The Shape of Inner Space

July 12, 2010
The invisible shape of space can be revealed via "the sheer force of mathematics.... the surest path to the truth." What it reveals is the Calabi-Yau manifolds, or surfaces, discovered by feted Harvard mathematician Yau in his work on a concept called the Calabi conjecture. With the help of Astronomy magazine contributing editor Nadis, Yau relates the saga of this groundbreaking work, which provided the foundations of string theory. Yau confidently draws readers into a realm of abstract concepts, from multiple dimensions to the exotic spaces called "manifolds," or Calabi-Yau spaces, whose curvature gives space its shape. From here it's a hop, skip, and a jump to the geometry of space around the Big Bang, black holes, and the end of the universe. The authors labor diligently to explain the advanced mathematics behind these abstract ideas, but readers without any grounding in college-level math will be lost. For those who can follow it, this book demonstrates how mysterious physical constructs like space and gravity can yield to the "hammer of geometric analysis." B&w illus.