One of Albert Einstein's greatest hopes was to find a unified theory to explain the ultimate constituent particles or forces of the universe. Ironically much of his work in describing gravity was at odds with what was known about electromagnetism. When I studied physics as part of my university protocol the lessons were divided into two separate and mutually exclusive sections. For the grandiose, macro-universe one used Einstein's theories. For the micro world of the atom the whole new set of formulae of quantum mechanics had to be learned.

Since my days in a formal education setting many new particles beyond electrons, protons, and neutrons have been predicted and discovered. Now there are muons, neutrinos, quarks (with interesting names like up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom), etc.

Brian Greene, in his book The Elegant Universe, Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, (Vintage Books, 1999) argues that physicists may be close to TOE-The Theory of Everything.

Most of this book was written for the lay person with an interest in science but without needing a strong mathematical background. There are a few chapters devoted to those better equipped for the math, but they are marked and can be skipped without losing out on the important concepts in the book.

Superstring theory not only resolves the differences between relativity and quantum mechanics, it requires both lines of thinking. It is also the first concept to fully explain gravity.

If you are like me and are interested in a refresher on physical theory I think that you will find this book fascinating.

--Wayne Wilson