Book : Hyperspace

The cover reads, "A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension." This is an apt, albeit understated, description of what goes on inside this book. The author, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, does as a great job of explaining more than a few current theories all relating in some way to the larger picture of higher dimensions and the grand unification theory. He explains how Einstein's discovery of the theory of relativity leapfrogged over many (yet to be discovered) mathematical and physical sciences and that in many ways today's theoretical physicists and mathematicians are backtracking in an attempt to fill in that gap.

Reading this book was not unlike reading the technology tree for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. For the uninitiated, SMAC, as it is often called, is a futuristic turn-based strategy game in which numerous factions vie for control of the first human colony in the Alpha Centauri star system. Terms like super string theory, Kaluza-Klein theory, and Condensed Yang-Mills Field litter the pages. While I did my best to absorb all of this, I couldn't help but feel like an intern on his first day who gets handed a stack of papers 18 inches tall; that is to say, a little overwhelmed.

You see, I spend my days drawing pictures and pushing vertices around. Much of my reading takes place in imaginary worlds where the effect of science (or magic) on society is important, not the details of the science itself. I stopped doing well in math after geometry; as a visual person, abstract numbers don't click together in my head very well. For me, understanding higher science is like trying to be an astonomer in the Los Angeles basin.

That's not to say I didn't gleam anything from this book. While I failed to retain most of the specifics covered (I would certainly fail a test on this book), I did gain some understanding into theoretical sciences as a whole. In a broader sense, I even learned how scientists think and process information a bit better.

Near the end of the book, Kaku spends two chapters discussing the fate of both humanity and the universe itself. This was my favorite part of the book. Here, he spoke broadly of overarching concepts, patterns, and principles which I absorbed easily enough. It was fascinating to read ideas about the possible future for our species, but also sobering to be reminded that unless we can start playing nice, we may never get there. This part, where science met and mingled with politics and philosophy, was a delight to read and I would recommend it to anyone.

As for recommending the book as a whole, well, if you have any desire to understand the details behind many theoretical technologies that we see in sci-fi movies and books (like the infinite universes in Jet Li's The One, the warp drives from Star Trek, or the shennanagins in Quantum Leap), grab it - you will certainly get your fill.