Supersymmetry: Unveiling the Ultimate Laws of Nature

Kane presents a thoughtful and understandable review of the current attempts to formulate a general Theory of Everything. His focus is on explaining the concept and broad theory of "Supersymmetry," based on the concept of a symmetrical relationship between elements of the universe and a balance of forces and matter. The approach in Supersymmetry is to achieve clarity by a regularity and consistency of explanation that can then be extended to account for all specific cases and situations now known or as new ones are discovered. Kane provides a good explanation of the varieties of String Theory, one of the approaches to a Theory of Everything. This explanation made more sense than previous books I have read. Kane's way of explaining provides good visual and verbal pictures, without compromising the character of the theory under scrutiny. He uses lots of diagrams, and while he uses math and refers to the mathematical explanations, he is very practical and explains what the math is doing at each stage. That is, we learn what all this is trying to account for and what factors have to be taken into account at each stage of investigation. He refers to other prominent and knowledgeable writers and builds his explanations around anecdotes and public events. This story-telling approach gets the reader involved in the mystery of the search. This helps make sense of some of the steps taken and some of the tentative answers or theories that often don't make sense without their context. Kane's helpful summary of the history of scientific discovery and development of explanatory theories is very helpful in understanding the new theoretical physics where so much creative and thoughtful work is being done. The problems being addressed in Supersymmetry and other approaches to a Theory of Everything are complex, since they deal with a level of reality smaller than the human senses can detect directly. Theorized aspects of reality are still being searched for, but these depend on the ongoing development of instruments that can "see" [detect] at smaller and smaller level, extending ever further the human perception of sub-atomic reality. One aspect he clarifies is that theoretical physics is still based on the basic scientific premise of experimental evidence. From reading numerous other books by and about Theoretical Physics and Quantum Mechanics, I have had some doubts about the experimental basis of current theoretical physics. Kane explains the levels of primary and secondary evidence and the perceptions tese provide. I have not seen this addressed, at least directly. Kane's explanations of procedure and method clarify many aspects not commonly known about the current state of particle physics in relation to cosmology. In that regard he outlines what areas of possible knowledge he feels have now been exhausted and which will continue to need and provide development and further knowledge about our universe.

I have read several popular science/quantum physics books. This was the most educational yet. It was rich and dense with a clear step-by-step approach that laid the groundwork for Kane's thesis: supersymmetry as the heir-apparent to the Standard Model. It wasn't as entertaining as The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, though meatier than The Matter Myth by Paul Davies and John Gribbin. I found Kane's no-nonsense approach very refreshing. One reviewer claimed this was the worst pop-sci book he'd encountered. I do not know how that reviewer arrived at the opposite opinion. I thought the book was clear, well written and accessible. I will likely read Supersymmetry again, and will learn even more the second time around.

For forty thousand years humans have tried to know how the universeworks, and now physicists are approaching the ultimate understandingof the laws that govern the natural world. Gordon Kane, a renownedparticle physicist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,describes the theories at the forefront of this majestic humanendeavor in a readily understandable manner. The author calls thetheories that work at different distance scales "effectivetheories," and an ultimate theory of nature "the primarytheory." The central theme of this book is the supersymmetrytheory. This theory is expected to extend the Standard Model, thevalidated effective theory on a scale of about a hundred millionbillionth meter, down to the wondrous scale of nearly a hundredmillion billion billion billionth meter (Planck scale), but it is notyet the primary theory. Thus the author explains also the possiblerelations of the supersymmetry and the next possible effective theorycalled string theory, and their way up to the primary theory. Kanewrites not only about the features of the theories but also how thesewould be tested experimentally. To confirm the supersymmetry reallyto be the next stage toward the primary theory, particles called aHiggs boson and a "superpartner" have to be found in thegiant accelerators. Topics of research in progress are often referredto in this book, so that the author uses an acronym of RIP for suchresearch. It is wonderful that many problems in RIP are treated insimple words. This is quite an inspiring book, and I stronglyrecommend it to all the readers of an inquisitive mind.

Supersymmetry covers the quest to uncover a grand unified theory of how the universe works - something Einstein failed to achieve. There have been numerous books on the subject but this is the first to describe what research is involved in creating and testing the theory. Different perspectives, arguments and challenges in developing a supersymmetry theory are contrasted.