I’ve read a few of Michio Kaku’s books and I’ve really enjoyed them, which is why I decided to read this somewhat “older” book. Dr. Kaku is an excellent popularizer with a lucid and down to earth writing style and he has a modest and open minded way of approaching a subject. As the book is a little bit outdated at this point and because I have a couple of objections I rated it four stars, but it is a very “mind opening” book that I strongly recommend.
The book takes us on a journey through the discovery-history of higher dimensions and the quest to unify the laws of physics. It introduces us to Riemannian geometry and explains how forces can be viewed as consequences of geometry in higher dimensions (Hyperspace) a concept that was later used in the General Theory of Relativity, Kaluza-Klein theory as well superstring theory. The laws of physics become more unified, simpler and more beautiful if you add a few dimensions. He convincingly makes the case that you can discover the secrets of the Universe by peering into Hyperspace. The book also discusses topics such as the history of modern physics, relativity, quantum physics, the standard model, GUTs, super gravity, black holes, the big bang, parallel universes, etc. Towards the end of the book he is discussing the fate of the Universe and the fate of human civilization, and the threats we face from the potential of nuclear war, global warming, and possible collisions with asteroids.
The book does not go into depth on any of the multiple topics discussed. It is not that kind of a book. However, on some minor topics I found it to be misleading, particularly on the topics of parallel universes and “Schrödinger’s cat”. For example, he states on page 261 “To Schrödinger, the idea of thinking about cats that are neither dead nor alive was the height of absurdity, yet nevertheless the experimental confirmation of quantum mechanics forces us to this conclusion.” The last part is simply incorrect. This is an interpretation issue, not an experimental issue, and it is sorted out in different ways by more modern interpretations of quantum physics such as the ensemble interpretation and the relational interpretation of quantum physics, or via "decoherence". As for me, when I as a young student taking classes in Quantum Physics at the end of the 1980’s I adopted what was essentially a pre-cursor to the relational interpretation because of what I noticed when I tried to perform Galileo transforms on quantum wave functions. There’s no real contradiction and there are no multiple worlds (universes) needed to explain this. I’ve seen other popularizers confuse people the same way, and I think it just turns people off.
Anyway, other than the above minor complaint, I think this was a very enjoyable and interesting book that I am very glad that I’ve read.
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