Is our universe dying?

Could there be other universes?

In Parallel Worlds, world-renowned physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku—an author who “has a knack for getting the most ethereal ideas down to earth” (Wall Street Journal)—takes readers on a fascinating tour of cosmology, M-theory, and its own implications for the fate from the universe.

In his 1st book of physics since Hyperspace, Michio Kaku begins by describing the extraordinary advances which have transformed cosmology on the about Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos last century, and particularly during the last decade, forcing scientists all over the world to rethink our understanding of the birth of the universe, and its ultimate fate. In Dr. Kaku’s eye, we are living in a golden age of physics, as brand-new discoveries in the WMAP and COBE satellites as well as the Hubble space telescope possess given us unprecedented pictures of our universe in its infancy.

As astronomers wade through the avalanche of data in the WMAP satellite, a new cosmological picture is emerging. Up to now, the leading theory about the delivery of the world may be the “inflationary world theory,” a significant refinement over the big bang theory. Within this theory, our world could be but one inside a multiverse, floating just like a bubble within an infinite ocean of bubble universes, with fresh universes being created on a regular basis. A parallel world may hover a mere millimeter from our very own.

The very idea of parallel universes as well as the string theory that can explain their existence was once viewed with suspicion by scientists, seen as the province of mystics, charlatans, and cranks. But today, physicists overwhelmingly support string-theory, and its latest iteration, M-theory, since it is that one theory that, if tested appropriate, would reconcile the four causes of the universe simply and elegantly, and answer fully the question “What happened before the big bang?”

Currently, Kaku explains, the world’s main physicists and astronomers are searching for methods to test the theory from the multiverse using highly advanced wave detectors, gravity lenses, satellites, and telescopes. The implications of M-theory are amazing and unlimited. If parallel worlds do exist, Kaku speculates, in time, probably a trillion years or more from right now, as appears most likely, when our world grows cool and dark in what researchers describe as a big freeze, advanced civilizations may well find a way to flee our world in some sort of “inter-dimensional lifeboat.”

An unforgettable journey into black openings and time machines, alternate universes, and multidimensional space, Parallel Worlds gives us a compelling family portrait of the revolution sweeping the globe of cosmology.