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But these detractors self-evidently miss the gems in this easy-to-read inspiring introduction and at the same time cutting-edge treatment of esoteric science; typically placed just beyond the reach of the "average" scientifically curious folk. Dr. But take we did.And thank God for that.Warped Passages is a unique book which deeply inspires and impels one to research deeper into those ideas so very clearly and accessibly explored in its fluid,easy 458 pages.At chapter 22, Lisa Randall includes these memorable lines by Vanessa from The Rocky Horror Picture Show -"From another dimension, With voyeuristic intention, Let's do the time warp again." And that is exactly what Randall's Warp Passages enable the reader to easily and pleasingly do.Buy this great book, gift it to friends as I have done and advance the understanding of complicated science mysteries. Among whom I find myself, even after devouring a considerable number of "popular science" helpers.This exhilarating book, authored by a highly-respected and first tenured woman theoretical physicist at MIT and Harvard, and first tenured woman at the Princeton physics department, is nothing less than the forbidden fruit of that tree from which we were not to take. Randall's Warped Passages will swiftly and easily transport you into a great world of fascinating science and enlightening ideas. Yet, the warped passages she has opened for her readers to traverse make it so very easy for one to fall through that rabbit hole and explore ideas usually mired in needlessly complicated "math."Some have here criticized and detracted from Warped Passages.
Randall's book goes a long way in writing an understandable book for the layman along with being well written. I think that Prof. Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden DimensionsAs a physicist, I find most of the popularized literature, not really understandable by the general public. Often references are made to highly technical issues which layman think they understand, but don't really.
The history of modern physics from the late 19th century through today is replete with partial "sub-theories," each of which form the foundations (and limitations) of quantum mechanics and the theories of relativity. For example, unlike Brian Greene, who seems to prefer "string theory" and its progeny over all competing theories (for reasons which frustratingly fade away in inverse proportion to the number of pages in his book), Lisa Randall takes a comprehensive and perhaps therefore a more objective approach to each theory she discusses. This intellectual honesty lends credibility and therefore ease of understanding to her mode of expression.
Each of the several layperson-friendly books on physics that I have read contains an introductory set of chapters on which the main premise of the particular book is based. However, Lisa Randall's "Warped Passages." contains exceptionally clear introductory chapters. I found Lisa Randall's "Warped Passages." to be an extremely accessible book for the layperson because of its clarity and balanced emphasis on each of several competing and non-competing modern physics theories.
This clarity not only demonstrates her command and understanding of these early parts of her book, it also effectively expresses her humility and implicit acknowledgment of the incompleteness of the various competing theories that make up her life work. If such history is to be any guide, Lisa Randall's "weigh and consider several theory" approach to explain the nature of space, time, energy, and matter is not only sound, but necessary, not only to diversify intellectual and fiscal resources in an economic sense, but also to build the most scientifically robust model possible. In terms of understandability, some are fair, others are adequate, and others are quite good.
For example, I found such chapters in Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" to be quite good.
It was painful to plod through the entire book.Don't. I wanted a detailed explanation of the new thoughts in physics and got a droll tedious lecture on physics. Very disappointing. Poorly written.
That path is probably common to all physicists, and Randall shows in its simplest form, the standard model is not without problems, e.g. The way Randall puts it, there is very little "wriggle-room" there. Thus if, as I suspect, new much heavier mesons are found, then much of the standard model will fall. Lisa Randall is a theoretician working at the front line of modern physics, and this book essentially covers, without maths (an extraordinary achievement) Randall's path. Alternatively, if the Higgs is found where it is supposed to be and what I suspect will turn up doesn't, then the reader will gratefully realize they understand nature, at least to a point. It is worth it almost for that reason alone.The third reason is that it shows how "brittle" the standard model is. This book is one of the very few guides available.
Fixes are required, and the path then proceeds through supersymmetry, the Higgs particle, and on to multidimensional physics. Assuming it works, various statements will come out, and if you follow this book, you should be able to appreciate, at least qualitatively, what it all means. In a few hours after writing this, the Large Hadron Collider will be switched on. The absence of maths makes the book eerily readable, but it may also lead to a little uncertainty in interpretation. However, the fourth reason is perhaps the best.
The book starts with a coverage of relativity and quantum mechanics, each in small chapters, explains the role of symmetry and why it is important, and proceeds to the standard model of particle physics. In my opinion, there is a very good chance that much of this will eventually be regarded as "quaint", and may be an interesting historical account of a theory that went wrong, and readers will comment about what physicists should have doubted. That is the first reason to buy the book.The second reason is that it shows how Randall goes about things; this is one of the very few books in which a leading scientist shows some of their own thought patterns, free of pompous self-justification. the difference between prediction and observation can exceed by many orders of magnitude the number of elementary particles in the known universe. However, for the non-physicist, this book may offer the only credible way of finding out what this journey involves.
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