The elegance of The Elegant Universe : unity,beauty,and harmony in Brian Greene's popularization of superstring theory

Abstract

The emergence of string theory into popular culture can be seen in recent episodes of Joan of Arcadia and in the NOVA series based on Brian Greene's best-selling book, The Elegant Universe. Greene's book has played a significant role in string theory's emergence into popular culture. In order to persuade the general public to accept the new and controversial theory of superstrings as a revolutionary scientific theory, Greene carefully constructs his argument in The Elegant Universe, reinforcing the elegance and beauty of string theory. The Elegant Universe itself is an elegantly constructed argument, in terms of both its overall structure and its language. The threads of Greene's argument are carefully woven to create the unified textual fabric of his argument.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Battersby, S. (2005) “ Are We There Yet? ,” New Scientist 186(2497): 30 .

Biddy, N. (2003) “Tuning and Temperament: Closing the Spiral ,” in J. Fauvel , R. Flood and R. Wilson (eds) Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals, pp. 13—28. Oxford: Oxford University Press .

Brown, L. (2004) review of B. Greene, The Elegant Universe , in Isis 95(2): 327 .

Brumfiel, G. (2005) “ In Search of Hidden Dimensions ,” Nature 433: 10 .

Davies, P.C.W. (1984) Superforce. New York: Simon & Schuster .

Degen, P. (1994) review of S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory , in Isis 85(4): 737—8 .

Field, J.V. (2003) “Musical Cosmology: Kepler and his Followers ,” in J. Fauvel , R. Flood and R. Wilson (eds) Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals, pp. 29—44. Oxford: Oxford University Press .

Garrigus, T. (writer) , Grae, D. (writer) and Dowling, K. (director) (2005) “Shadows and Light,” television series episode, in B. Hall (producer) Joan of Arcadia . New York: CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Ginsparg, P. and Glashow, S. (2003) “ Desperately Seeking Superstrings ,” Physics Today 39: 7 .

10.

Glashow, S. (1979) “ Towards a Unified Theory—Threads in a Tapestry ,” Nobel Lecture, 8 December. URL: http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1979/glashow-lecture.pdf (accessed March 2005).

11.

Glashow, S. (2003) “Viewpoints on String Theory,” interview, NOVA , PBS. URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/elegant/view-glashow.html (accessed March 2005).

12.

Greene, B. (2003a) The Elegant Universe. New York : Vintage Books .

13.

Greene, B. (2003b) “A Conversation with Brian Greene,” NOVA , PBS. URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/greene.html (accessed March 2005).

14.

Greene, B. (2004) The Fabric of the Cosmos. New York: Alfred A. Knopf .

15.

Gross, A. (1996) The Rhetoric of Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .

16.

Hayashi, A.M. (2000) “ A Greene Universe ,” Scientific American 282(4): 36—40 .

17.

James, J. (1993) The Music of the Spheres: Music, Science, and the Natural Order of the Universe. New York: Grove Press .

18.

Kaku, M. (2005) “ Testing String Theory ,” Discover 26(8): 32 .

19.

McAllister, J.W. (1991) “ Scientists' Aesthetic Judgements ,” British Journal of Aesthetics 31(4): 332—41 .

20.

McAllister, J.W. (1998) “ Is Beauty a Sign of Truth in Scientific Theories ,” American Scientist 86(2): 174—84 .

21.

Quigg, C. (1999) “ Aesthetic Science,” review of B. Greene, The Elegant Universe , in Scientific American 280(4): 125—7 .

22.

Schiermeier, Q. (2005) “ The Long-distance Thinker ,” Nature 433: 12 .

23.

Schwarz, J. (2000) review of B. Greene, The Elegant Universe , in American Journal of Physics 68(2): 199—200 .

24.

Senior, J. (1999) “ He's Got the World on a String ,” New York 32(4): 32—7 .

25.

States, B.O. (2003) “ The Singing Strings: Of Metaphor, Mathematics, and Music ,” Western Humanities Review 57(1): 11—26 .

26.

Stephenson, B. (1994) The Music of the Heavens: Kepler's Harmonic Astronomy . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .

27.

Turney, J. (2004) “ Accounting for Explanation in Popular Science Texts—an Analysis of Popularized Accounts of Superstring Theory ,” Public Understanding of Science 13(4): 331—46 .

28.

Weinberg, S. (1992) Dreams of a Final Theory. New York: Pantheon .

29.

Winters, J. (1999) review of B. Greene, The Elegant Universe , in Discover 20(6): 95—6 .

30.

Witten, E. (1997) “ Duality, Spacetime and Quantum Mechanics ,” Physics Today 50: 28—33 .