The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

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Vintage, 2000 - Science - 448 pages

'Compulsively readable...Green threatens to do for string theory what Stephen Hawking did for holes' New York Times

In this international bestseller, Columbia University professor Brian Greene provides, in layman's terms, a comprehensive demystification of string theory. Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away layers of the unknown, through introducing concepts from quantum mechanics to general relativity, to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions. Accessible and enlightening, Greene's inimitable blend of expert scientific insight and literary ingenuity makes The Elegant Universe an exhilarating read that brings us closer to understanding how our magnificent universe works.

'Utterly absorbing...a brilliant achievement. An accessible, equationless account of strings' Sunday Telegraph

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About the author (2000)

Brian Greene was born on February 9, 1963 in New York City. After attending Stuyvesant High School, where he was a classmate of fellow physicist Lisa Randall. Brian Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to major in physics. He graduated with a bachelor's degree, and went on to earn his doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating in 1987. Greene joined the physics faculty of Cornell University in 1990, and was appointed to a full professorship in 1995. The following year, he joined the staff of Columbia University as a full professor; this remains his current position. At Columbia, Greene is co-director of the University's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP), and is leading a research program applying superstring theory to cosmological questions. He has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and a related PBS television special.

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