Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed our Understanding of Space and Time.EINSTEIN'S COSMOS: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed our Understanding of Space and Time MICHIO KAKU Dr. Michio Kaku (加來 道雄 Kaku Michio, born January 24, 1947 in the United States) is a Japanese American theoretical physicist, tenured professor, and co-founder of string field theory, a branch of superstring theory. The shadow that Albert Einstein casts is so immense that scientists are still winning Nobel prizes Nobel Prizes Year Peace Chemistry Physics Physiology or Medicine Literature 1901 J. H. Dunant Frédéric Passy J. H. van't Hoff W. C. Roentgen E. A. von Behring R. F. A. Sully-Prudhomme 1902 Élie Ducommun C. A. for work stemming from ideas he came up with nearly a century ago. This book, another in the publisher's Great Discoveries series, is as much an account of Einstein's work as it is a biography of the man. In plain language, Kaku explains black holes, the dual nature of light, and Einstein's theories of special and general relativity general relativity n. The geometric theory of gravitation developed by Albert Einstein, incorporating and extending the theory of special relativity to accelerated frames of reference and introducing the principle that gravitational and inertial forces . Even the quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the a unified field theory unified field theory Attempt to describe all fundamental interactions between elementary particles in terms of a single theoretical framework (a “theory of everything”) based on quantum field theory. becomes understandable in the author's handling of it. Following Einstein's lead, Kaku makes difficult concepts accessible by invoking simple pictures. This, in fact, was both the great scientist's genius and the explanation for his late-career frustrations, the author asserts. Einstein created and depended on vivid images of light's motion and falling bodies in coming to understand special relativity and gravity waves, respectively. However, he could never clearly visualize a unified field theory, and he never formulated it. The author is a theoretical physicist and an explorer of string theory as well as a radio-show host and physics-textbook writer. This book, with hardly an equation between its covers, is an excellent choice for anyone who has had a difficult time understanding Einstein's theories. W.W. Norton & Company, 2004, 240 p., hardcover, $22.95. |
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