h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Fathom.

You appear to be quite knowledgable in an area I'm interested in, namely areas concerning String theory, M theory, the 10 (or is it 11) dimensions and all the other components at the forefront of current physics and a unified theory of everything.

So far I've read very little, I gained my introduction by reading The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown and I'm about to embark on The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

If you know of any other books or websites you could recommend I'd be highly appreciative.

What's your background by the way? Are you a physicist?

Hello there Wielding Akhawn,

Thanks for the compliment but it's not well deserved - I'm a good bluffer most of the time!



I'm just an interested amateur, not a professional and I get most of my information from New Scientist. I would recommend a look at their website and a search on string theory as a good starting point. They don't dumb down the science but they do make it intelligible to the lay reader. They also provide good references for further reading. Scientific American is also a good source but I've not read as much from them.

The maths is out of my league but I like to try to keep abreast of recent thinking in cosmology.

I haven't read either of the books you mention (I've thumbed through The Universe Next Door though) so I might invest in one of those as a bit of holiday reading myself. I'd be delighted to swap ideas too, if you like.

F

Well, you're a pretty damn good bluffer then I must say

Thanks for the tips, I'll pop those websites on my favourite list right away..

Just started The Elegant Universe last night. The first chapter has explained the incompatability of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics and the second chapter is giving an overview of relativity. For once I'm taking the time to digest the info and re-read paragraphs if I need to. It's nice to finally get the ideas into a coherent form in my mind

When I've read a bit more I'll pop by and take up your offer of sharing ideas.