The Grand Design

This is a review by a layman grappling with the not so self-evident laws of the incredibly small and large physical realities.I read and very much enjoyed Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell although have not come across any of L. Mlodinow's several popular books on physics and quantum physics.This book is very different from the previous two Hawking books and several other readings on cosmology, all of which attempt to familiarize the lay audience with the intricate principles of modern physics, i.e. the theory of general relativity (GR), quantum mechanics (QM), various flavors of string theory complete with M-theory, and multiverses. Here, most of this knowledge is taken for granted at least on an elementary level. The authors focus instead on the philosophical aspects of the immense new knowledge that has been gained since Maxwell's formalization of electro-magnetism and Einstein's concept of space-time fabric. Ancient philosophers, legends of various religious worldviews, and respectful dispute with creationist beliefs make their appearances throughout the engaging narration. On the way to the "theory of everything," that in the writers' opinion seems to be the hard-to-swallow concept of M-theory with its 10 spatial dimensions, we meet a few modern principles of acquiring knowledge. One of them is the "top down approach" which makes conclusions about the past based on the present using probability calculations instead of describing universal history as a linear event with a fixed beginning and predetermined outcome. Another is the "anthropic principle" which uses the very existence of humans as an argument in the interpretation of the Universe.The story we are presented with is an unapologetic utilization of the still poorly understood and even less readily imaginable principles of quantum mechanics. According to this worldview, our very existence is due to nothing else but quantum fluctuation in the primordial Universe, when its size was in the range of the Planck length (length of 10 to the negative 35 meters). In the randomness of temperature variations of multiple (10 to the 500!?) imaginable early universes one had just the right conditions, i.e. temperature differences, to be able to form clumps of material, the birthplace of present day galaxies, following the inflation. In fact the small but well documented temperature variation in the cosmic microwave background radiation is thought to be the thumbprint of this primordial quantum fluctuation.It seems to me that by the time galaxies formed, the laws of GR that apparently govern today's cosmos on a grand scale, overshadowed the principles of QM that dominated the "baby" Universe. Although this "changing of the guards" of the physical laws from QM to GR clearly had to be a continuum, until today even the smartest minds among us have not been able to find a theory that can describe a smooth transition between the two. QM and GR simply do not seem to coexist very well together: using QM laws, the GR equations invariably result in infinite results, the mathematical equivalence of "garbage." The book however ends on a positive note: M-theory.Although M-theory itself, like all other major concepts of physics in this fairly short book, is only briefly presented, the authors leave little doubt about their current conviction that the theory is a major candidate for Einstein's unfulfilled dream, the unified theory. To illustrate what the real meaning of a "unified theory" may be, the authors discuss the Game of Life in full seven pages. The essence of the game is to build various structures based on three simple basic laws. These structures - one may look at them as multiverses - will evolve very differently despite the uniformity of the three rules depending on the initial conditions, i.e. how one places the two building blocks (life or death) on the checkered board at the beginning of the game. In the process, various formations are produced that seem to follow certain rules (think of the laws of thermodynamics, Newton's three laws of motion, etc.) while the underlying three basic rules never change.Of course, M-theory is not without controversies due to the mathematical complexities required to model it and the extremely small size of strings that are thought to be the theory's building blocks. In fact, the energy necessary to dissect matter to the infinitesimal size of strings and thus make them observable seems to be unattainable. Viewed in this way, the difference between a supernatural creator (God) and M-theory seems to be almost negligible at first glimpse. Although the authors don't explicitly get tangled in the emotional battle between spirituality and materialism, they provide sufficient circumstantial evidence in the form of reproducible observational data to make a strong intellectual argument that God is not necessary to answer mankind's ever recurring questions: `Why do we exist? Why is there something rather than nothing?' and the one question for which you have to be a physicist to ask: "Why this particular set of laws and not some other?"The book is a well-narrated, mostly enjoyable read even for a lay person like myself - someone not involved in the field of physics in any way. I think however that without a basic understanding of GR and QM much of the book's main premises will fly over a potential reader's head. The two books by Hawking mentioned at the beginning of this review will certainly be sufficient to appreciate the magical world revealed in The Grand Design: the world of theoretical physics and cosmology hidden from most of us who grew up on Euclidean geometry and Newtonian physics.There were only very few places where I felt a touch of too much technicality - e.g. "renormalization" -, or not sufficient clarity - e.g. brief references to "super symmetry", or the Feynman diagrams. Many of the pictures were intuitive and helpful, although I wish a few of them had more detailed captions - e.g. the figure of Quarks or the Triple Alpha Process. The cartoons were sufficiently witty to contribute to the overall entertaining mood of the book.I would recommend the book to all those interested in cosmology and particle physics, but most of all to those tickled by a natural scientific approach to life's great philosophical questions and the unquenchable thirst of humans to acquire knowledge.

Wow. This is a mind-bender but a great way to keep your brain and mind healthy. The basic idea of the authors is that if there is experimental support for M-Theory then we may have found the grand design of the universe. The extent to which any one person may understand the illustrations of the argument is another question. For example check this out: "bodies such as stars or black holes cannot just appear out of nothing. But a whole universe can" (p. 180). Yikes! But when you read (and re-read) their arguments it gets clearer and the clarity is a great reward when it comes.After giving a concise summary of model-dependent realism the Hawking and Mlodinow make the point that all concepts of "reality" depend on pictures or theories (models). They then discuss the attributes of a successful model. Is it elegant? Does it contain few arbitrary or adjustable elements? Can it make detailed predictions about future observations that can falsify the model if they are not borne out? Hence, weaving history, mythology, theology and philosophy they walk us through the way humans have and currently do make sense of the world then introduce us to some of the pictures or models that cosmologists are using to understand the nature and origin of the universe.Their point is that "M" Theory, will function as their model and they offer a colloquial jaunt through general and special relativity, sting theory, quantum superposition and Richard Feynman's infamous "sum over histories." In tracing the origins of the universe Hawking and Mlodinow point out that such a search must take place "top-down," starting at present and examining things like cosmic microwave background radiation to understand what came before and when before began. The idea that time is a malleable property of this universe (yes there may be lots of universes with different laws than ours) is one of the brain-bending ideas that the reader meets. In addition, you get to learn about the 11 dimensions of the universe that "M" Theory suggests (the four of space-time and seven additional ones that are curled up infinitely small but that play important roles in the physical laws we observe at the Newtonian and quantum levels). The authors end a fun and complicated romp with the notion that if the predictions of "M" theory are borne out, we may have found a set of theories (M-Theory is a set of theories including 5 string theories) the grand design of a universe that could come into being from nothing and not require any creator per se.I doubt that the avowed theist will find "The Grand Design" much of an argument to stop their tithing but hopefully it will initiate us laypeople into the mysteries of what can be examined with scientific methods. The little I think I grasped of this work and Hawking's other books has only increased my awe and wonder at why there is something rather than nothing. The extent to which anything inspires a quest for knowledge and a sense of awe perhaps it is a living mythology in itself. And if that is the case perhaps it is irrelevant whether the journey leads us through a church or a physics lab.As a postscript - I think I got more out of this because I'd read "The Illustrated Brief History of Time" and "The Universe in a Nutshell" first.

What a brillant way to start the year with a book that could already easily be one of my best reads in Non-Fiction this year.The main thesis of the book is to explore the reason for the existance of the universe, and, largely to discuss whether the universe is created by some intelligent being (God) or a product arising of natural laws, when all around us increasing evidence suggests a Universe made up of an Intelligent Design.Hawking feeds into your inner childlike curiosity, and pacifies the part of you which yearns to learn about grand things even without having a background or expertise in something like Cosmology or Astonomy.His brilliance lies in the fact that how succintly with his profound understanding he can bring up topics like black holes, consciousness, nature of reality etc. and then go on describing them eloquently with simple and beautiful explanations.The book has been a joy to read, thought provoking in a way which will alight every neuron in your brain. Not someting you'd read and forget in passing; it will make you stop to ponder and think.As I said earlier, could'nt have started the year with a better read.

My daughter heard about this book when she was watching a movie and she really liked it. She’s really into science and astronomy and astrology and this has been a great book. There’s a lot of really really interesting information. She’s 14 so there are definitely things in the book that she does not understand but it’s great to get them interested in science interested in creation and everything that goes along with that. I would recommend you give this book a try. As a Christian it’s good to be able to see the God side of creation and science side of creation.

Livro ricamente ilustrado com as mais recentes descobertas e atualização de Uma Breve Historia do Tempo.Seguem algumas ilustrações (não consegui girar, mesmo estando correto na figura no computador aqui aparece errado).

Il libro è veramente fenomenale, spiegato con il solito stile irresistibile di Hawking. Un must per gli appassionati del genere. Inoltre impaginazione ottima su carta spessa e con illustrazioni a colori. Veramente ben fatto.

I choose the science books, because are the essential part of life and humanity throught time and space, and the knowledge about it is our future.The book arrives in excellent conditions, thanks Amazon.