`ELEGANT UNIVERSE' ON PBS IS PHYSICS FOR THE REST OF US.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

STRING THEORY, an effort to reconcile all that is observably knowable in our universe, may be the biggest scientific breakthrough of the 20th century. Or it may be the fanciful creation of scientists who spent more time with H.G. Wells and Gene Roddenberry's creations than Albert Einstein's. The funny and fascinating thing is that at this point, we honestly don't know which it is.

Physicist/author Brian Greene, whose Pulitzer Prize-nominated book ``The Elegant Universe'' inspired tonight's two-hour ``Nova'' special (as well as Nov. 4's one-hour episode), isn't above shtick to explain complex physics theories to us laymen in order to suck us into his program as effectively as a black hole might.

He tries to teach his dog some quantum mechanics (by way of asking if humans are even able to understand the mysteries of the universe). He jumps off a high-rise building (to demonstrate the respective strengths of gravity and electromagnetism). He takes a cab ride through a wormhole, and parries and plays ball with numerous incarnations of himself (to explain the alternative-dimensions aspect of quantum mechanics and string theory).

In all, Greene is far more enthusiastic and personable a physicist than most of us have been led to believe exists, and while he certainly makes ``The Elegant Universe'' entertaining, he even more miraculously makes sundry theories of the nature of the universe - issues with which scientists have been grappling for centuries - almost accessible.

Which is not to say everyone will understand all of Greene's explanations in ``The Elegant Universe.'' But, more likely than not, viewers will be inspired to lean forward and pay attention - and how often does TV actually inspire that sort of behavior?

Since the special was originally designed as three separate episodes, there's some overlap inside tonight's installment and next week's. Greene starts out with the high points: Isaac Newton and gravity; Einstein's theory of general relativity explaining the tidy relationship between gravity and electromagnetism; Niels Bohr and quantum physics transforming the universe into chaotic kismet (to which Einstein responded, ``God does not throw dice'').

Einstein died still searching for a theory of unification, now commonly known the Theory of Everything, one that would explain the atom as concisely as the universe. As one scientist put it,``Einstein want(ed) to know the mind of God.''

Naturally, scientists still do, and to that end, their most recent explanation is string theory, which suggests that way inside the quarks - the smallest things inside atoms that science has yet been able to detect - there are shimmering, vibrating strings (a metaphorical cross between rubber bands and the catgut on a cello), all undulating on their individual wavelength. How they are assorted is what makes me me, what makes you you, and what makes a table a table.

From this, scientists were able to explain gravity, the Big Bang, alternative dimensions (string theory holds that there are a total of 11 dimensions) and so on. It's a theory that feels both gracefully poetic and the stuff of bad sci-fi potboilers - and, at this point, it cannot be proved nor disproved, so many physicists refuse even to accept it as science.

Whatever string theory may prove to be, ``The Elegant Universe'' offers viewers a wonderful chance to contemplate and puzzle over our origins. Which is pretty high-minded by TV standards these days, but it wouldn't mean much if Greene didn't serve as such an engaging tour guide in our trek through the universe.

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE - Three and one half stars

What: Author Brian Greene explains the entire universe to you in less than three hours in a ``Nova'' special.

Where: KCET.

When: 8 tonight and Nov. 4.

In a nutshell: Physics made not only accessible but pretty fascinating.

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Brian Greene tries to explain scientists' quest to find a ``theory of everything'' that unites all the forces of nature - both large and imperceptibly small - in ``The Elegant Universe.''