| Title | Level |
|
Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
by Lisa Randall Nice book by leading research about the mystery of extra dimensions. |
Basic |
|
The Elegant Universe; Superstrings,
Hidden Dimensions, And The Quest
For The Ultimate Theory
by Brian Greene A recent and well-written book on the subject, that makes ties between the ideas in superstring theory and basic principles of physics like quantum mechanics, relativity, and gravity. |
Basic |
|
Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?
by P.C.W. Davies and J. Brown A great little book with a good introduction to the basics of high energy physics. The main text is a series of interviews with the pioneers in the field and some notable detractors too (like Feynman). It's very readable and gives you a sense of the personal side of theoretical physics. |
Basic |
|
Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey
Through Parallel Universe, Time
Warps, And The Tenth
Dimension
by Michio Kaku A somewhat longer book that explains some of the philosophy behind the quest for a theory of "everything". It contains good basic explainations of things such as supersymmetry, extra dimensions, black holes and superstrings. Ends with a bizarre section about the fate of advanced civilizations. |
Basic |
|
String Theory : An Introduction to the Bosonic String [Volume 1]
String Theory : Superstring Theory and Beyond [Volume 2] by Joe Polchinski Rapidly becoming the new modern graduate textbook for the subject. In addition to describing the theory from basic principles, it covers the major topics from the "second superstring revolution". |
Advanced |
|
Superstring Theory 1: Introduction
Superstring Theory 2: Loop Amplitudes Anomalies and Phenomenology by M. B. Green, J. H. Schwarz, and E. Witten This is the classic textbook for learning superstring theory. It gets a bit mathematical, especially in Vol. 2, but covers most of the topics from the "first superstring revolution". |
Advanced |
| Title | Level |
|
The Future of String Theory -- A Conversation with Brian Greene
Scientific American |
Basic |
|
Curling
up Extra Dimensions in String Theory
by Rober Garisto Physical Review Focus, April 1998 |
Basic |
|
The Theory Formerly Known as Strings
by Michael J. Duff Scientific American, February 1998 Despite the provocative title of this article (which only emphasizes that there is alot more to string theory than just strings), this gives a nice description of the recent developements with p-branes and M-theory. |
Basic |
|
Explaining Everything
by Madhusree Mukerjee Scientific American, January 1996 |
Basic |