From one of the world's most distinguished scientists, the first popular book to present the controversial and exciting ideas behind quantum gravity. The Holy Grail of modern physics is a theory of the universe that unites two seemingly opposing pillars of modern science: Einstein's theory of general relativity, which deals with large-scale phenomena (planets, solar systems and galaxies), and quantum theory, which deals with the world of the very small (molecules, atoms, electrons). In Three Roads to Quantum Gravity , Lee Smolin provides the first concise and accessible overview of current attempts to reconcile these two theories in a final "theory of everything." This is the closest anyone has ever come to devising a completely new theory of space, time and the universe to replace the Newtonian ideas that were the foundation of all science until the beginning of the twentieth century. Lee Smolin, who has spent his career at the forefront of these new discoveries, presents for the first time the main ideas behind the new developments that have brought a quantum theory of gravity in sight. He explains in simple terms what scientists are talking about when they say the world is made from exotic entities such as loops, strings, and black holes. As he does so, he tells the fascinating stories behind these discoveries: the rivalries, epiphanies, and intrigues he witnessed firsthand. Science Masters Series

作者：Lee Smolin是安達略省滑鐵盧Perimeter理論物理研究所的研究人員，滑鐵盧大學的助理教授。他擁有罕布什爾學院的學士學位和哈佛大學博士學位，曾任教於耶魯、锡拉丘茲大學和賓州州立大學。除瞭在量子引力方麵的工作，他還對基本粒子物理、宇宙學和基礎量子力學有興趣。他在1997年齣版《宇宙的生命》（牛津大學齣版社）一書中探討瞭當今物理學和宇宙學發展的哲學內涵。