Book Review, Summary, Highlights and Quotes from The God Equation: The Quest For a Theory of Everything by Dr. Michio Kaku
“An entertaining, quick, and fun physics read” – are usually not the type of quotes you’d see about a physics book.
While I do enjoy physics, astronomy, and the sciences, I’m not typically reading this genre. But I felt compelled to grab this book when Dr. Michio Kaku appeared on the Tim Ferriss show and got me really excited about his work.
On the Tim Ferriss Show, he was just such a fun and entertaining and down to earth guy, that I knew I had to grab one of his books.
Michio Kaku, a Professor of Theoretical Physics at City University of New York, has found a way to make something as undigestible as String Theory and The Theory of Everything and transformed them both into something interesting and enlightening.
So anyways, here we are now with me reviewing his book. If you’ve ever watched Star Wars or Avengers and wondered if any of this stuff is possible…well this book covers it and more:
- Is time travel possible?
- Can you travel faster than light speed?
- Can a laser blow up an entire planet?
- Are wormholes real?
- Are there other universes?
- Are there parallel universes?
Kaku will give you the down low on all of that and much more, even delving into the meaning of the universe and life itself.
So if you are a layperson like me, who is casually interested in such things, give this book a go.
AR Book Score: 8 out of 10
Key book highlights from The God Equation by Michio Kaku
The God Equation takes you from the beginning of physics all the way to present day, giving a condensed history of theoretical physics, an overview of The Theory of everything, an explanation and exploration of String Theory, and finally a chapter on The Meaning of the Universe
Here is the chapter breakdown:
- Unification – The Ancient Dream
- Einstein’s Quest for Unification
- Rise of The Quantum
- Theory of Almost Everything
- The Dark Universe
- Rise of String Theory: Promise and Problems
- Finding Meaning in the Universe
As described in the book, the pursuit of The Theory of Everything is to find what amounts to…
The final theory, a single framework that would unite all the forces of the cosmos and choreograph everything from the motion of the expanding universe to the most minute dance of subatomic particles.
[..]
If such a theory is successful, it would be science’s crowning achievement. It would be the holy grail of physics, a single formula from which, in principle, one could derive all other equations, starting from the Big Bang and moving to the end of the universe.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
Kaku gives a wide-ranging lesson on Theoretical Physics and some life lessons to boot.
Ultimately, the verdict is still out on String Theory, and if The Theory of Everything is even possible.
Best quotes from The God Equation by Michio Kaku
With the appropriate lasing substance and power source, one could in principle create a laser beam similar to the ones seen in science fiction movies.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
Physicists were beginning to understand that symmetry was an essential and inescapable feature of the universe at a fundamental level.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
Calculations show that you might be able to go faster than the speed of light, or even go backward in time, perhaps without violating known physical laws.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
When physicists first smashed protons with a particle accelerator in the 1950s, they found, to their dismay, an entire zoo of unexpected particles.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
This means that time travel might still be consistent with the laws of physics, with nothing to prevent the existence of time machines.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
This means that our universe is actually a single bubble in a bubble bath of universes. This creates a multiverse of parallel universes.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
Given the utter brevity of this sheet of paper, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this was all planned in advance, that its elegant design shows the hand of a cosmic designer. To me, this is the strongest argument for the existence of God.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
It is too simple and easy to have some guru come down from the mountaintop, bearing the meaning of the universe. The meaning of life is something that we have to struggle to understand and appreciate.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
If the meaning of life were available for free then it would lose its meaning. Everything that has meaning is the result of struggle and sacrifice, and is worth fighting for.
– Michio Kaku, The God Equation
More from Dr. Michio Kaku
- Website: mkaku.org
- Amazon Books: Michio Kaku
- Twitter: @michiokaku
- Facebook: @michiokaku
- Youtube: Kaku
- Videos/Interviews: