During the last thirty years of his life, Albert Einstein sought relentlessly for a so-called unified field theory—a theory capable of describing nature's forces within a single, all-encompassing, coherent framework. Einstein was not motivated by the things we often associate with scientific undertakings, such as trying to explain this or that piece of experimental data. Instead, he was driven by a passionate belief that the deepest understanding of the universe would reveal its truest wonder: the simplicity and power of the principles on which it is based. Einstein wanted to illuminate the workings of the universe with a clarity never before achieved, allowing us all. | 1 The Elegant Universe Superstrings Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory Brian Greene -- 2 -- Contents Preface Part I The Edge of Knowledge 1. Tied Up with String Part II The Dilemma of Space Time and the Quanta 2. Space Time and the Eye of the Beholder 3. Of Warps and Ripples 4. Microscopic Weirdness 5. The Need for a New Theory General Relativity vs. Quantum Mechanics Part III The Cosmic Symphony 6. Nothing but Music The Essentials of Superstring Theory 7. The Super in Superstrings 8. More Dimensions Than Meet the Eye 9. The Smoking Gun Experimental Signatures Part IV. String Theory and the Fabric of Spacetime 10. Quantum Geometry 11. Tearing the Fabric of Space 12. Beyond Strings In Search of M-Theory 13. Black Holes A String M-Theory Perspective 14. Reflections on Cosmology Part V Unification in the Twenty-First Century 15. Prospects Glossary of Scientific Terms References and Suggestions for Further Reading E-book notes -- 3 -- Preface During the last thirty years of his life Albert Einstein sought relentlessly for a so-called unified field theory a theory capable of describing nature s forces within a single all-encompassing coherent framework. Einstein was not motivated by the things we often associate with scientific undertakings such as trying to explain this or that piece of experimental data. Instead he was driven by a passionate belief that the deepest understanding of the universe would reveal its truest wonder the simplicity and power of the principles on which it is based. Einstein wanted to illuminate the workings of the universe with a clarity never before achieved allowing us all to stand in awe of its sheer beauty and elegance. Einstein never realized this dream in large part because the deck was stacked against him In his day a number of essential features of matter and the forces of nature were either unknown or at best poorly understood. But during the past half-century physicists of each new generation through fits and .
