Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos |  | Author: Michio Kaku
Publisher: Anchor
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $9.09
as of 3/19/2010 11:44 CDT details
You Save: $6.91 (43%)
New (40) Used (23) Collectible (1) from $8.70
Seller: OB1S
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 5035
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 1400033721
Dewey Decimal Number: 523.1
EAN: 9781400033720
ASIN: 1400033721
Publication Date: February 14, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9781400033720 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In this thrilling journey into the mysteries of our cosmos, bestselling author Michio Kaku takes us on a dizzying ride to explore black holes and time machines, multidimensional space and, most tantalizing of all, the possibility that parallel universes may lay alongside our own.
Kaku skillfully guides us through the latest innovations in string theory and its latest iteration, M-theory, which posits that our universe may be just one in an endless multiverse, a singular bubble floating in a sea of infinite bubble universes. If M-theory is proven correct, we may perhaps finally find answer to the question, “What happened before the big bang?” This is an exciting and unforgettable introduction into the new cutting-edge theories of physics and cosmology from one of the pre-eminent voices in the field.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 68
 I'll pass. February 2, 2010
pandabear
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm surprised to see such high ratings for this book, as I don't know anyone scientifically inclined that found this to be a good book. This book is a odd jumble of ideas that are poorly presented by the author. Kaku fans, of course, are going to love this book, so I wouldn't be surprised if my criticisms made some of them angry. In any case, these are my complaints with this book:
First of all, I don't like the way he writes. There are sentences that are vague and confusing. For example:
"In the 1960's, mysterious sources of immense power were found in outer space, dubbed "quasars," or quasi-stellar objects. Quasars generated enormous amounts of power and had huge redshifts, meaning that they were billions of light-years away, and they also lit up the heavens when the universe was very young. We do not see evidence of any quasars today, though according to the steady state theory they should exist. Over billions of years, they have disappeared."
Ok, wait a minute. So they were found in the 60s but have disappeared over billions of years? The chronology of that paragraph could use some work. It hasn't been billions of years since the 60s. Was evidence of their barely lingering existence found back then? It's hard to tell exactly what he means by the way he writes. He could have been more clear and said that quasars were discovered in the 60s and that they have been around for billions of years, having recently vanished from our view. I found myself having to stop and re-read a passage numerous times just to make sense of it. Pretty annoying.
Kaku dumbs everything down so that anyone can understand it, not just those who have a wide knowledge of science. I don't have a problem with that, but if you're going to talk down to your audience, don't assume that they are all ignorant, and at least bother to get your facts straight. He continuously refers to ideas that are merely hypotheses (if that is itself a good word to describe them) as "theories." Excuse me, but things have to be testable to be theories. The dictionary says: "A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena: the theory of relativity. A hypothesis is a conjecture put forth as a possible explanation of phenomena or relations, which serves as a basis of argument or experimentation to reach the truth" It is only suggested that multiple universes may exist; therefore, it can't be a theory. Little mistakes like this may be overlooked and forgiven if he wasn't considered an expert or a genius, but the technicality of it it makes me wonder if he really understands what he's talking about.
He insists on using silly little analogies to describe hard to understand ideas that, for the most part, don't help at all. He introduces and passes over many ideas briefly without giving them the explanation or discussion they deserve. His explanation for string theory in the first few chapters wasn't even worth being printed. He more or less said "Yeah, so it's a theory that related everything to plucking the string on an instrument to make a different sound. We could like, pluck the string of an atom and it could change into something else." Wait, what? Why even mention it at all? If he's going to baby other topics, I assume he's aiming to reach everyday people. How can he expect people to accept that as a good explanation of string theory?
He also tries to keep the reading interesting by adding little irrelevant details here and there. For one, it makes it a little less formal and possibly interesting, but if you want to read this for the science, it can get tedious to slog through because he doesn't like to get to the point. For example, at the end of chapter three he beats into the reader that Vera Rubin had to deal with sexism everywhere she went, even discouragement from teachers, etc. That's lovely, but after a while I just want to know what she did, thanks. It would suffice enough to know she was ignored mostly because she was a female back in those times, but if I wanted to know about her, I would read a book about her.
Parallel Worlds is supposed to be a scientific book about...parallel worlds. In the end I found Kaku talking more about random things. I was under the assumption that this book was about new breakthrough ideas, not a lot of history and commentary. I give it 2.5 stars only because I've read worse and it opened me up to a few new concepts. My suggestion to anyone who's on the fence about getting this book is to go check Kaku out on YouTube first. If you like him, go for it.
 Very interesting read December 23, 2009
Shane E. Keller (Portland OR)
I found Michio Kaku's "Parallel Worlds" to be the best book that I have so far read on the subject of M-Theory/String Theory. The information is presented in an unusually readable format, and Kaku's writing style is enjoyable. This book also touches on more subjects related to the main theme than other books on the subject have, and seems to cover a broader range of ideas/possibilities/theories than some of the other books i am familiar with. If you're interested in theoretical cosmology, I think this is a great read.
Most interesting November 27, 2009
Ira A. Presslaff (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Will read this book many times. Reading it for the second time already since there is so much in it to think about.
Great Book! November 6, 2009
Scott M. Porter (Canton, OH)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
You may not know how to pronounce the authors name but you will recognize him from the UNIVERSE series.
For anyone who is interested in these types of subjects, Kaku has the great ability to take complex material and present it in ways for us to understand (even if we don't have a physics background).
I completed enjoyed this book and much of the questions that were brought up within it that I would never dreamed of thinking to ask.
Dr. Kaku is very brave October 10, 2009
Ray Montaya (Montevideo, Uruguay/Chile)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
For a scientist to advance such theories, he has taken a risk.
But what risk are we talking about? Academic? No. Because the fleet of scientists who believe in parallel worlds is getting bigger day by day.
Truth changes as new discoveries are brought to light.
This book is no exception.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 68
|
|
|
|
