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A review by mike_brough
Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes & Our Future in the Cosmos by Michio Kaku
4.0
I started reading this when it first came out in paperback and then, for some unknown reason, set is aside, only to find it again yesterday. So, the first 300 pages were read 10 years ago and the last 60 pages were read yesterday and today. I'm sure there's a time-travel quip hiding in there but my brain's too foggy to grasp it today.
From what I recall of the first 80% of this book, it's a sprint through parallel worlds theory and M-String theory. What Kaku does differently from, say, Brian Greene, is to look at the applications of the theory he's explaining. At times, this makes it feel like a primer for science fiction writers embarking on a new Star Trek franchise. Which is no bad thing - I always understand a theory better if it's rooted in concrete examples although I suspect I miss out on some of the richness of the theory thereby.
The last chapter is possibly the best: a whiz around what all of this might mean for our understanding of the 'purpose'of the universe. Even if we reach a position of synthesising a Unified Theory of Everything, who created that law? Is there a designer? Is there a god? Or is it just turtles all the way down?
Fascinating.
From what I recall of the first 80% of this book, it's a sprint through parallel worlds theory and M-String theory. What Kaku does differently from, say, Brian Greene, is to look at the applications of the theory he's explaining. At times, this makes it feel like a primer for science fiction writers embarking on a new Star Trek franchise. Which is no bad thing - I always understand a theory better if it's rooted in concrete examples although I suspect I miss out on some of the richness of the theory thereby.
The last chapter is possibly the best: a whiz around what all of this might mean for our understanding of the 'purpose'of the universe. Even if we reach a position of synthesising a Unified Theory of Everything, who created that law? Is there a designer? Is there a god? Or is it just turtles all the way down?
Fascinating.