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The Perfect Theory: A Century Of Geniuses And The Battle Over General Relativity (2014)

by Pedro G. Ferreira(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0547554893 (ISBN13: 9780547554891)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

review 1: A nice read on the quest for a unified theory starting from the general theory of relativity. Both the history and physics are written in a clear and engaging style. However, in an effort to accurately reconstruct the exact trajectories from the inception of the general theory of relativity to supersymmetry/M-theory/loop quantum gravity etc. where we stand today, the book makes you visit all the dead ends leading to information overload. Toward the end of the book at contemporary times when multiple schools of thought continue to dominate, the book seems a lot more diffuse than where it started off. That said the book is true to its description as "a biography of the theory of relativity." I enjoyed the overall impartial tone of the book as the author narrated its evolutio... moren without clouding it with his personal biases or crowding it with details of his own contributions.
review 2: For me as someone trying to return to my first love - physics - in my forties, this is a great start. A roundup of the history that lead to current state of affairs. It is easy to identify the key papers and books from the text and to continue the research. I look forward to getting to know the Sakharov's work in more detail as the next step, as well as to get more familiar with MOND. Book is written in an accessible style and it is difficult to stop reading it at any given point. Recommended read. less

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