The Fabric of the Cosmos
Softcover edition
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| Author | Brian Greene |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Theoretical physics, cosmology, string theory |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
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Publication date
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2004 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 569 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 52854030 |
| 523.1 22 | |
| LC Class | QB982 .G74 2004 |
| Preceded by | The Elegant Universe |
| Followed by | Icarus at the Edge of Time |
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (2004) is the second book on theoretical physics, cosmology, and string theory written by Brian Greene, professor and co-director of Columbia's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP).
Greene begins with the key question: what is reality? Or more specifically: what is spacetime? He sets out to describe the features he finds both exciting and essential to forming a full picture of the reality painted by modern science. In almost every chapter, Greene introduces basic concepts and then slowly builds to a climax, usually a scientific breakthrough. Greene then attempts to connect with his reader by posing simple analogies to help explain the meaning of a scientific concept without oversimplifying the theory behind it.
In the preface, Greene acknowledges that some parts of the book are controversial among scientists. He discusses the leading viewpoints in the main text and points of contention in the endnotes. The endnotes contain more complete explanations of points that are simplified in the main text.
The main focus of Part I is space and time.
Chapter 1, Roads to Reality, introduces what is to come later in the book, such as discussions revolving around classical physics, quantum mechanics, and cosmological physics.
Chapter 2, "The Universe and the Bucket", features space as its key point. The question posed by Greene is this: "Is space a human abstraction, or is it a physical entity?" The key thought experiment is a spinning bucket of water, designed to make one think about what creates the force felt inside the bucket when it is spinning. The ideas of Isaac Newton, Ernst Mach, and Gottfried Leibniz on this thought experiment are discussed in detail.
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