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The Nature of Space and Time |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 530.11 EAN: 9780691050843 ISBN: 0691050848 Label: Princeton University Press Manufacturer: Princeton University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 142 Publication Date: October 15, 2000 Publisher: Princeton University Press Studio: Princeton University Press |
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| Customer Reviews | ||
  - SweetThe complexity of space and time easily transcribed, though a more laymens terms kind of explaination would have been more interesting. Rating: - Fascinating, yet complex.I found this to be a fascinating overview of some of the major issues in cosmology from both Hawking and Penroses point of view. What is amazing is the actual level of agreement between the two. Perhaps only the real physicists appreciate the nuances of their differences of opinion. I would recommend this book for anyone who's gone to the trouble of picking up a basic understanding of relativity ( special and/or general ). The math is not terrbily daunting in most places and you get a real overview for the big picture of the state of relativity and quantum gravity. Rating: - Requires understanding of physicsTo really appreciate this book requires an understanding of physics. Not the superficial stuff where you still believe that Newton was right, but Quantum Mechanics, Topology, and General Relativity. Rating: - For some guysThe subject and the contents of this book is very interesting. However, you have to know quite a lot mathematics ..... Far above my level! Rating: - A debate between two strong personalities in physicsThe current understanding of the physical structure of the universe is bipolar. There is Einstein's theory of relativity, which explains the macroscopic behavior of the universe to many places to the right of the decimal point. At the other end of the size spectrum, there is the quantum theory of fields, which explains the observed behavior of fundamental particles to many places to the right of the decimal point. Although one should always be very reluctant to state such a position, the resolution of this bipolar state into a unified one may be the last, great discovery of physics. The purpose of this book is to present a debate between Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose concerning the possibility of the issue being resolved, and in what manner. It is a series of six short lectures, three from each man and ends with a brief debate between them. These lectures are not for the general audience, as each lecturer assumes a fundamental understanding of general relativity and quantum theory. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of explanation, including diagrams, in the lectures. Therefore, it is possible to understand the material if you have a basic understanding of the two main topics. Without that, don't bother opening the book. Of course, the issue is not resolved, as that must wait for a later date. It is interesting that Hawking tends to emphasize the points of difference, while Penrose goes to some length to describe how similar their positions are. Penrose continues with the position of Albert Einstein, in that he argues that quantum mechanics is not a final theory, but only the "gross" appearance of much subtler events. Hawking believes otherwise, arguing that the probabilistic features of quantum mechanics is the way nature does things, and there is no underlying mechanism yet to be discovered that will remove them. The arguments are strong, yet unconvincing. Not due to their lack of power, but because they are made by two equally strong and forceful personalities. When two such powers collide, there is rarely resolution. Nevertheless, the debate sheds a great deal of light on the current state of thinking in physics, and points out some ways in which it may be resolved. |
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