Brian Greene (1) (1963–)
Author of The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
For other authors named Brian Greene, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Brian Greene was born on February 9, 1963 in New York City. After attending Stuyvesant High School, where he was a classmate of fellow physicist Lisa Randall. Brian Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to major in physics. He graduated with a bachelor's degree, and went on to earn his doctorate from show more Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating in 1987. Greene joined the physics faculty of Cornell University in 1990, and was appointed to a full professorship in 1995. The following year, he joined the staff of Columbia University as a full professor; this remains his current position. At Columbia, Greene is co-director of the University's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP), and is leading a research program applying superstring theory to cosmological questions. He has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and a related PBS television special. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Brian Greene
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (1999) 9,151 copies
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe (2020) 558 copies
Superstrings and related matters : proceedings of the 1999 Spring Workshop on, The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy,… (2000) 2 copies
Superstrings : Topology, Geometry and Phenomenology & Astrophysical Implications of Supersymmetric Models (1986) 1 copy
The Scientists 1 copy
Associated Works
This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women (2006) — Contributor — 1,098 copies
What Is Your Dangerous Idea? Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable (1914) — Contributor — 633 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Greene, Brian
- Legal name
- Greene, Brian Randolph
- Other names
- Green, Brian R.
- Birthdate
- 1963-02-09
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA (birthplace)
Andes, New York, USA - Education
- Stuyvesant High School
Harvard University (BA|1984)
Magdalene College, Oxford University (D.Phil|1987) - Occupations
- theoretical physicist
mathematician
professor
science consultant - Relationships
- Binney, James (doctoral advisor)
Ross, Graham (doctoral advisor)
Gibbons, Jack (piano instructor)
Day, Tracy (spouse) - Organizations
- Cornell University
Columbia University
Columbia University Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics
World Science Festival - Awards and honors
- Pulitzer Prize finalist
Foundational Questions Institute grant
Rhodes Scholar
Andrew Gemant Award (2003)
Richtmyer Memorial Award (2012)
Members
Discussions
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene - drneutron tutoring bell7 in 75 Books Challenge for 2012 (July 2016)
Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene - drneutron tutoring LizzieD in 75 Books Challenge for 2012 (August 2012)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 16
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 17,283
- Popularity
- #1,284
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 195
- ISBNs
- 183
- Languages
- 20
- Favorited
- 49
SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I was REALLY enjoying this, as Mr. Greene explained in layman’s terms/analogies about entropy, quantum physics, evolution, the possibility that particles have consciousness, and other interesting concepts, but my sense of inspiration and elation took a sharp nose-dive at chapter 7 when he expounds on mankind’s predisposition to believe, however false the beliefs may be. To his way of thinking there is no God, no psychic connections, no master plan. I feel like he spent 7 chapters explaining what he knows –he is very well read—an accomplished scholar, seemingly, in every subject—in order to offer this knowledge as evidence that his philosophy of an absence of any natural order, code of morals, afterlife or eternity is fact.
I disagree. Perhaps I missed something, I confess physics can seem over my head, but if I understood correctly, and I really think I did as far as his philosophy goes, religion cannot be dismissed as simply bogus.
I am always disappointed when intelligent people can admit to wonder, shock, and awe at the grandeur of the universe and everything in it, but cannot entertain the idea that it might mean that God is simply so much more expansive and grander than anything they’ve heard, and may not be entirely knowable. Perhaps they can describe in detail the beauty and magic—but where their knowledge drops off, they assign that to meaning everything is random, rather than the possibility that it may all simply appear random to we wee mortals. Knowing names for physical properties and behaviors does not equate to knowing everything. And just because it is beyond their complete comprehension does not necessarily mean that there is no more to be comprehended and no higher power. I’d think it would be evidence that there is.
Mr. Greene, actually, believes that the Big Bang Theory is a fact. Perhaps it is. I’m sure most, if not all scientists, believe it is. I wasn’t there—not that I recall I mean, so I’m open to both the possibility it is a fact and the possibility it is not. It seems to have little baring on my life, so I don’t give it much thought. Mr. Greene, likewise, believes a theory for how the cosmos will meet its end, all be it, billions of years hence, but non-the-less, with finality. I think this contributes to his anti-religion assertions—No absolute eternity=No God.
He does make a distinction between Spirituality and Religion, but says little about the former (so I’m not sure if its an approved thing or not) and too much about the later (to where I’m certain of the disapproval). I do agree that many have been brutally tortured and slaughtered in the name of religion (and would even add that way too much of what goes wrong with humanity can be associated to [a malpractice of] religion), but I don’t agree that it means religion has no core of truth or is bad, or is a complete fiction we depend on only because we need to believe in something that suggests individual eternity to offset the knowledge of our mortality. I think this is tossing the baby out with the bathwater….not seeing the forest for the trees…etc.
So, do I recommend the book? Well, gosh. On the one hand, this philosophy of the absence of a God is nothing new among scientists. And while, over the years, I’ve grown less attached to the religion of my childhood—less trusting of its literal accuracy, but I’m thinking if this denial of all things religious tarnished the book for me, anyone who has strong religious convictions would be more disappointed than I, but for those who are happy to think that science cannot live beside or within religion, but rather must substitute it, and would enjoy confirmation, they would love the entire book.
AUTHOR:
Brian Greene (2/9/1963), according to Wikipedia, “is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. Greene was a physics professor at Cornell University from 1990-1995, and has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point.”
NARRATOR:
Brian Greene (2/9/1963). Perhaps it’s the public speaking and University teaching that has contributed to his polished delivery, for Brian is one of the few authors who can narrate his own works so perfectly that it’s impossible to imagine an actor could do it any better.
GENRE:
Non-fiction, Physics, Philosophy
SUBJECTS:
Physics, Evolution, Quantum physics, Philosophy, Religion
SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From the Forward:
"Across cultures and through the ages, we have placed significant value on permanence. The ways we have done so are abundant: some seek absolute truth, others strive for enduring legacies, some build formidable monuments, others pursue immutable laws, and others still turn with fervor toward one or another version of the everlasting. Eternity, as these preoccupations demonstrate, has a powerful pull on the mind aware that its material duration is limited.
In our era, scientists equipped with the tools of experiment, observation, and mathematical analysis have blazed a new trail toward the future, one that for the first time has revealed prominent features of the eventual if still far-off landscape-to-be. Although obscured by mist here and fog there, the panorama is becoming sufficiently clear that we cogitating creatures can glean more fully than ever before how we fit into the grand expanse of time.
It is in this spirit, in the pages that follow, that we will walk the timeline of the universe, exploring the physical principles that yield orderly structures from stars and galaxies to life and consciousness, within a universe destined for decay. We will consider arguments establishing that much as human beings have limited life spans, so too do the very phenomena of life and mind in the universe. Indeed, at some point it is likely that organized matter of any kind will not be possible. We will examine how self-reflective beings contend with the tension entailed in these realizations. We emerge from laws that, as far as we can tell, are timeless, and yet we exist for the briefest moment of time. We are guided by laws that operate without concern for destination, and yet we constantly ask ourselves where we are headed. We are shaped by laws that seem not to require an underlying rationale, and yet we persistently seek meaning and purpose."
RATING:
3 stars. The science was interesting, but the philosophy delivered as fact overshadowed it for me.… (more)