Brian Greene Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Brian Green is an American physicist that made his name popularizing string theory through his television programs and books.
He got interested in mathematics from very early on and by the time he was in kindergarten, he could multiply 30 digit numbers. By the time he was in middle school, his mathematical ability was beyond that of students in high school.

Green then went to Harvard where he graduated with a bachelors of science degree in Physics in 1984. He went to Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and graduated with a doctorate in Physics in 1987.

He would then teach at Cornell and Columbia in New York where he rose to become a full professor in the mathematics and physics departments. He was also a co-director of Columbia University’s Institute for Cosmology, Strings and Astroparticle Physics.

Greene’s gift for using simple examples and wit to explain highly abstract and complex theories were responsible for the success of “The Elegant Universe,” a PBS special on string theory that aired in 2003. The program was based on a novel by the same name which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling title.

Greene grew up in a street very close to the New York based Hayden Planetarium. One day while he was heading back home following a school trip, he felt so tiny. Thinking about galaxies, stars and other worlds, he felt so small and started asking questions of everyone.

He believed that if there was an answer to questions such as “why are we here” everyone would know it. But since he could not get a universal answer, he started asking “how am I here” instead.

The good thing about growing up in New York City is that he had a very good math and science education. He went to public schools and was taught by great teachers that allowed him to learn at his own pace.

His teachers also introduced him to Neil Bellinson at Columbia who opened his eyes to the world of physics and mathematics as a child. For several years, he would meet with the brilliant scientist for three days in a week over the summer, learning all he could about mathematics and science.

Brian Greene developed diverse interests in society, culture, politics and the arts. He has said that he was single minded as a child and only cared for mathematics and in fact he hated reading right up to college. He always felt a sinking feeling in his chest whenever he opened a physics book that had a lot of printed text.

Upon graduating from college, he regretted that he had neglected other subjects which made it difficult to explore an interesting world of ideas outside of science. It was at Oxford that he started having conversations with other intellectuals about making science exciting, accessible and popular with more people.

He also started writing about science as something that has to do with human experience and the human condition. This is the time he realized how powerful language could be.

In his work, he has been influenced by the likes of Albert Camus who asks deep questions about life and purpose. He now writes works that try to get a deep understanding of the universe but also about the overarching purpose of human life and experience.

“The Elegant Universe” by Brian Greene uses masterful analogy and metaphor to explain some complex concepts in an entertaining and visceral accessible manner.
Modern day mathematicians and physicists across the globe including Greene are feverishly working on what are the most intricate theories in physics. String theory is deemed the key to understanding Unified Field Theory. This is a concept that even Einstein found difficult and almost impossible to explain for more than three decades.

By using String Theory, we can finally put to rest the antagonis between Quantum Theory and small and large General Relativity.
According to the new theory, everything that is so wondrous in the universe from the majestic movement of the galaxies to the subatomic quarks that dance so frantically reflect the manifestations of one entity and an all encompassing physical principle.

String theory asserts that the universe runs on tiny microscopic vibrating loops of energy that are billions of times smaller than an atom. Greene’s novel is a brilliant novel that is refreshingly articulated as the author tells of the human struggle in simple terms.

Brian Greene’s “The Fabric of the Cosmos” is a grand tour of the universe that asks its readers to look at their reality from a very different perspective. Time and space are the essence of the universe but so far remain some of the most mysterious things for human beings to understand. How does time have a direction and is space an entity?

Greene also asks questions such as can we travel to the past and could the universe exist absent time and space. The author sets himself a difficult task of trying to explain abstract math concepts such as Inflationary Cosmology, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and String Theory by using everyday analogies.
From the unchanging realm as set out by Newton in which time and space are absolute to the conception of spacetime as fluid as espoused by Einstein and quantum mechanics, which make for a highly intricate arena objects that are distant from each other can mysteriously coordinate their behavior.

Even a person without a scientific background will enjoy the revelatory and irresistible journey to expose new layers of reality just beneath the surface.

Brian Greene’s “The Hidden Reality” is the author’s most accessible and expansive book that answers the question: the universe in which we live is the only one that exists. At some point in time, the universe simply meant everything that was out there.

In more recent times, discoveries in cosmology and physics have led to a belief among some scientists that there could be other universes.
With some brilliant use of analogy and crystal clear prose, Greene shows how proposals for a multiverse may emerge from the different theories that try to explain the dark depths of space and subatomic particles. It is a multiverse that comes with what could be said to be infinite universes of which our own is just one.