Our Mathematical Universe

Starred review from September 30, 2013
Theoretical physicist Tegmark takes readers on an illuminating trip through cutting edge cosmology to one of the strangest ideas in a field overflowing with them: that our universe isn’t just described by math, it may actually be made out of it. Since Galileo first proclaimed nature to be “a book written in the language of mathematics,” physicists have used math to describe everything from motion to the shape of space-time itself. Tegmark explains how the discovery that the universe was expanding supported the concept of a “Big Bang” origin. Subsequent news that the expansion of our universe is actually accelerating led cosmologists to the idea that it may be just one of many universes within a vast multiverse. Tegmark offers a fascinating exploration of multiverse theories, each one offering new ways to explain “quantum weirdness” and other mysteries that have plagued physicists, culminating in the idea that our physical world is “a giant mathematical object” shaped by geometry and symmetry. Tegmark’s writing is lucid, enthusiastic, and outright entertaining, a thoroughly accessible discussion leavened with anecdotes and the pure joy of a scientist at work. Agents: John and Max Brockman, Brockman Inc.

Starred review from November 1, 2013
Nobel-laureate physicist Eugene Wigner regarded the power of mathematics to explain the cosmos as a baffling mystery. Tegmark offers a resolution of that mystery, arguing that mathematics describes the universe so well because the universe ultimately is mathematics. The rare intellectual daring in this claim emerges as Tegmark teases out its stunning implications not only for the visible universe but also for countless, unseen, parallel universes (on four levels!) in which all conceivable possibilities become realities. Aware of the skeptics, Tegmark demonstrates that his theorizing harmonizes with concepts now central to cosmology, particularly the astrophysical formulas for the postBig Bang inflation that gave space its geometry. Tegmark's mathematical paradigm also accounts for the strange fine-tuning of the universe's fundamental constants and dispels the paradoxes surrounding quantum measurement. Lively and lucid, the narrative invites general readers into debates over computer models for brain function, over scientific explanations of consciousness, and over prospects for finding advanced life in other galaxies. Though he reflects soberly on the perils of nuclear war and of hostile artificial intelligence, Tegmark concludes with a bracingly upbeat call for scientifically minded activists who recognize a rare opportunity to make our special planet a force for cosmic progress. An exhilarating adventure for bold readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)