The Hidden Reality

Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos

By: Brian Greene

Narrated by: Brian Greene

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)

Brian Greene always keeps me listening for more.

Very interesting lectures as usual. Brian Greene can break anything down and make you understand enough to be dangerous. On to his next book we go!

Twice. Or three times...

Just a Simple orthopod. Have to read it twice, or three times. Worth it, though..

Beautiful and Elegant

Greene does a great job of making highly complex topics into a digestible format for a layman. Stick through the book even in the dense portions, it’s highly rewarding with the closure provided.

Painful to Listen to

What did you like best about The Hidden Reality? What did you like least?

Let me first say, I love Brian Greene. I have The Elegant Universe DVD series, have attended his presentations, and even have two books signed by him. So I wanted to love this book. The problem is that here, Greene reads at a pace so slow and expressive, it sounds as though he's reading to kindergarteners. I'm not exaggerating. It was nothing like how he speaks in his series. It was painful to listen to. Speeding it up did not help. Much worse was the constant name dropping. While it is understandable that some concepts require an explanation of the physicist that discovered it, there seemed to be mini-bios and accolades for every colleague, i.e. the "brilliant" so-and-so, and references to who wrote what scientific paper, when all he needed to do was describe the theory or concept. Finally, he lost me when he began using pop culture (Cartman from Southpark, of all things) as illustrative reference points for physical science. While what he was describing was fascinating on its own, he would suddenly stop to use simplistic explanations, such as imagining Cartmen getting fatter. The combination of all of those things ruined it for me. It was an overwhelming disappointment.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Never got to the ending. As noted above, it was simply too painful to listen to.

What didn’t you like about Brian Greene’s performance?

Not much else I can add to what I already wrote.

Could you see The Hidden Reality being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

A PBS series, yes.

Any additional comments?

It was my free trial Audible book, so I wish I'd chosen a better one.

Best of the Best

Brian Greene will go down in history as one of the greatest minds to ever live. Beautifully written, narrated, and executed. Can’t recommend his books enough. Check out the World Science Festival if you haven’t already. You’ll thank me later!

more parallel universes than heinlein

this guy is a good writer. he brings all that science channel and history channel stuff into theoretical models i can actually follow

will have to listen again

Very interesting Will listen again for sure as some was beyond my understanding. f
Fascinating book

Mind opener

As someone who studied Philosophy, this really hit it's stride after the halfway mark. Brian Greene is a brilliant scientist/philosopher and puts us to the task of thinking about these mind bending topics. It gets heavy, but stick with it, it's only the entire multiverse.

Excellent

I loved listening to this book. Brian makes a complex subject easy to reach for the layman.

Another fascinating book by Greene

If you've read Brian Greene, you'll know that he is not for the feint of heart. He is a very good writer and is able to make complicated theories accessible to the lay person. However, the underlying physics and math are so complicated and frankly amazing, that the subject matter almost defies understanding. If you like his earlier books, The Elegant Universe and the Fabric of the Cosmos, you will probably like this book. He takes the fundamental elements of string theory to the next logical conclusion: that there are multiple speculative theories about existence of parallel or multiple universes. It is such a spectacular line of reasoning that the whole presentation is compelling and engaging. He also does a good job articulating the positions of the primary detractors of the theories presented in the book. A really good listen for those interested in cutting edge theoretical physics.