Product Description

Beyond Einstein takes 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84595 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-01
• Released on: 1995-09-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Library Journal
Recently, the "superstring" theory, which asserts that all physical matter consists of extraordinarily minute vibrating strings, has been touted as the route to the long-sought unified theory of forces; some proponents call it a "theory of the universe" that will bring fundamental physics research to a closure. The first author of the present book is a researcher in the field who offers here one of the earliest superstring presentations for lay readers. The beginning chapters offer a not-very-good history of early 20th century physics, but the remainder of the work becomes livelier and more convincing as it approaches Dr. Kaku's own area of expertise. On the whole this is a fairly successful introduction to a new and exciting scientific area. Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
"The man knows how to make science interesting."
-- Philadelphia Inquirer

"Kaku's exploration of the principles of superstring theory are lucid, lively and fullÖas thought-provoking as Stephen Hawking."
-- Kirkus Reviews

"With his lucid and wry style [he has a] knack for bringing the most ethereal ideas down to earth."
-- The Wall Street Journal

"His scientific view is out of this world."
-- Los Angeles Times

From the Inside Flap
Beyond Einstein takes 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.

Customer Reviews

Sketchy and somewhat out of date
I can only give this book a very lukewarm endorsement. My two complaints were that it is sketchy and somewhat out of date.

Sketchy --- By sketchy I mean that it does not explain anything in depth. This book just skims the surface of string theory and most of the subjects covered are discussed just superficially. This is not, in and of itself, a necessarily bad thing. In fact, for some audiences it is actually a desirable feature. High school students and those who just want a brief introduction to string theory and some aspects of modern physics may find this just what they want, but those who want a somewhat more in depth discussion will be disappointed. While superficial, the book does give an overviews of many subjects, namely: quantum mechanics, relativity theory, QED (and the difficulties with renormalization), the Standard Model (and its deficiencies) and cosmological features such as dark matter, dark energy, black holes and the big bang theory. There are also a lot of thumbnail biographies of people like Evariste Galois, Stephen Hawking and Vera Rubin scattered throughout the book.

The book is largely about superstring theory, but there is no clear distinction between this and string theory. (I think that the former refers to the fact that superstring theory incorporates supersymmetry into string theory, but this is never stated in this book.) There is a discussion of symmetry, but Noether's theorem (a major reason for considering symmetry) is never mentioned. In contrast to the obvious enthusiasm shown by the authors for superstring theory, it is not a theory ascribed to by the majority of physicists. While the authors do admit that there is no experimental verification for superstring theory, they neglect many other criticisms. For example, Lee Smolin (who is never referenced in this book) and others have pointed out that there are many, many, variations of string theory, but no way to determine which is the right one (or if any one of them is correct). The above-mentioned criticisms should not, however, be taken as a completely negative assessment of this book. As has been mentioned, a lot of material is covered, although in not as detailed or balanced a manner as I would have liked. You, however, may be looking for as less detailed treatment of and this would then be a good book for you. The style is breezy and informal and you can learn a lot from the time spent with this book.

Somewhat out of date --- The cover of the book states that it has been revised and updated, but it seems that it has only been updated to 1995. (There is another version of the book, with a slightly different sub-title which was published in 1998, so some of the following comments may not apply as much to this 1998 version.) Twelve years is a long time for a subject like string theory. The authors tout superstring theory as the most up to date idea, but it has now being supplanted by M theory. This need not be a problem if one is interested in superstring theory as of 1995 and if one takes some of the claims put forward by the authors with a grain if salt, but this is a problem if you want something more closely resembling the current view of particle physics. As a general rule I think that one should only spend time with modern physics books, prepared for a general audience, that were written within the last 5 years (at the outside). I wish that I had paid more attention to my own rule, but the revised and updated statement above the title of the book fooled me. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

One man's view of higher dimensions
This volume takes you through Kaluza-Klein formalism and there is some math that must be understood for an insightful experience. Some of the material is dated, and Dr. Kaku's string theory has taken a beating in the scientific community of late.

However, this book is still one of the best introductions to the fifth dimension and the integration of time, electromagnetism, and gravitation.

There are books that are best described as mind candy; Dr. Kaku's works are a brain feast that will nourish your intellect and imagination for as long as your remain lucid.

Very interesting and within reach of ordinary folks like me...
I really liked this book. It found it easier to understand (and less gee-whiz) than Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe (paperback and CD). Kaku and his co-writer presented a very clear description of what hyperspace would look like to four-dimensional creatures such as ourselves. (This was the first clear layman's description I have read.) I only wish I understood better the quantum mechanics that "vanquished" Newton's and Einstein's propositions about gravity in very small spaces; perhaps some drawings would have helped. In addition, perhaps a chart or diagram of basic sub-atomic particles would have helped.

Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the book. Thompson's co-writing makes it intelligible to lay persons such as myself. The one element that Kaku leaves out is whether string or superstring theory is "testable." In dimensions of the size of 10^-18 cm, perhaps we cannot really make testable predictions, as Greene asserts in his book and CD.