"Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present, and future, and through the physics, astronomy and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and ground-breaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories (his website gives a flavor of how they might boggle the mind), but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist. Fascinating from first to last--here is a book for the full science-reading spectrum"--

Investigates the research and discoveries of scientists who explored the frontiers of physics and uncovered phenomena that often contradicted prevailing wisdom.

Introduction -- Entryway passages : demystifying dimensions -- Restricted passages : rolled-up extra dimensions -- Exclusive passages : branes, braneworlds, and the bulk -- Approaches to theoretical physics -- Relativity : the evolution of Einstein's gravity -- Quantum mechanics : principled uncertainty, the principal uncertainties, and the uncertainty principle -- The standard model of particle physics : matter's most basic known structure -- Experimental interlude : verifying the standard model -- Symmetry : the essential organizing principle -- The origin of elementary particle masses : spontaneous symmetry breaking and the Higgs mechanism -- Scaling and grand unification : relating interactions at different lengths and energies -- The hierarchy problem : the only effective trickle-down theory -- Supersymmetry : a leap beyond the standard model -- Allegro (ma non troppo) passage for strings -- Supporting passages : brane development -- Bustling passages : braneworlds -- Sparsely populated passages : multiverses and sequestering -- Leaky passages : fingerprints of extra dimensions -- Voluminous passages : large extra dimensions -- Warped passage : a solution to the hierarchy problem -- The warped annotated "Alice" -- Profound passage : an infinite extra dimension -- A reflective and expansive passage -- Extra dimensions : are you in or out? .