Chapters Eleven and Twelve - The Unification of Physics & Conclusion

Einstein was a firm believer in not believing the reality of quantum mechanics, despite the important role he had in developing it. At the beginning of this century, it was thought that everything could be explained in terms of the properties of continuous matter (elasticity, heat conduction, etc.) However, the discovery of the atomic structure and the uncertainty principle put an end to that!

The partial theory of gravity, general relativity, and the partial theories that govern the weak, the strong, and the electromagnetic forces. These forces can be categorized into grand unified theories, or GUTs. However, these do not include gravity and because they contain a number of quantities that can't be precisely predicted from the theory, but instead have to be chosen to fit observations.

In an attempt to combine the uncertainty principle and general relativity, there are only two quantities that can be adjusted, those being: gravitational strength and the value of the cosmological constant. However, by adjusting these, it is still not enough to remove all of the infinities. In 1972, the idea of combining the uncertainty principle into general relativity became nearly impossible due to detailed calculations. Four years later, however, a possible solution called supergravity was suggested. Supergravity is the idea that by combining the spin-2 particle called the graviton with certain other particles of spin 3/2, 1, 1/2, and 0 could then be regarded as different aspects of the same "super particle". This would unify the matter particles with spin 1/2 and 3/2 with the particles of spin 0,1, and 2.

The final chapter of the book brings together all of the information provided thoughout our journey. In order to make sense of what is around us, we have created thousands of "world pictures" ranging from an infinite tower of tortoises to the theory of superstrings. The earliest theories of the universe began with the idea that it carries human emotions and thus acts in various unpredictable ways. After years of research pertaining to why this information might be incorrect, researchers have come only a little bit of the way to understanding how our universe really works, how we exist so cohesively, and what will happen when the world finally falls like the cup on the table did. As time moves forward, so do we, so does knowledge, and so does chaos.