Book Review: Hyperspace

HYPERSPACE: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension by Michio Kaku is about the impending defeat of common-sense theories of three or four dimensions and the victory of the theory of hyperspace. And it makes available, for the first time, a scientifically authoritative but accessible account of the current fascinating research on hyperspace. 

Part I gives an insight into the early history of hyperspace, emphasizing the theme that the laws of nature become simpler and more elegant when expressed in higher dimensions. Consequently, the rather obscure laws of the weather are easy to understand once we view the earth from space, and we see that the laws of light and gravity become simpler in five dimensions. 

Part II contnues with the flow, further elaborate on this simple idea. Emphasizing that the hyperspace theory may be able to unify all known laws of nature into one theory. Why the basic forces that hold together the cosmos, gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces differ so greatly, and how the hyperspace theory allows the possibility of explaining the four forces of nature as well as the seemingly random collection of subatomic particles in an elegant manner. That  everything we see around us, from the trees and mountains to the stars themselves, are nothing but vibrations in hyperspace.

Part III brings up even more concepts to make it further clear, introducing vagaries of an expanding universe. Like wormholes, parallel universes and their collissions. And exploring the possibility that, under extreme circumstances, space may be stretched until it rips or tears. 

Part IV concludes with a final, practical question and discussions, about the fate of the universe. If the theory is proved correct, then when will we be able to harness the power of the hyperspace theory? 

I think the book makes a good beginning to explore the intriguing but speculative scientific question of what level of technology is necessary for us to become masters of hyperspace. 

As usual, Michio Kaku has presented a complex sounding subject in a platter. I relished it.