Written in a simple manner Kaku takes us on a journey from finite to infinite with reasons. The entry into dimensions 1,2,3,4....10 is very lucid and with several proofs he makes us believe that there may be more dimensions we might 'think', particularly about light which has many peculiar properties (including the fastest wave) as a fall out of interacting dimensions. He reasons it with a fact that the electromagnetic radiations are every where and such a huge amount of radiation cannot exist without its own 'space'. We just do not have the 'equipment' to see these dimensions.
The talk of Mobius strip and Flatland (a book by Abbott E Abbott is referred) caught my attention. If we were in 2D only we would see only shadows.Nice. If you lived in a flatland and were folded into a Mobius strip and made to traverse you would probably see your heart moved from left side of the chest to right!
The matrix to describe super symmetry using Einstein, Maxwell and Yang-Mill is excellent (Gravity and light, Nuclear Force and Matter), the result of which could be leptons and muons. (just like bosons and fermions)
The importance of geometry is laid like this
Geometry —> field theory —> classical theory —> quantum theory
So, he seems to suggest we 'cook' up all the geometries of the molecules and materials and have enough evidence for such support using quantum theory, the development of which alone is the basis of all advanced materials science.
He pays rich tribute to many forgotten scientists and also mentions Srinvasan Ramanujan as to have come across some strange parameters amounting to 10 numbers which if assigned 10 dimensions could well solve the problem he proposed (Number Theory), using present day super computers.
The book can be sensed in two parts
First half of the book is the history of hyperspace, second half is what can come out of the theory and is a little bit uninteresting wherein Kaku expresses Sociology and Civilization along with COBE, Wormholes, Dimensions and Mathematics Time machine and blue print for it. A few good anecdotes like this one from Aquinas about Creator is catching:
Things are in motion, hence there is a first mover
Things are caused, hence there is a first cause
Things exist, hence there is a creator
Perfect goodness exists, hence it has a source
Things are designed, hence they serve a purpose
A good book for science lovers and even those who think they have no good science background can find this book interesting.
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