书籍 The Elegant Universe的封面

The Elegant Universe

Brian Greene

出版社

Vintage Books

出版时间

2000-02-29

ISBN

9780375708114

评分

★★★★★
书籍介绍

[Greene] develops one fresh new insight after another...In the great tradition of physicists writing for the masses, The Elegant Universe sets a standard that will be hard to beat. --George Johnson, The New York Times Book Review

In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of 11 dimensions where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter-from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas-is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.

Green uses everything from an amusement park ride to ants on a garden hose to illustrate the beautiful yet bizarre realities that modern physics is unveiling. Dazzling in its brilliance, unprecedented in its ability to both illuminate and entertain, The Elegant Universe is a tour de force of science writing-a delightful, lucid voyage through modern physics that brings us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.

B·格林,毕业于哈佛大学,在牛津大学获博士学位,是罗德学者(Rhodes Scholars)。1990年,他来到康奈尔大学物理系,1995年被聘为教授,1996年到哥伦比亚大学任物理学和数学教授。他曾在20多个国家开过普及和专业讲座,公认在超弦理论中有过许多开拓性的发现。他现在住纽约绮色佳。

用户评论
Well, an one-side story from a smart physicist who knows how to present his ideas
The Elegant Universe
2021.09
用两个月的一人食时间读完了。弦理论毕竟未臻成熟,后半部分没有物理学背景几乎不可能懂(一堆技术细节)。Anyway,终极理论这种野心总让人感到不安,就像梅尔基亚德斯的羊皮卷上的预言一样。
没怎么用公式,但是谈完了String Theory,这种写法本身就很elegant。
需要反复阅读,多维时空和多元宇宙很感兴趣。
3月初去了一趟Cornell。要离开的那天早晨,在Ithaca的downtown闲逛,发现了一个旧书店,进去看了看,买了这本The Elegant Universe. 读起来才知道作者Greene曾在Cornell任教。平心而论,Greene真的太擅长讲故事了,通过许多类比和举例,将晦涩难懂的概念转变成生活中熟悉的事情。并且书的章节排布很有逻辑,先是相对论和量子力学速速打个底,然后讲string,string是什么,多维时空,string与多维时空的关系,大体按时间顺序讲的。接着就是string theory的两个应用。最后是总结和展望。我个人觉得比时间简史更适合入门。当然相对的就会少一些公式,少一些硬核感。虽然我依然对许多论点持怀疑态度,但读这本科普确实是非常精彩的一段体验。
观察结果取决于观察者 不存在恒常的时空框架 用以描述的概念工具决定了描述的结果本身