Customer Reviews

Parallel Universes: The Search for Other Worlds

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I did find that this book somewhat repetitive, as Mr. Wolf tended to "over-explain" aspects of the theories presented in "Parallel Universes: The Search for Other Worlds". However, I strongly suspect that this quandary had more to do with the Touchstone/Simon & Schuster editor's own lack in grasping of the subject matter, resulting in virtually a word-for-word transcription of the entire original manuscript into the final book form.

Considering this likelihood, this book is a true gem! For anyone interested in science and all possibilities, it is well worth a read by both the novice and the well educated. Many books are available on quantum physics, space, time as the fourth dimension, etc. To date, though, this is the only book I have been able to find that puts all of these theories into a veritable nutshell. It delves not only into possibilities, but also probabilities, which include aspects of every major discovery in physics, astronomy, and mathematics since the time of Pythagoras.

It is not a book for the faint of heart, who are secure in their understanding of their every day "reality". It is, instead, for those who intuitively know that there's something more to what we perceive as reality, more than the eye can see. Sorry, there aren't any illustrations for those needing visual aids. Mr. Wolf mentions in here that one needs an imagination to be a good scientist and I happen to agree (I am not scientifically inclined, nor mathematically for that matter, but I have always had a good imagination). The problem with attempting to provide diagrams and illustrations for the topic being covered in "Parallel Universes" is that you can't draw a fourth dimension on a piece of paper.

I regard Fred Alan Wolf's book as a wonderful work of science and poetry; the observer and the observed being one and the same; the fourth dimension of time broadening our understanding of the world around us, including the one most of us can't "see". Read it and find out just how close we are to solving the eternal question, "Is this all that there is?"

Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a rocketship ride of a book that takes you on a quest for parallel universes. Wolf contemplates how we might perceive these parallel universes, and what it might feel like when we experience the past and future interacting with the present. The extra bonus of this adventure is that Wolf shows you how time is not the steady, measurable thing you thought it was! Time is slippery, because it can't ever be directly observed. Whereas we can measure and then verify a measurement of length or weight repeatedly, measurements of time cannot be easily confirmed. As Wolf points out so succinctly, "Nowhere is there a value of time associated with an observable called time. As far as the equations are concerned, time is just a convenient ordering parameter -- a way of keeping track of things placed alongside each other in a sequence." Time travel may well be possible, and you might not even need a time machine to do it! If you love to stretch your mind to understand more of the universe, I highly recommend this book.

Warning: this book pre-supposes that you have a basic understanding of quantum mechanics. If you do not have a familiarity with the foundation of QM, I would highly recommend that you first read either "Taking the Quantum Leap" (also by Wolf) or some other introductory book of QM (Rober Gilmore's "Alice In Quantumland" would be an excellent choice).

Wolf's present book deals with the Princeton physicist Hugh Everett's "solution" to the paradox of Schroedinger's Cat. While it is too detailed to go into any depth here, let's just say that the answer is that each collapse of the wave function by an observer "creates" an alternate universe. While this is an intriguing thought, it carries with it a whole lot of metaphysical baggage. Wolf takes us on a guided tour of what this baggage entails.

The book also explores the possiblity of alternate universes behind the singularities of black holes. Although this is something which can never be proven, it is a thought-provoking idea nonetheless.

Although I think Wolf reaches a little with his dictum of schizophrenia patients perhaps being "in touch" with alternate universes, this is a valuable resource for all those interested in QM. If nothing else, Wolf presents a compelling explanation of time, space and its relation to mind. A fascinating book.

Wolf's problem, demonstrated again and again in "Parallel Universes" and his other books, is that he is a mediocre writer. Provocative, often fascinating ideas fizzle and die in the midst of Wolf's rambling, often barely coherent sentences. He offers speculation as fact -- for example, repeatedly claiming, in no uncertain terms, that quantum physics and relativity both "prove" that parallel universes really exist; most of us know that the idea of parallel universes is a theory, and a controversial one at that, popular strictly among the minority of physicists. And, in presenting difficult geometrical concepts (right triangles plastered onto a sphere, geodesics on a sphere, etc.), he doesn't offer A SINGLE ILLUSTRATION to make his points. The reader is left to grapple with geometry solely through the printed word -- and in poorly chosen words, to boot. Where is Stephen Hawking when you need him?

Did you ever wonder HOW you receive warnings about events in the "future" that turn around and actually happen? Did you ever receive information in your dreams where the answers to a problem you were trying to figure out are given to you in complete detail? Such is the reality of parallel lives, and parallel universes.

We do not inhabit the ONLY Universe in our cosmos. Fred Alan Wolfe brings great insight into parallel universes, and parallel lives, spacetime, black holes, and, clashing waves of time, as well as the parallel "you" that does communicate with you in the life you live here and now.

All is simultaneous in the universal realm, where it is always "now." This book will bring you much insight, answers, and can help you ask questions so you can gain a greater understanding of your life that currently exists in another dimension while simultaneously existing in this one on Earth.

Highly recommended to gain greater wisdom.
Barbara Rose, author of, `Individual Power' and `If God Was Like Man'

This is a difficult subject to comprehend and the author does not help the reader to make it any easier: He not only confuses the reader but also makes it boring by repetition, innumerable references to; fiction, TV shows and other literature that is not directly related to physics. Although the book is free of physics and mathematics, the author could have spent few chapters to concentrate on the physics of parallel universes in layman's language to make the reader understand the physical principles on which physicists want us to believe in parallel universes. The book is described in six parts related to quantum physics, relativity, cosmology, time and parallel universe, understanding of our universe (with parallel universes) and psychology. The idea of parallel universe was first conceived by Hugh Everett III in 1957; his accounting of the famous double-slit experiment and wave particle duality is that since wave is not real but it is probability wave or quantum wave function that may be associated with two particles (in two universes) and not one particle (in one universe).

The author could have hammered on topics such as Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (UP), the Observer Effect (Schrödinger's Cat, Wigner's Friend, EPR Paradox) on split and collapse of quantum wave function, antimatter, blackholes (Einstein-Rosen Bridge), invisibility of time, and better explanation of quantum mechanics and theory of relativity (both support the existence of parallel universes) in few short chapters and stay focused on the topic without wandering to fiction or other narratives. This would have helped a reader in understanding the concepts better. It is clear from this observation that the reader is not deprived of anything if he/she chooses not to own this book.

This book breaks the ice for readers who don't want to be buried in quantum mechanics, but want to know how parallel universes actually do exist. You've felt it. You know they're out there. If you really want to know what is on the other side, and how that has affected earth and will affect its future, you need to read The Ark of Millions of Years. Picks up where Dr. Wolf left off.

What this book attempts to do is describe why parallel universes could exist and the implications of those parallel universes. Not only one parallel universe but many, many parallel universes each of which interacts with your present. Most people would have no problem reading this book and coming away with an understanding of why the theory of parallel universes exists. That is the end of the value of this book... you know about the experiment that was the basis for the theory and how the theory explains that experiment.
The remainder of the book is poorly written and hard to follow. The theoretical underpinnings are put forward and contradicted at various points.
For those who want a very basic introduction, not about the theory of parallel universes, but about the experiment that started it all, this is as good an introduction as any other book that I have read. Not a read for someone who is actually trying to understand the theory and it's implications.

I've yet to finish the book, having one more chapter to go, but from the first page on, I've been floored by the quality of information being given by the author. Maybe someone with a real background in quantum physics might find this book a little childish, but for those of us who can only imagine the infinitely small, it is a book that gives serious insight toward the education of the masses to a new reality. I also like the fact that the author, as any good scientist should do, is constantly questionning the different findings he explains.
Overall, a very good book for someone who is seriously curious about quantum physics but doesn't know where to start.

Just finished reading this spectacular book and for anyone interested in quantum physics, black holes, parallel Universes, the "grandfather theory", the "double slit experiment", or the "observer effect" this is a MUST READ!!!

Dr. Wolf first impressed me in "What the Bleep do we Know..." then again in "The Secret". He has an in depth grasp of modern science and metaphysics and is able to delve deep into both and explain them in a humorous yet insightful manner that is not only in easy to understand verbiage but also an "I cant put this book down" experience.

He not only explains his view points but also in an unbiased way explains the theories of many of todays top minds and groups such as "Copenhagen interpretation", the "Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox", and the "Many Worlds Paradox" just to name a few.

I particularly enjoyed how Mr. Wolf makes reference to science fiction from the past and ties it in with science of today. It has always amazed me how "sci-fi" almost predicts the future of "sci-reality".