Hyperspace [antikvár]

Preface Scientific revolutions, almost by definition, defy common sense. If ail our common-sense notions about the universe were correct, then science would have solved the secrets of the universe thousands of years ago. The purpose of science is to peel back the layer of the appearance of objects to reveal their underlying nature. In fact, if appearance and essence were the same thing, there would be no need for science. Perhaps the most deeply entrenched common-sense notion about our world is that it is three dimensional. It goes without saying that length, width, and breadth suffice to describe all objects in our visible universe. Experiments with babies and animals have shown that we are bom with an innate sense that our world is three dimensional. If we include time as another dimension, then four dimensions are sufficient to record all events in the universe. No matter where our instruments have probed, from deep within the atom to the farthest reaches of the galactíc cluster, we have only found evidence of these four dimensions. To claim otherwise publicly, that other dimensions might exist or that our universe may coexist with others, is to invite certain scorn. Yet this deeply ingrained prejudice about our world, first speculated on by ancient Greek philosophers 2 millennia ago, is about to succumb to the progress of science. This book is about a scientific revolution created by the theory of hyper-space,^ which states that dimensions exist beyond the commonly accepted four of space and time. There is a growing acknowledgment among physicists worldwide, including several Nobel laureates, that the universe may actually exist in higher-dimensional space. If this theory is proved correct, it will create a profound conceptual and philosophical revolution in our understanding of the universe. Scientifically, the hyperspace theory goes by the names of Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity. But