The Hidden Reality

Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos

By: Brian Greene

Narrated by: Brian Greene

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

There was a time when “universe” meant all there is. Everything. Yet, in recent years discoveries in physics and cosmology have led a number of scientists to conclude that our universe may be one among many. With crystal-clear prose and inspired use of analogy, Brian Greene shows how a range of different “multiverse” proposals emerges from theories developed to explain the most refined observations of both subatomic particles and the dark depths of space: a multiverse in which you have an infinite number of doppelgängers, each reading this sentence in a distant universe; a multiverse comprising a vast ocean of bubble universes, of which ours is but one; a multiverse that endlessly cycles through time, or one that might be hovering millimeters away yet remains invisible; another in which every possibility allowed by quantum physics is brought to life. Or, perhaps strangest of all, a multiverse made purely of mathematics.

Greene, one of our foremost physicists and science writers, takes us on a captivating exploration of these parallel worlds and reveals how much of reality’s true nature may be deeply hidden within them.

©2011 Brian Greene (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“If extraterrestrials landed tomorrow and demanded to know what the human mind is capable of accomplishing, we could do worse than to hand them a copy of this book.” (Timothy Ferris, The New York Times Book Review)

“Few living writers write so lucidly about such complicated stuff. In Greene’s prose, cutting-edge cosmology and particle physics become something a plucky and well-rested reader can apprehend...Greene might be the best intermediary I’ve found between the sparkling, absolute zero world of mathematics and the warm, clumsy world of human language.” (Anthony Doerr, Boston Globe)

“Mr. Greene has a gift for elucidating big ideas...Exciting and rewarding...[The Hidden Reality] captures and engages the imagination.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

Good Book

This is a tough book to get through. I feel like Brian Greene is trying to add drama and excitement where none needs to be. Or maybe he just wants to wow the readers/listeners with is amazing vocabulary of descriptive words. I think Brian has some great ideas however I feel he tiptoes around the points he is trying to make in his attempt to keep everyone (that may not agree with him) happy . He touches all the bases without really committing to the points I believe he is trying to make, playing instead in the land of innuendos.

I realize that in today's world nothing is %100% solid and almost anyone who puts all their eggs in one basket is going to be scrutinized. But that is the price of a dream or a belief. This is also the fuel used to motivate others to prove a theory right or wrong. Progress will never be made one way or the other if someone doesn't take a stand. Whether you are proved right or wrong, progress was made. I realize that getting proved wrong isn't something anyone would like to experience. But... I don't know, I have listened to this book several times, awed by Brian's writing skill and vocabulary, but all his key points are diluted and spread across the whole book in innuendos that I believe he did intentionally to play it safe.

For creativity I would give this 5 stars, but for information.... Not sure, Still thinking. :)

...Robert

Seems a bit out there

Listened to about 80%. Got a bit bored with it. Covered a lot of ground.

Ironically Scientific book is full of Speculation

About
one third databased science
one third theory unsubstantiated
one third pure speculation bordering on fantasy

Fantastic explanation of entropy!

fantastic explanation of entropy!!!
as a mechanical engineer, never quite understood entropy. Math is reality.

Loved it!

I may not be able to understand everything the author talks about but i sure did enjoy listening to his thoughts about the multiverse, black holes, parallel worlds and all in between. The topic of infinite universes and parallel worlds happening all at the same time in different dimensions is fascinating to me. I definitely recommend this book,you will enjoy it! ❤️

Wonderful and Enlightening

Thank you, Brian Greene for a thoroughly enjoyable, mind boggling yet approachable road map to all the (currently) conceived universes and science that underpins them which we might be a small part of.

Good book

Well narrated book with a good story line. Thanks to Audible for having this in store. I would recommend this to my family and friends.

Would make a great Community ed physics discussion

I guess this book about met my expectations. Even though at times it seems much like a text book, there really was not the depth and dry fact delivery I would hope to find in such a tome. I have recently read through a couple other universe reality books both scientific and philosophical and think that although this avoids the philosophical pursuits does use many of the same processes to prove a point.

Great read...though only if you are into deep astrophysical topics.

Science or Religion?

While the theories in this book are certainly interesting they are heavily based on conjecture and belief. Many times throughout the book the author starts his argument with "many scientists believe" or "the majority of scientists believe". While I give him kudos for at least starting off with this admission, it seemed to me that one set of beliefs were being built on another to develop theories that, while intriguing, are by their nature not likely to ever be provable or disprovable. To me, that is where the "science" becomes religion. I suppose that this is the source of my discomfort with the book. I enjoyed the discussion of the underlying science but the way it was presented made it seem that the author wanted the reader to accept as true, conclusions that are based on what amounts to a belief system. All in all this book did an excellent job in explaining the current thinking of some of our brightest scientists. On the other hand, it left me feeling that perhaps there is a line being crossed here that the author was not quite willing to admit it.

The fringes of Astrophysics

I've read and re-read Dr Greene previous books several times because their dense and the concepts are difficult but the underlying ideas are fascinating. The idea of parallel universes is just plain strange but as pointed out in this book it just keeps popping up. Don't read this book unless you read his previous book because is more a compendium of newer ideas and the fringe.