When the Ice Is Gone

A new edition of the iconic bestseller that introduced legions to modern physics and the quest for the ultimate understanding of the cosmos. With a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it so deftly explains, The Elegant Universe remains unrivaled in its clarity and compulsive “a standard that will be hard to beat” ( New York Times Book Review ). In this new 25th-anniversary edition, renowned physicist and author Brian Greene, “the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today” ( Washington Post ), updates this classic work with a new preface and epilogue summarizing impactful theoretical and experimental developments over the past quarter-century. From established science, including relativity and quantum mechanics, to the cutting edge of thinking on black holes, string theory, and quantum gravity, The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated thoroughly accessible and entertaining, bringing us closer than ever to comprehending how the universe works. “Few humans share Greene’s mastery of the latest cosmological science and English prose.”―Dennis Overbye, New York Times