John R. Gribbin

Presents an introduction to quantum physics, the study of matter and radiation at the atomic level.

No one is more successful than this author when it comes to making the cutting edge of physics more accessible to a broad lay audience. In Schrodinger's Kittens, he took readers to the eerie world of subatomic particles & waves. Now, he explores the most exciting area of research in physics today: string theory. Following a series of major breakthroughs in the 1990s, physicists are putting together a clearer picture of how subatomic particles work. By hypothesizing particles as a single loop of vibrating "string," they are on the brink of discovering a way to explain all of nature's forces in a single theory. Grandly named "superstrings,"& incorporating the ideas of "supersymmetry," these models are the prime candidate for the long sought-for "Theory of Everything." Written in clear & accessible language. The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, & the Theory of Everything brings to life the remarkable scientific research that is on the cusp of radically altering our conception of the universe.

John Gribbin has collected the answer to everything you need to know about the quantum world - the place where most of the greatest scientific advances of the twentieth century have been made. This reference begins with a thorough introduction setting out the current state of knowledge in particle physics. Gribbin blends articles on the structure of particles and their interactions, accounts of the theoretical breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and their practical applications, and entertaining biographies of the scientists who have blazed the trail of discovery. In a special section, "Timelines," key dates in our quest to understand the quantum world are mapped out alongside landmarks in world history and the history of science. Q is for Quantum is an essential companion for anyone interested in particle physics.

Once the stuff of science-fiction novels, black holes, and their even stranger cosmological counterparts, white holes and worm holes, are now the subject of serious scientific inquiry. Physicists who formerly shunned these astrophysical eccentricities have begun to theorize about them and search for the physical proof of their existence with the zeal of converts. Their unavoidable conclusion of this research is that these "rips in the fabric of spacetime" are not only. Real, they might actually provide a passage to other universes and travel through time. Unveiling the Edge of Time tells the fascinating story of the theories and discoveries that have led scientists to these astonishing conclusions. Here, acclaimed science writer John Gribbin tells of the scientists and the ideas behind this revolution in cosmology - from the first notions of an object so large its gravity would trap even light, to the most recent developments in the. Search for "naked singularities"--The center of a black hole where all known laws of physics break down. Gribbin recounts for us such dramatic stories as how Carl Sagan's science-fiction search for a plausible method of hyperspace travel led a fellow physicist to make some of the most startling recent advances in relativity theory. Taking readers into new universes and across time itself, Gribbin provides remarkable descriptions of what it would be like for astronauts. Taking trips through each of these spacetime "holes"--What they would see and feel as they are drawn across "event horizons" and where they would arrive after passing through a singularity. With a scientist's knowledge of the facts and a writer's gift for description, John Gribbin conveys these extraordinary ideas with both excitement and clarity. The result is an intellectual adventure that will take readers to the farthest reaches of today's science.