Warped Passages

Some of the ideas floating around in theoretical physics seem a bit far out, and the non-expert might wonder whether there is any real substance to them - string theory sounds weird enough, but multidimensional branes seem to be stretching credibility to the limit. In this book an expert physicist describes the work she has been doing on this subject, but does so in a way that is accessible to the novice, skillfully using metaphor to explain each point. Thus we hear about the development of string theory and the standard model, leading on to the latest ideas of why space might seem to be three dimensional when in reality it has more, 'hidden' dimensions.

The book shows use that physicists' ideas aren't just flights of fancy, there are real contraints that have to be satisfied, in particular predicting why particle masses are what they are and not hugely greater. It also shows why the Large Hadron Collider, coming on line next year, is so important.

A word of warning though if you are starting from a position of not having read about the subject before. Although the work is non-technical, there's a lot to take in in this 500 page book, and you might find yourself struggling to keep it all in mind. I feel that the book doesn't have the sort of structure which allows you to read it in parts with breaks to assimilate what you have learned, and it might be better to start off with shorter books on the subject.