Product Description

In Warped Passages one of the world's most exciting scientists gives us a glimpse into our future. Incredibly readable - and illustrated throughout - it allows the general reader to understand the questions that scientists are dealing with at the frontiers of research today. Lisa Randall allows the reader to understand the kind of problems that extra dimensions might solve and the kind of speculation that is needed even to imagine them. She also gives an introduction to developments in early twentieth century physics, particle physics and string theory and addresses current debates about relativity, quantum mechanics and gravity - and she describes the questions that are still to be solved.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46835 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Lisa Randall is on a quest to explain the fabric of reality. She is a leading theoretical physicist - the world's most cited - and an expert on string theory. She was the first tenured woman in the Princeton Physics department and the first tenured woman theorist at MIT and Harvard.

Customer Reviews

Buy This Book - It is the best thing of its kind I've read.
I am not a scientist. I'm a writer and former actor. But, ever since I was a kid and discovered Scientific American, I've had an abiding interest in science both for the things there are to learn and the recreation that reading science offers. So, I've read a ton of stuff about science.

I have read some books that have knocked me off my feet over the years. But, Warped Passeges knocks their sox off. I admired the book so much that after I read my library copy, I bought it.

The first time I ever heard (outside SF, of course) about dimensions beyond three of space and one of time, was not so long ago when New Scientist did a piece on the idea. The problem was that the article raised too many questions of the wrong kind. What the piece whould have done is deal precisely with the questions that were raised. Those were the simple basic questions. For example, What is a dimension? The answer was not forthcoming in any set of words that made sense.

In Warped Passages, Lisa Randall, not only answered that question but it made sense to me and gave me a good idea of what the teeny, tiny ones are. I could never find anyone to make even the slightest sensible explanation before.

The whole book answers rafts of questions of that nature and a whole lot more as well. I'm grateful to her for that. The book even led to the answer to a question that has bothered me for many years - Why is there only one time dimension?

The answer lies in Randall's field of model making (I didn't even know what model making meant in physics before reading the book) which suffuses her book. For me, it was her historical, beginning, middle, end approach that took me by the hand and led me down a pretty wonderful garden path.

You may not need the most basic questions answered. If so, I suppose you can speed-read those passages. However, I think you will still get a huge amount out of the book.

However, if you are anything like me, you will come out of the other end of the book informed and delighted.

Hackneyed, turgid, indecipherable...
Every chapter of this book is prefaced with a terrible sci-fi vignette. They are like sketches for the most hackneyed episodes of the twilight zone. This gives the impression that the author is a bad B movie writer rather than a top theoretical physicist. She also commits the mistake of creating a mathematical appendix, as a sop to Math geeks, but this is too terse to be useful to anybody. I pity the lay reader who is immediately caught between bad science fiction and unedifying trips to a tagged on appendix full of indecipherable symbols.

The actual text of the chapters does not improve matters. As John Gribbin says in his Sunday Times review, "Randall is at best a workmanlike writer". Turgid and prolix might be more apt descriptions.

The first half of the book is a laboured introduction to relativity and quantum theory, which are covered far more entertainingly, and accurately, by John Gribbin, Paul Davies Brian Greene, and everyone else. She commits another sin of bad popularisers by frequently encouraging readers to skip ahead if the going gets tough. One of these 'skip arounds' produced the most confusing description of the Higgs particle that I have ever encountered and wish I had skipped ahead! This preceded an incredibly stultifying account of the standard model. Around page 220 I skipped ahead to the end of the book...

There are far better popular accounts of the topics covered in this book, so I suggest readers look elsewhere.

reads like a physics thriller....
On the covers of many modern physics books, addressed to laymen interested in the latest developments, abstract graphics is shown, trying to convey a sort of mystical flavour of the subject. But mostly used with the intention to stand out and get the attention of readers, who nowadays are overwhelmed by these books, especially in this World Year of Physics 2005, in which Einstein's work is highlighted.

The cover of Lisa Randall's book "Warped Passages: Unravelling the universe's hidden dimensions" is very different. The title and her name are printed in her own handwriting, which gives this book a casual, but dead honest look. As if she has just scribbled down her latest ideas and wants the world to take notice as soon as possible, but in my opinion it marks the style of someone who is brutally honest about her work and wants the reader to really understand what she is talking about.

And you will not be disappointed: her passion for her research is well reflected in this book. I read it almost like a 'who dunnit' thriller so I will not spoil your fun by giving away too much details, but, having read quite a few similar books, this one really stands out in the crowd.

All the familiar characters of modern day physics, like quantum mechanics, relativity theory, particle physics, supersymmetry, string theory and braneworlds come on stage. They are properly introduced to the reader in separate chapters, which each start with a little intermezzo to give you a feel for how the story will go on. It serves both as an appetizer and gives you a moment to reflect before indulging in the next scenes.

This all builds up to the last chapters, where all these characters seem to play a part in a mysterious plot: hiding the evidence for extra dimensions !!
Then you will discover that Lisa Randall has quite a few tricks up her sleeve to push these characters to reveal the truth they so cleverly conceal from us in our everyday four-dimensional world. By introducing several different higher-dimensional models of our universe, she interrogates them one by one. That's hard and arduous work, that's for sure, but you get the exciting impression that they will give in and that answers are laying just around the corner. The author makes a quite convincing story so far and finally asks the reader with the same disarming honesty this question: "Extra dimensions: Are you in or are you out?"

Many questions have yet to be completely answered, but I for one am certainly in...

Don't worry, you won't need a formal background in physics or mathematics to fully appreciate this book. After each chapter the main points are summarized with bullets, as easy reminders without interrupting the natural flow of the story. No formulae are presented in the main text, but in the back however is a math notes section where some subjects are further explained. So if you are a newbie, an amateur physics buff (like me) or even a professional physicist, I am sure the enthusiasm and fun with which the author tells this fascinating story will take you on a rewarding and intellectually challenging adventure !!