Hiding in the mirror : the quest for alternative realities from Plato to string theory (by way of "Alice in Wonderland", Einstein, and "The Twilight Zone")

An exploration of mankind's fascination with worlds beyond our own-by the bestselling author of The Physics of Star Trek Lawrence Krauss -an international leader in physics and cosmology-examines our long and ardent romance with parallel universes, veiled dimensions, and regions of being that may extend tantalizingly beyond the limits of our perception. Krauss examines popular culture's current embrace (and frequent misunderstanding) of such topics as black holes, life in other dimensions, strings, and some of the more extraordinary new theories that propose the existence of vast extra dimensions alongside our own. BACKCOVER: "An astonishing and brilliantly written work of popular science." -Science a GoGo "A brilliant, thrilling book . . . You'll have so much fun reading that you'll hardly notice you're getting a primer on contemporary physics and cosmology." -Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Reminiscence: a dimentional love affair -- The privilege to live in space? -- From frogs' legs to fields -- The road to relativity -- The fourth dimension -- Disturbing the universe -- The measure of all things -- From Flatland to Picasso -- The first hidden universe: an extra dimension to physics -- There and back again -- Curiouser and curiouser ... -- Out of chaos ... -- Aliens from other dimensions -- An entangled knot -- Super times for the superworld -- M is for Mother -- D is for Braneworld -- A theory of nothing? -- Epilogue: truth and beauty. Draws on the works of scientists, mathematicians, artists, and writers, from Einstein and Picasso to C. S. Lewis, to consider the plausibility and human concept of alternate universes, exploring popular theories and misunderstandings about such topics as black holes, life in other dimensions, and string theory. Reprint. 30,000 first printing. So begins perhaps the most famous mathematical romance ever written.