As an amateur interested in astronomy and astrophysics I enjoyed listening to Brian Green's the Fabric of the Cosmos very much, learned a lot and thought about fundamental questions about the universe in a different way. The questions below and many others are explored in a very interesting way. The explanations flow smoothly in a logical manner. Questions are raised in a way to get the listener thinking. This audio CD is relevant to both amateurs and professionals on the topic. As an amateur I was not able to understand everything on the CD yet. I am sure that as I listen to the CD several more times I will understand a lot more. These topics are sometimes explained in a boring way in high school physics and college astrophysics courses and therefore can kill interest in the topic. By contrast, this CD introduces them in a very curiosity raising manner. It uses a philosophical and yet at the same time a scientifc approach that is upto date. I have also watched DVDs on similar topics before. So before listening to this CD I was skeptical about whether a CD about the universe lacking the visual elements of a DVD could be interesting or not. My answer now is definitely yes ; the auditory explanations create very interesting mental images in the listener's mind.
Examples to some of the questions, among others, explored in the CD are : What is time ? What is space ? How are they related ? What is reality and how do we perceive it ? Does time always have to flow towards the future or can the direction of flow sometimes reverse ? Does time flow at the same rate in different parts of the universe or not ? How was the universe created ? How is it likely to end ? Is the big bang theory of the creation of the universe valid ? What has banged, how and how long ago? Could the universe actually be a giant brain ? How many dimensions are there in the universe ? Can we perceive all the dimensions or not ? What are matter and energy ? How are they related ? What are black holes ? What could be happening inside black holes ? How does Einstein's theory of general relativity explain the universe ? According to that theory, why is the velocity of light always constant ? What is light made of ? What are photons ? How does light travel in space ? What are the limitations in Isaac Newton's explanation of the universe ? Are objects that are billions of light years apart in the universe completely unrelated or can they affect one another despite those awesome distances ? How do we perceive movement ? Movement occurs with respect to what ? What are frames of reference ? Could we perceive movement in space if there were no other objects at all in the universe ? How did atomic theory start ? What are the smallest particles of matter ? What are quarks ? Are electrons matter or energy ? What is quantum theory ? How does it reconcile with the theory of general relativity ? What is the uncertainty principle ? Why can't the velocity and position of an object be simultaneously determined with absolute certainty ? What is gravity ? Are all forces in the universe such as gravity, electromagnetism etc. actually different manifestations of the same force or not ? What is string theory and how does it explain the universe ? Is a unified theory that explains everything possible ? How is the structure of the atom related to the structure of the universe ? What are the historical developments of various theories that attempt to explain the universe ? What are the contributions of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble and many other scientists and philosophers to the development of our understanding of matter, energy, space, time, the universe and the texture of reality ? As of today how much do we understand the universe ? What questions remain unanswered ? What are the likely developments in these theories in the future ? How do the various theories contradict and / or reconcile with one another ?
We may think that the answers to questions such as what is space ? what is gravity ? what is time ? what is reality ? what is movement ? are simple and that we already know the answers from our high school physics courses. So we may reason that there is no need for deep philosophical contemplation about them. However, this CD challenges this type of thinking and makes us aware that what we maybe taking for granted as known facts may not be ultimate answers at all. For example, if you think that space is equivalent to emptiness, to nothingness and if you think that time can flow only in one direction, that is towards what we call the future, think again. This CD challenges these concepts.
Thousands of years ago humankind thought that the Earth was carried on the backs of giant elephants or turtles. A few centuries ago humankind was debating whether the Earth was flat or round, if the Earth orbited the sun or the reverse. Humankind's vision of the universe was limited to the solar system and fixed stars. The only elements were air, soil, fire and water. With the contributions of many scientists including Galileo our understanding of the universe significantly developed to date. However, this CD demonstrates that despite these giant steps, and despite the sophistication of our current theories, we still have a long way to go before we can say that we fully understand the universe. This CD demonstrates that we do not yet have certain and final answers, but we have many questions that are being further explored. Fortunately, we have significant knowledge, that accumulates in the right direction towards the discovery of the " truth ".
So if these matters arouse your curiosity I strongly recommend that you listen to the CD titled " The Fabric of the the Cosmos " by Brian Green.
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For anyone interested in and trying to get a handle on the evolution of human observation, thinking, experimentation, discovery, then, repeating the cycle for understanding the very big to very small in our physical world, this is the ticket.Brian Greene’s 2004 tour de force, “The Fabric of the Universe”, is a comprehensive look at road to how we have come to understand our physical world and universe –the grand sweep from special and general relativity to the subatomic dynamics of quantum mechanics and the chase to reconcile these two extremes visions into one theory of everything.And a nice touch is most of the concepts are presented in an uncomplicated style with analogies or examples that are, well, down to earth. However, fasten your seatbelts: reality is not what it seems.The content is presented in five major sections and broken down into sixteen chapters:1. Reality’s Arena (4 chapters): classical physics overview, special and general relativity, impact of the uncertainty principle and quantum probability2. Time and Experience (3 chapters): time’s arrow and entropy3. Spacetime and Cosmology (four chapters): reconciling the seeming symmetry of fundamental components with the large scale structures of the cosmos - from now to the beginning4. Origins and Unification (two chapters): string theory, multi-dimensions and the potential world of branes within M-theory5. Reality and Imagination (three chapters): the world according to…mind-blowing discussion of alternative theories based on black holes, frame dragging and holographic life on the surface of a bubbleThe key to understanding some discussions is realizing that for Green and his fellow theorists physics and cosmology have their own lexicon of terms and formulas that capture an unseen world or one waiting for confirmation by observations our physical capabilities can appreciate. With advancing technology, theorists are teasing out confirmation or rejection of new directions in the perceived world.And some of those potential perceptions get weird but hold promise for leading current technology to confirm future understanding – even through it may be by indirect observations such as how entangled particles likely work.A couple of conundrums remain unanswered for me: time travel, forward or backward, leaves me wondering whether you are in two moments at once – the present and simultaneously somewhere else, since both periods are changing according to local events. Seems like wishful thinking unless this is an entangled version of “me”.A second area is the multiple worlds concept suggested by quantum probabilities: if I am a quantum being in a quantum world of probabilities, what am I observing? My guess is the “continuous” act of observing myself within my world collapses the probabilities for my experience. Only in communicating with other beings do we arrive at a consensus as to what our collective experience and “selves” are.Some of Greene’s analogies for explaining theory get a little cumbersome and overdone. However, if you take a breather, go back and reread, the essence of the idea under discussion comes through. Be forewarned: it can be trying. Not all of this is for tourists… like me.That said, I found the general discussion in “The Fabric of the Cosmos” current and less confusing than other books I’ve read on these subjects. Some of his future development mentions have come to pass. Yet, much remains to be seen and established on this journey.Heisenberg was certainly right about uncertainty.(If interested here are my Amazon reviews of two related works offering different views about reality and time's arrow:Carlo Rovelli's 2017 "Reality is Not What It Seems": https://www.amazon.com/review/R2D5DFARJZ0ZVL/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8John Gribbin's 2016 'The Time Illusion":https://www.amazon.com/review/R85DQ1ETQ5CPU/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8)
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