With the advent of the 21th century comes a promisingly fruitful time for theoretical physics - and a most exciting time for readers interested in the latest advancements of age-old concepts. With the publication of Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe in 2000, a new, high standard was set in the great tradition of physicists writing for the masses. This insightful new book begins to set the context of physics in the 21st century by describing the formation of quantum mechanics and Einstein's general relativity - both revolutionary theories in their own time. After this, Greene takes the reader on a journey through the labyrinths of particle accelerators and the neural passageways of the scientists themselves that struggled so diligently to unify these two opposing physical theories. Then the superstring theory is introduced as the only known idea capable of unifying the four fundamental forces of nature. The piecemeal development of the superstring theory is then touched upon, mentioning the contributions of famous physicists such as Shi-Shyr Roan, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene himself. The book ends with an optimistic anticipation of the near future of superstring physics; specifically, the eagerness with which scientists around the world await the tests of the Large Hadron Collider (a new and enormous particle accelerator scheduled to begin testing on fundamental particles in March 2008). Even though the book does not provide mathematical formulae and calculations (except in the optional endnotes), its tone is informative, scientific, and meditative (in that it reserves analogies consisting of widely-understood concepts as a tool of instruction). For example, the photoelectric effect, the work for which Einstein received the Nobel Prize, was explained using the analogy of kidnapped children trapped in the bottom of a warehouse (see Chapter 4). The author's focus was not on the historical anecdotes or scientific personalities, but on the science of an abstract concept, aimed at an audience willing to think deeply and even do some extra research with the intention of acquiring a new spectrum of ideas, or a new way of thinking about themselves and their place in the universe. The baffling puzzle of rolled up dimensions and the inverse proportionality of their radii to the coupling constant is simplified using a stock market analogy - a mathematical application many people are familiar with.
