The Fabric of the Cosmos

Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

By: Brian Greene

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science’s new and deeper understanding of the universe.

From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe.

Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that “time’s arrow” is a relic of the universe’s condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional “multiverse,” pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities.

Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.

©2004 Brian Greene (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Nobody ever said that cosmology was simple, not even Stephen Hawking, in whose tradition Dr. Greene impressively follows....He is both a skilled and kindly explicator....The Fabric of the Cosmos is as dazzling as it is tough." (The New York Times)

"It will be enjoyable and stimulating for the lay reader, who will even learn about time travel and teleportation. This is one popular-science book that won't be left on the coffee table half read." (The New York Times Book Review)

“Forbidding formulas no longer stand between general readers and the latest breakthroughs in astrophysics: the imaginative gifts of one of the pioneers making these breakthroughs has now translated mathematical science into accessible analogies drawn from everyday life and popular culture....Nonspecialists will relish this exhilarating foray into the alien terrain that is our own universe.” (Booklist, starred review)

“This is popular science writing of the highest order...Greene [has an] unparalleled ability to translate higher mathematics into everyday language and images, through the adept use of metaphor and analogy, and crisp, witty prose....He not only makes concepts clear, but explains why they matter.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Simply wonderful

Brian Greene has done a wonderful job making the world of theoretical physics accessible to everyone. I enjoyed the audio book so much that I went out a bought the paper book for future reference.

Fantastic audio book

This book covers a great deal of up to date concepts in theoretical physics and comsology. I was familiar with the author's very good teaching skill and style but this book reached a substantially higher level. The performance of the narrator was magnificent. I highly recommend this book!

Great narrator! Don't judge based on sound bite.

This has been one of my favorite all-round physics books to listen to. I waited far too long to buy this audible because the sound bite advertising makes the narrator appear to be a horrible choice; but somehow audible chose the absolute worst sound bite out of the entire recording! The majority of the narration is great.

Not only is the narration great, the development of the physics concepts is even better. No time wasted on fluff, but not overly complicated by unnecessary equations and numbers.

Awesome

Great, insightful and thought provoking and a wonderful reader. I will purchase more from Brian Green.

Wonderful book but you need the physical book

Brian Greene is an excellent teacher of concepts in physics, The major caution I have is that there are no pdf files with the audio book, so it is a useful supplement to the actual hard copy of the book with real paper pages. There are numerous illustrations in the book which are not mentioned in the audible version. Look at the illustrations for a chapter, then listen to the chapter, then sit down and read the chapter. The visual component of the book is indispensable.
It would have been better if the author had narrated it, but the narration is adequate to the task.

So thoroughly- and mind-bendingly deep!

Brian Greene is brilliant—I love the way his mind works about all things cosmological. He also has a fun sense of humor; I love all “The Simpsons” references.

Good material. I wanted to like it.

I enjoyed the material. I've seen Brian Greene on Nova and read one of his other books, but I could barely get through this book.
It's probably just me, but I can't stand this narrator.

Five Stars

I'm a sceptic and normally don't give five-star ratings to anything. I've listened and re-listened this audio book several times. Mr.'s (Prof.'s?) Greene's book gave me the chills more times than anything else I've heard or read. Reluctantly (on principle) I give it 5 (five) stars. His book is a journey for a lazy and ignorant sceptic like myself. His "mind-boggling" and "earth-shattering" exclamations are just that for me.

If you want to get close to understanding what he is talking about and too lazy to learn the math behind it - this audiobook is for you.
It's a classic.

A Fine Narrator

The narration of this non-fiction book is fine. I found the narration to keep my attention, it was easy to understand the concepts and there was considerable energy and enthusiasm in the narrative style. This book is excellent, but please do NOT be persuaded by reviews that are too critical of the narrator. Kindly try the sample. The sample is a long enough sample to help decide your purchasing decision. I have 385 books in my audible library, split 50-50 between Fiction and Non-Fiction. While I adore George Guidell and Will Patton and various others, it is not fair to expect narration of a non-fiction science book to be "acted or orchestrated" like it were a romance novel or a thriller. Please give it a try. Too good of a book to not listen to.

Great intro to Physics

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you don't understand anything about physics but would like to know about Einstein's theory of Relativity or what all the fuss is about quantum mechanics, then this is the best introduction out there. The one gripe about it is that the narrator's voice initially takes getting used to - it's not awful but it's a bit grating. However, now that I am used to it, I actually like it.