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awwcripes's review against another edition
5.0
This book, along with Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman are the reason I majored in a physical science and spent ten years working in laboratories.
kateapatton's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
hrishivish23's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing read. Provides a good introduction to Relativity, Quantum Physics, hyperspace, String theory, grand unified theory, supersymmetry, relativity, Black holes and time travel.
camilagaribi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Loved it
konain's review against another edition
4.0
A great book to gather all the information on the string theory and 10th dimension physics, and its relation to the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. The book isn't really for a general reader and requires some smattering of physics, but it is hardly the fault of the writer. The subject demands that knowledge, although Kaku tries hard to explain it through simplified pictures and anecdotes from sci-fi works. Coming to that, the extracts from great sci-fi novels, though giving a good opportunity to recall your reads or have a glimpse into their storyline, at places take away from the coherence and flow of the book. There are places where the narrative seems disjointed. Although it coalesces in the end, one feels that editing and flow would have been better.
But Michio Kaku is a scientist not a novelist, hence no blame to him. A recommended read if you are interested in the happenings in the field of theoretical physics but can't be bothered or are unsuited for the obscure journals.
But Michio Kaku is a scientist not a novelist, hence no blame to him. A recommended read if you are interested in the happenings in the field of theoretical physics but can't be bothered or are unsuited for the obscure journals.
iguessthisisme's review against another edition
2.0
Rife with overly simplistic analogies which serve to muddy rather than illuminate the underlying physical and mathematical principles, this feels like a book written for people that the author believes not only aren’t educated about said principles (or about the mathematics necessary to truly represent them) but who are also incapable of ever truly understanding them. The former should obviously be held to be true, but the latter makes this book often read like it was written for fools.
Kaku also makes many leaps to suppose causation that are laden with fallacy. Every third page seems to present a “therefore” clause that either doesn’t hold up to simple formal logical scrutiny or which is missing the key causal link that would clarify for the reader. He uses the word multiplet without providing a definition but then dedicates multiple pages of visual diagrams to simply show us matrices of expanding dimensionality, saying “the forces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle” which belies the basic relation between matrices and dimensions/transformation - something which Kaku never assumes we know nor simply clarifies at any particular point.
This felt like reading a bad freshman year Physics For Poets lecture that never ends. It’s overly dumbed-down science and as a result, unintentionally I’m sure, much of it constructs a false picture for the reader in the desperate hope of constructing the simplest picture possible.
Kaku also makes many leaps to suppose causation that are laden with fallacy. Every third page seems to present a “therefore” clause that either doesn’t hold up to simple formal logical scrutiny or which is missing the key causal link that would clarify for the reader. He uses the word multiplet without providing a definition but then dedicates multiple pages of visual diagrams to simply show us matrices of expanding dimensionality, saying “the forces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle” which belies the basic relation between matrices and dimensions/transformation - something which Kaku never assumes we know nor simply clarifies at any particular point.
This felt like reading a bad freshman year Physics For Poets lecture that never ends. It’s overly dumbed-down science and as a result, unintentionally I’m sure, much of it constructs a false picture for the reader in the desperate hope of constructing the simplest picture possible.
officerdean's review against another edition
5.0
This book has been on my shelf for years. I've looked at it and wanted to read it for years. I have always been too intimidated to pick it up. I have always been fascinated by physics , but mathematics always keeps me from jumping in. I barely survived Algebra in college.
If you are reading this and also feel this way, fear not! Kaku does a phenomenal job with this book and keeping the mathematics to a minimum and focusing more on the physical principles. You will get lost at times, concepts will go over your head, but he will bring you back. It is important to note that most of this stuff is over a physicists head as well. So, give it a read. I never once felt so overwhelmed I wanted to stop. I blew through this book much faster than I imagined. Why did I wait so long!?
If you are reading this and also feel this way, fear not! Kaku does a phenomenal job with this book and keeping the mathematics to a minimum and focusing more on the physical principles. You will get lost at times, concepts will go over your head, but he will bring you back. It is important to note that most of this stuff is over a physicists head as well. So, give it a read. I never once felt so overwhelmed I wanted to stop. I blew through this book much faster than I imagined. Why did I wait so long!?
fkshg8465's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
I loved this book. I can’t say I understood all the science or math discussed, but I was able to grasp the concepts and expand my imagination alongside it to see a bigger universe. I think this is a must read for anyone who wants to write science fiction. It explains in as layman terms as is possible how to create stories that make scientific sense if you plan to write about a multiverse or doppelgänger or wormhole out intergalactic travel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, War, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
celsius273's review against another edition
DNF at chapter 10. It was a bit too dry and technical for me. While the chapter names were intriguing and there were interesting anecdotes in each chapter, it was still slightly too boring, even with the pictures, for me to read into and understand the developments of modern physics. There wasn't much holding it together, i.e. the book only follows the overthrow of each theory as its organizing structure. It also seemed to ramble on with analogies that weren't that great to follow, eg the wood vs marble and flatland comparisons. Though I'm sure that [a:Michio Kaku|18800|Michio Kaku|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1379758804p2/18800.jpg] is quite knowledgable about the theories mentioned in the book (as evidenced by his other books) I expected this book to be more in story form like [b:Flatterland|17033|Flatterland Like Flatland Only More So|Ian Stewart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435123847s/17033.jpg|18661] and thus easier to read. Overall, this book was just disappointing for me. I expected it to be a fun and informative telling of the evolution of dimensional theories but ended up getting a book that was difficult to read and closer to a paper than novel.