Final Theory: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Mark Alpert (Author)
Key Phrases: collision hall, trauma center, bachelor partiers, Professor Gupta, Herr Doktor, Game Boy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Alpert's exciting debut takes the premise that Albert Einstein succeeded in discovering a unified field theory, but hid the result, fearing it could lead to weapons far more powerful than the atom bomb. In the present day, several contenders—the U.S. government, a savage mercenary bent on revenge, various scientists—all scramble to uncover the theory. Theoretical physicist Hans Kleinman, once one of Einstein's assistants, is tortured by an intruder who demands he divulge the theory. Columbia University professor David Swift is at Kleinman's bedside when the old man makes a few cryptic statements, imparts a string of numbers and then dies. Soon David is off and running for his life, as all the theory seekers give chase. David stays one step ahead with the help of the beautiful Monique Reynolds, another physicist. Alpert, a Scientific American columnist, sticks to proper thriller structure while imparting interesting and accessible science. The relentless action, including one giant twist and plenty of smaller ones, builds to a pulse-pounding conclusion. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Although David Swift wanted to become a scientist like his beloved professor, Dr. Hans Kleinman, he couldn’t manage the math. Instead, he wrote a best-selling book about Albert Einstein. Now Swift is shocked to learn that his elderly mentor has been brutally tortured. With his dying breaths, Kleinman tells Swift that, contrary to common knowledge, Einstein did complete his unified field theory, but the consequences were so catastrophic, he kept it secret. Now the feds and the sadistic Chechnyan who attacked Kleinman will do anything to secure Einstein’s secret formula. Accordingly, Swift must live up to his name, outrun his vicious assailants, and find Einstein’s hidden notebooks. With the help of cool-under-pressure Monique Reynolds, a resourceful African American physicist, Swift leads a wildly choreographed chase. Alpert, an editor for Scientific American, laces his high-IQ doomsday thriller with clearly explicated and hauntingly beautiful scientific theories and delivers readers to such intriguing locations as Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute and the Fermi National Acceleration Laboratory. An ingenious scientist turned evil mastermind, a snake handler, a stripper, a video-game-obsessed autistic teen, and sly digs at a certain presidential administration add up to a strikingly sweet-natured yet satisfyingly barbed high-tech, high-stakes adventure. --Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1st Touchstone Hardcover Ed edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416572872
• ISBN-13: 978-1416572879
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #300,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars, July 23, 2008

By	Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When his physicist mentor is brutally murdered for his possible knowledge about Einstein's Unified Theory, Columbia University professor David Swift and his Princeton scientist girlfriend are swept up by a violent race between the FBI and a ruthless mercenary for control of the information and its staggering potential. BT.
I found this to be a very intelligent thriller with well researched science and a fast a suspenseful plot. Scientific thrillers have always been my favorite and I hope this author comes out with another novel soon.

Unified Theory-a single set of equations that would incorporate both relativity and quantum mechanics, combining the physics of stars and galazies with the laws of the subatomic realm.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept - juvenile plot, July 6, 2008

By	Iles Fan "Gary" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Einstein spent a significant part of his life on a unified theory, where classical physics and quantum mechanics could be coupled into one series of equations. Final Theory's plot illustrates that Einstein was successful, realized the political implications of bringing this theory to the forfront of science, gives the equations, in parts, to three friends before he dies, and tells them to not release it to noone.

The concept is exciting and the novel begins with fast paced action, indicating the novel will surely entertain. Although some facets of the story line did illicit some imagination and fun reading, the majority of the action scenes were juvenile at best. (A history professor simultaneously takes on both the FBI and terrorists who are attempting to find the equations at any cost. I don't think so.) The book isn't bad, just farfetched. 2.5 stars

25 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I read it in three sittings. (Fast for me!) And now I'm even a little bit smarter . . ., May 28, 2008

By	HighlandPark "fjm229" (Highland Park, IL) - See all my reviews

I pre-ordered this book because I read about it somewhere (?) and it sounded like my kind of book. Fast read. Good thriller. And pretty well-written too. Which was a nice plus, because a lot of thrillers have dialogue that sounds ridiculous. I really like the father/son relationship in the book. David (the main character) is smart, but not perfect. Really rang true. And I even learned something about the "Unified Theory" (aka "Final Theory") that Einstein was trying to discover. (BTW, if you've ever watched one of those shows on PBS about string theory - that's what Brian Greene and those other scientists are looking for too.) I think I heard someone say this book is like a Da Vinci Code for science and it really is. When's the movie coming out?