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Three Roads to Quantum Gravity

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Country
  
United States

Publication date
  
May 30, 2001

Pages
  
240 pp.

Author
  
Lee Smolin

Publisher
  
Basic Books

4.1/5
Goodreads

Language
  
English

Media type
  
Print, e-book

Originally published
  
30 May 2001

Genre
  
Non-fiction

Three Roads to Quantum Gravity t1gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcTzwYcSXnpO3s6LG

Subject
  
Physics, quantum gravity

Preceded by
  
The Life of the Cosmos (1999)

Followed by
  
The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next (2006)

Similar
  
Lee Smolin books, Science Masters series books, Physics books

Three Roads to Quantum Gravity: A New Understanding of Space, Time and the Universe is the second non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Lee Smolin. The book was initially published on May 30, 2001 by Basic Books as a part of Science Masters series.

Contents

Overview

Smolin discusses three potential approaches by which a unified theory of quantum gravity, arguably the foremost issue in theoretical physics, may be realized. Approaches discussed include string theory, M-theory, and Smolin's preferred approach, loop quantum gravity. Smolin suggests that these approaches may be approximations of a single, underlying theory.

Review

Divide an inch in two. Now divide each half again, and then repeat the division, over and over. Can you go on for ever, or do the laws of physics eventually get in the way? Is the fabric of space infinitely divisible, or is it ultimately made up of "atoms"—tiny chunks of space that can never be split? This question may seem almost unanswerable. But as physicist Lee Smolin writes in Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, some of the newest ideas in physics are pointing to a surprising answer: space and time do indeed appear to be made out of such atoms. In explaining why, he offers a tour by a skilled teacher through some of the boldest and most beautiful ideas of modern science. Smolin has been one of the leading figures in recent efforts to bring together two of the most far-reaching scientific theories of our age.

The Guardian

References

Three Roads to Quantum Gravity Wikipedia