Book Reviewed: String Theory for Dummies by Andrew Zimmerman Jones

A book for absolute beginner in string physics

String theory for Dummies is an instructional/reference book that is intended as guides for readers new to this field of physics and cosmology. The author describes the theory in brief and how it is used to understand physical reality. The operation of matter and energy in spacetime is explained by classical theories of physics or quantum mechanics but they do not offer a unified explanation of gravity or the bending od spacetime in presence of matter. This book is free of mathematics; and the narratives are brief and to the point. Not intensive in terms of physics. The book is helpful for a beginner but contains some conceptual errors.

String theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. It describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. This theory has been applied to describe black holes, cosmology, and quantum gravity. It is a candidate for a theory of everything, but runs short of verifiable predictions, hence some physicists refuse to accept that it is a real science.