Three Roads to Quantum Gravity

TheHolyGrailofmodernphysicsisatheoryoftheuniversethatunitestwoseeminglyopposingpillarsofmodernscience:Einstein'stheoryofgeneralrelativity,whichdealswithlarge-scalephenomena(planets,solarsystemsandgalaxies),andquantumtheory,whichdealswiththeworldoftheverysmall(molecules,atoms,electrons).InThreeRoadstoQuantumGravity,LeeSmolinprovidesthefirstconciseandaccessibleoverviewofcurrentattemptstoreconcilethesetwotheoriesinafinal"theoryofeverything."Thisistheclosestanyonehasevercometodevisingacompletelynewtheoryofspace,timeandtheuniversetoreplacetheNewtonianideasthatwerethefoundationofallscienceuntilthebeginningofthetwentiethcentury.LeeSmolin,whohasspenthiscareerattheforefrontofthesenewdiscoveries,presentsforthefirsttimethemainideasbehindthenewdevelopmentsthathavebroughtaquantumtheoryofgravityinsight.Heexplainsinsimpletermswhatscientistsaretalkingaboutwhentheysaytheworldismadefromexoticentitiessuchasloops,strings,andblackholes.Ashedoesso,hetellsthefascinatingstoriesbehindthesediscoveries:therivalries,epiphanies,andintrigueshewitnessedfirsthand.ScienceMastersSeries