The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything
Amazon1 Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The epic story of the greatest quest in all of science—the holy grail of physics that would explain the creation of the universe—from renowned theoretical physicist and author of The Future of the Mind and The Future of Humanity
When Newton discovered the law of gravity, he unified the rules governing the heavens and the Earth. Since then, physicists have been placing new forces into ever-grander theories.
But perhaps the ultimate challenge is achieving a monumental synthesis of the two remaining theories—relativity and the quantum theory. This would be the crowning achievement of science, a profound merging of all the forces of nature into one beautiful, magnificent equation to unlock the deepest mysteries in science: What happened before the Big Bang? What lies on the other side of a black hole? Are there other universes and dimensions? Is time travel possible? Why are we here?
Kaku also explains the intense controversy swirling around this theory, with Nobel laureates taking opposite sides on this vital question. It is a captivating, gripping story; what’s at stake is nothing less than our conception of the universe.
Written with Kaku’s trademark enthusiasm and clarity, this epic and engaging journey is the story of The God Equation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for Michio Kaku’s The God Equation:
“This is an excellent book written by a masterful science communicator. . . . If there is anyone who can demystify the esoteric mathematics and physics of string theory, it is [Kaku]. And in this wonderful little book, that is precisely what he does—explain in clear and simple terms the conceptual breakthroughs, the blind alleys and the unanswered questions—in the search for a grand unified theory of everything. . . . The God Equation dazzles. . . . Kaku, a consummate storyteller, provides an engaging, unvarnished account. . . . His book presents cutting-edge ideas in theoretical physics, and primes readers to be ready when the next major breakthrough occurs.” —The Wall Street Journal
“[Kaku writes] about science in clean, concise language. . . . A clear and engaging story of a difficult scientific quest.” —Smithsonian Magazine
“Authoritative and accessible.” —Nature
“Kaku eloquently reviews the structure of our universe, highlighting contributions from intellectual giants and those continuing the daunting, decades-long quest for the elusive theory of everything. . . . Examining this tantalizing theory, Kaku outlines its promises, problems, and the breathtaking, almost inconceivable array of possibilities it presents. Kaku’s latest captures the awesome and mysterious beauty of the universe, of our planet, and of ourselves, and will intrigue anyone who ponders existence.” —Booklist
“Riveting. . . . Kaku’s expertise at making mind-bending concepts comprehensible makes this a real intellectual eye-opener.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“An expert account of the search for ‘the holy grail of physics.’ . . . Illuminating. . . . An important work.” —Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
MICHIO KAKU is a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, co-founder of string field theory, and the author of several widely acclaimed science books, including Beyond Einstein, The Future of Humanity, The Future of the Mind, Hyperspace, Physics of the Future, and Physics of the Impossible. He is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning, the host of the radio programs Science Fantastic and Exploration, and a host of several science TV specials for the BBC and the Discovery and Science Channels.
Book Details
Author: Michio Kaku
Category: Relativity Physics2, Quantum Theory3
Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition (April 6, 2021)
Paperback: 240 pages
My Comment
This book was very interesting, I really enjoyed reading it, this is the latest Michio Kaku’s book about the quest for the “Theory of Everything”, probably the last and most important theory than can explain every physical law and question in our universe. Our universe is made of four fundamental forces: the weak and strong nuclear forces, the electromagnetic force and the gravitational force. The theory of everything, tries to unite these four forces into a formula, probably no longer than an inch long.
Einstein’s general relativity explains a part of the whole picture of the universe while The Standard Model explains the other part (the Standard Model unifies the three fundamental forces: strong, weak and electromagnetic, leaving the gravity out), so all the physical laws of the universe can, in principle, be derived from just one page of equations. The problem is that the two mentioned theories-Einstein’s relativity theory and the Standard Model-are based on different mathematics, different assumptions, and different fields. The ultimate goal is to merge these two sets of equations into a single, finite unified fashion. The key observation is that any theory claiming to be the theory of everything must contain both sets of equations, yet remain finite. So far, of all the various theories that have been proposed, the only theory that can do this is string theory.
It is a very interesting book that has a brief and simple introduction of scientific achievements in this path to the latest formula from Newton all to way to the latest Scientists that are working hard to achieve this greatest breakthrough in the history of Science that can answer many questions of ours.