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1adamallen
Hello everyone. I'm not one to have read many science books historically but I'm interested in learning more about string and chaos theories. However, being a bit shallow when it comes to science, I hesitate to go blindly into a book on these topics without some advice. I'm no dunce but I'm also not steeped in scientific discussion.
Could anyone recommend a good primer on chaos theory and one on string theory?
Cheers,
adamallen
Could anyone recommend a good primer on chaos theory and one on string theory?
Cheers,
adamallen
2unadopted Primer Mensaje
I've been told that Chaos: Making a New Science is a good book about chaos theory but I haven't read it myself (although I'd like to).
I read The Elegant Universe several years ago and I found the beginning interesting - I felt Brian Greene's explanations of special relativity, bits of modern physics and the basics of string theory were quite good. However, I found the second half of the book pretty hard going and gave up after a while. I tried again a year or two later and still couldn't get through it.
I've since gone most of the way through a physics degree so my opinion might be different now. Earlier this year I read The Trouble with Physics which is anti-string theory but it does explain the basics of string theory. This bit is briefer than it is in the Elegant Universe but I found it a lot easier to read and I appreciated what people liked about string theory a lot more, even though the book doesn't like it much. I might just've enjoyed it more because I know more physics now, though.
I read The Elegant Universe several years ago and I found the beginning interesting - I felt Brian Greene's explanations of special relativity, bits of modern physics and the basics of string theory were quite good. However, I found the second half of the book pretty hard going and gave up after a while. I tried again a year or two later and still couldn't get through it.
I've since gone most of the way through a physics degree so my opinion might be different now. Earlier this year I read The Trouble with Physics which is anti-string theory but it does explain the basics of string theory. This bit is briefer than it is in the Elegant Universe but I found it a lot easier to read and I appreciated what people liked about string theory a lot more, even though the book doesn't like it much. I might just've enjoyed it more because I know more physics now, though.
4psiloiordinary
As a strict amateur I can recommend The Elegant Universe and also The Fabric of The Cosmos.
5rness Primer Mensaje
Nova had a very good special on "The Elegant Universe". You can watch it online:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html
6buddahboy
Can't say anything about books on String theory, but Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick is a good historical overview of how chaos theory developed. Deep Simplicity by John Gribbin and Critcal Mass by Phillip Ball are very good books on a closely related area of science (complexity theory).
7starfighter Primer Mensaje
You could try Not even wrong the failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law by Peter Woit which I found to be very readable.
8daschaich
Peter Woit also has a blog, also called Not Even Wrong, which I read from time to time. Much of it is commentary on recent papers and conferences, but there are often more accessible posts, and the comments can get... interesting.
9adamallen
Terrific everyone. Thanks for your recommendations. Today I received (ordered last week) Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick and I also picked up The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next by Lee Smolin from the library yesterday.
I have a couple of books in front of them but it's time to learn!
I have a couple of books in front of them but it's time to learn!
10johnnylogic
adamallen,
I'm a bit late, but, regarding chaos theory, I would recommend the following books in addition to those already suggested:
*Does God play dice?: the mathematics of chaos
*In the wake of chaos: unpredictable order in dynamical systems: To read after Does God Play Dice?.
I'm a bit late, but, regarding chaos theory, I would recommend the following books in addition to those already suggested:
*Does God play dice?: the mathematics of chaos
*In the wake of chaos: unpredictable order in dynamical systems: To read after Does God Play Dice?.
12Airycat
Michio Kaku's Beyond Einstein is the book that triggered my interest in String theory. I read his Hyperspace last January and am still digesting it. Very thought provoking.
I, too, will be checking out some of the books mentioned here. Thanks.
I, too, will be checking out some of the books mentioned here. Thanks.
13logic
Chaos: Making a New Science is very good.
Ian Stewart has written books on chaos. Most textbooks on chaos presuppose diff eqs. The semi-technical Chaos Theory Tamed is the simplest book that covers the math.
I have not read Kaku or much of Brian Greene. Warped Passages has sections on string phenomology. 3 Roads to Quantum Gravity has a section on strings. Superstrings and Superstrings Davies are pre M-theory.
Ian Stewart has written books on chaos. Most textbooks on chaos presuppose diff eqs. The semi-technical Chaos Theory Tamed is the simplest book that covers the math.
I have not read Kaku or much of Brian Greene. Warped Passages has sections on string phenomology. 3 Roads to Quantum Gravity has a section on strings. Superstrings and Superstrings Davies are pre M-theory.
14logic
The best way to approach real chaos theory is the Williams book or similar. And learn calculus, diff eqs, mechanics, and maybe emag and optics. I can only guess what is next. I'd probably buy Chaos by Aligood.
I think the string theory textbooks (save one) are written for PhDs.
I think the string theory textbooks (save one) are written for PhDs.
15enlgishrevival
I agree with logic. I've read Elegant Universe and Origins (a good, understandable cosmology book, which touches on that stuff), but something is jsut missing from them. You just can't approach physics, especially the theoretical without a sound understanding of the laws beneath them. Otherwise, it all comes out as meaningless speculation.
A good place to start with the multiple dimentions part of it is in a book called Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimention. It treats several examples of the non-eucledian geometry that string theory demands.
A good place to start with the multiple dimentions part of it is in a book called Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimention. It treats several examples of the non-eucledian geometry that string theory demands.
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