Library Journal Reviews

September 1, 2005

SECTION: REVIEWS; Science and Technology; Pg. 174

LENGTH: 186 words

HEADLINE: Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions

BYLINE: Sara Rutter

BODY:


Randall, Lisa. Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions. Ecco: HarperCollins . Sept. 2005. c.512p. illus. index.

ISBN 0-06-053108-8 . [ISBN 978-0-06-053108-9 ]. $27.95. SCI

Randall (theoretical physics, Harvard Univ.) has written a book that, like Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe , promises to be the intellectual's coffee-table status symbol this fall. The author proposes a universe with many more dimensions than we are physiologically able to perceive—we are in a three-dimensional sinkhole, or "3-brane"; the universe is made up of many brane-worlds with different numbers of dimensions. To explain and illustrate the complex models and mathematical calculations used to develop groundbreaking new theories in physics, Randall employs stories, analogies, and drawings. In this way, she is like an extraordinarily smart and lively college professor working to engage her students in the excitement of discovery. Many references to earlier research supply historical background. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.—Sara Rutter, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa Lib.