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

by Paul Halpern

• ISBN13: 9780471656586
• ISBN10: 0471656585
• Format: eBook
• 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

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: The Kaluza-Klein Miracle.

1. The Power of Geometry.

2. Visions of Hyperspace.

3. The Physicist’s Stone: Uniting Electricity, Magnetism, and Light.

4. Getting Gravity in Shape.

5. Striking the Fifth Chord: Kaluza’s Remarkable Discovery.

6. Klein’s Quantum Odyssey.

7. Einstein’s Dilemma.

8. Truth under Exile: Theorizing at Princeton.

9. Brave New World: Seeking Unity in an Age of Conflict.

10. Gauging the Weak and the Strong.

11. Hyperspace Packages Tied Up in Strings.

12. Brane Worlds and Parallel Universes.

Conclusion: Extra-dimensional Perception.

Notes.

Further Reading.

Index.