Book summary

Brian Greene, author of THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE, returns there, this time to examine the two components of reality--space and time--and he poses good and interesting questions, such as "Why is time directional?" and "Could our universe exist without space and time?" Greene adopts a more or less chronological approach in the 16 chapters, beginning with Newton, moving through Einstein and quantum physics, and then on to string theory and its assumptions. He advances beyond the three-dimensional sensory universe we are familiar with to a "multiverse" with 11 dimensions, which precipitates a discussion on teleportation and time travel. The prose is clear and at some points even poetic, and those daunted by abstruse physics concepts may appreciate the author's ability to explain tough ideas clearly. With 146 illustrations, including 85 line drawings.

Media reviews

"As a popularizer of exquisitely abstract science, he is both a skilled and kindly explicator....[H]is excitement for science on the threshold of vital breakthroughs is supremely contagious. THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS is as dazzling as it is tough, and it beautifully reflects this theoretician's ardor for his work."