approach, author Paul Halpern shows how current debates about the nature of reality began as age-old controversies, and will address how the possibility of higher dimensions has influenced culture over the past one hundred years (visiting the work of H.G. Wells, Salvador Dali and others).

Author Biography

PAUL HALPERN, Ph.D., is professor of physics and mathematics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship award for the research that ultimately resulted in The Great Beyond. Halpern’s previous books include Time Journeys, Cosmic Wormholes, and The Cyclical Serpent.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: The Kaluza-Klein Miracle	p. 1
The Power of Geometry	p. 10
Visions of Hyperspace	p. 26
The Physicist's Stone: Uniting Electricity, Magnetism, and Light	p. 61
Getting Gravity in Shape	p. 84
Striking the Fifth Chord: Kaluza's Remarkable Discovery	p. 101
Klein's Quantum Odyssey	p. 114
Einstein's Dilemma	p. 139
Truth under Exile: Theorizing at Princeton	p. 158
Brave New World: Seeking Unity in an Age of Conflict	p. 179
Gauging the Weak and the Strong	p. 206
Hyperspace Packages Tied Up in Strings	p. 231
Brane Worlds and Parallel Universes	p. 267
Conclusion: Extra-dimensional Perception	p. 290
Notes	p. 299
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