Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Anyone accustomed to the sober atmosphere of science writing will be rather shocked by Nova's treatment of "The Elegant Universe". Zany examples, intentional facetiousness and dazzling imagery a serious science discussion does not make. However if you're familiar with Brian Greene's writing style you'll immediately recognize that tounge-in-cheek is par for the course. Greene's book is at once an intellectual excercise and a lightweight science review, and for that we are all grateful: much of the 19th & 20th century science leading up to the 'discovery' of the String Theories is poorly understood by educated Americans (most definitely including me), and the brushing-up is well deserved. And while some equations are included and some (light) mathematical work required, for the most part Greene realizes that most people will require some help visualizing those things which can never be visualized; quantum mechanics, strings, 11 dimensions. Which is why it should not come as a suprise to many familiar with his books that the Nova treatment is so lighthearted, or contains so many simplistic visual examples again and again. This new math is inaccesible to most and challenging to the rest, so the eye candy is warranted. And what eye candy! The visual elements, while at times capricious and overwhelming, are expertly done and do serve to provide further understanding of the subject. The visual effects team at Edgeworx has provided entertaining, educational visual material that should hold up to scrutiny over time. Greene himself is generally an engaging host. While he has but one on-camera trick (pause, put hands together, glance at floor, then BANG back at the camera), he works it, all the while clearly explaining the subject. One last thing that can be said about Nova's "The Elegant Universe" is that it is =responsible=. There is a large cast of scientists, mathematicians and others on both sides of String Theory. It is continually brought into question as untested, untestable, and possibly dead wrong. The closest to proselytizing that anyone does is to explain that Quantum Physics, the set of mathematical ideas that give extremely good approximations of what happens to sub-atomic particles, has never made an incorrect prediction. Not so with String Theory; no one is willing to say, on-camera, that String Theory is the truth, and in so doing, the piece retains a certain respectful distance from the subject. Nova's "The Elegant Universe" is up-to-date, expertly made and provides a reasonably accessible overview of the various ideas known as String Theory as to be approrpriate for an audience of any age. I would like to live in the alternate universe in which "Stephen Hawking's Universe" and "Nova - The Elegant Universe" were shown back-to-back to school-age children as a comprehensive introduction to modern cosmological science.