Het Einstein enigma

Final Theory #1

by Mark Alpert

Een geheime getallenreeks, ooit door Einstein ontdekt, maar nooit gepubliceerd, komt na vijftig jaar, via diens leerling (Dr. Kleinmann) in handen van de leerling van laatstgenoemde: Dr. David Swift. Als de FBI, maar ook een Russische terrorist deze code perse wil bemachtigen, beseft Swift ineens het belang ervan en ontdekt dat het hier gaat om een unificatietheorie waarmee gigantische krachten die in een atoom besloten liggen, kunnen worden ontketend. Om een apocalyptische ramp te voorkomen, probeert Swift deze veldtheorie uit handen van ieder te houden. Dit gaat bepaald niet zonder kleerscheuren en brengt het hele gebied van de Verenigde Staten in rep en roer. Een razendspannend topverhaal, waarin het mogelijke levenslot van iedere wereldburger-van-nu, op weliswaar ingewikkelde, maar ook boeiende wijze wordt beschreven. Veel spreektaal, goede dialogen, knappe opbouw van spanning, afgewisseld met adempauzes

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Suspense, Physics

351 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Mark Alpert, author of Final Theory, The Omega Theory, Extinction, The Furies, and The Six, is a contributing editor at Scientific American. In his long journalism career he has specialized in explaining scientific ideas to readers, simplifying esoteric concepts such as extra dimensions and parallel universes. And now, in his novels, Alpert weaves cutting-edge science into high-energy thrillers that elucidate real theories and technologies.

A lifelong science geek, Alpert majored in astrophysics at Princeton University and wrote his undergraduate thesis on the application of the theory of relativity to Flatland, a hypothetical universe with only two spatial dimensions. (The resulting paper was published in the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation and has been cited in more than 100 scholarly articles.) After Princeton, Alpert entered the creative writing program at Columbia University, where he earned an M.F.A. in poetry in 1984. He started his journalism career as a small-town reporter for the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle Times, then moved on to the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. In 1987 he became a reporter for Fortune Magazine and over the next five years he wrote about the computer industry and emerging technologies. During the 1990s Alpert worked freelance, contributing articles to Popular Mechanics and writing anchor copy for CNN's Moneyline show. He also began to write fiction, selling his first short story ("My Life with Joanne Christiansen") to Playboy in 1991.

In 1998 Alpert joined the board of editors at Scientific American, where he edited feature articles for the magazine and wrote a column on exotic high-tech gadgets. With his love for science reawakened, he wrote his first novel, Final Theory, about Albert Einstein and the historic quest for the holy grail of physics, the Theory of Everything. Published by Touchstone in 2008, Final Theory was hailed as one of the best thrillers of the year by Booklist, Borders and the American Booksellers Association. Foreign rights to the novel were sold in more than twenty languages, and the movie rights were acquired by Radar Pictures, a Los Angeles production company. Alpert continued the saga of the Theory of Everything in his second book, The Omega Theory, a gripping story about religious fanatics who try to trigger Doomsday by altering the laws of quantum physics. His next thriller, Extinction, focused on brain-computer interfaces and a collective intelligence that decides to exterminate the human race. His fourth novel, The Furies, told the story of an ancient clan who share a genetic mutation so shocking that its discovery could change the course of history. And his first Young Adult novel, The Six, is about six dying teenagers whose lives are “saved” when their minds are downloaded into U.S. Army robots.

Alpert lives in Manhattan with his wife and two non-robotic teenagers. He's a proud member of Scientific American's softball team, the Big Bangers.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well Goodreads, grad school is over -- and what better way to triumphantly return to reviewing than with my absolute favourite genre....the academic mystery!! Oh man. The predictability. The mysteriously enticing female academic love interest of our characterless male protagonist. The atrocious descriptions and total bullshit deus ex machina. The nonsense that is academics suddenly becoming action heroes. I LOVE IT. YOU LOVE IT. LET'S GO.

So listen this is the worst fucking book I've read in years.

Briefly, it's about a bunch of no-dimensional characters trying to find Einstein's (fictional) unified field theory (YOU know, the "theory of everything" your friend who reposts shit from I fucking love science on Facebook is always talking about). It's dangerous because it could make A Weapons. It's wonderful because it could make A Sustainable Energy. Einstein hid it somewhere, and only a Columbia history-of-science professor with a career history strangely identical to the author's can find it! BUT will the FBI find it first? Or will a TERRORIST?? Oh man oh boy better read to find out.

I read most of this dreck with two of my best girls on a beach/in a car. Whenever something totally logical and narratively sound popped up, I shared it with them. Here is a list of some of those things.

- a Supersoaker flamethrower macgyvered & wielded by a guy who wrote a book about Einstein's assistants
- this excellent and very true-to-life dialogue of said guy talking to a massively drunk boor:
"How about if I buy everyone a shot of Jagermeister?"
Larry's eyes widened. "Hey, that would be great!"
(GEE SHUCKS!!!)
- stealing costumes from a production of Sweeney Todd
- a Ferrari chasing an auto-driving car
- hillbilly bible-thumping kidnappers
- robot brontosaurus
- a helmet-haired southern "grandma FBI" agent with a large bosom
- "What happened to your sister?"
Monique wiped away a tear "She became a crack whore."
- more crack whores
- army guys committing treason for a night with a crack whore
- oh and a kid playing a government-level simulation program on a Gameboy


If none of that made sense to you, don't worry. The context won't help. This book is a flaming mess of unfathomably convenient plot devices, cliched description, unbearably cheesy dialogue, and shitty payoff. Don't read it. I did it for you and the only good thing is the robot brontosaurus. So here look at this picture and call it a day:

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science weaved intricately to a suspenseful thriller. We have many trial lawyers who are successful novelists in the suspense thriller genre, but we have only one physicist. His name is Mark Alpert. He is currently an editor at the Scientific American and this is his first novel.

Released in 2008, it is about Albert Einstein’s other theory that we worked on during the second half of his life, Einheitliche Feldtheorie or Unified Field Theory a single set of equations that would explain all the forces of Nature. Einstein did not publish his final paper on this so this remained to be a bit of a mystery. This is what Wiki says:

”Following his research on general relativity, Einstein entered into a series of attempts to generalize his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism as another aspect of a single entity. In 1950, he described his "unified field theory" in a Scientific American article entitled "On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation". Although he continued to be lauded for his work, Einstein became increasingly isolated in his research, and his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In his pursuit of a unification of the fundamental forces, Einstein ignored some mainstream developments in physics, most notably the strong and weak nuclear forces, which were not well understood until many years after his death. Mainstream physics, in turn, largely ignored Einstein's approaches to unification. Einstein's dream of unifying other laws of physics with gravity motivates modern quests for a theory of everything and in particular string theory, where geometrical fields emerge in a unified quantum-mechanical setting.”

Probably intrigued by this and following the footsteps of Dan Brown with his bestselling The Da Vinci Code in 2005, Alpert joined the bandwagon. Armed with his expertise in science and physics, this book came out three years after Robert Langdon made a debut as a symbologist in the controversial world of Dan Brown.

It tells the story of a college professor, a father and a divorcee, David Swift who impressed his professor when he was in college with his paper on one-dimensional universe. His professor really liked him that when he was dying, Swift was called to hear a series of number that would lead him to know the secret behind Einstein The Unified Field Theory. Of course there should be other parties interested to know this series of numbers. An assassin called Simon and the FBI are all vent to make Swift churn out the numbers. It involves car chase in at least five states in the US and the involvement of his partner, fellow professor Monique Reynolds and for more heartwarming edgy familial feel, his little budding scientist boy and his estranged wife, Karen.

That’s all there is to this novel. A thriller using Einstein and his unfinished theory thrown into a convoluted yet still pulsating and edge-of-your-seat car chase. It’s good that David Swift has a good memory of remembering those digits. If I were him, with all the shootings, speeding cars, bomb blasts and my own family and girlfriend in danger, I would have died of heart attack or maybe choked to death because of fear and those numbers would just fly away to forgotten recesses in my mind.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the mysterious death of his old mentor Hans Kleinman--a theoretical physicist and colleague of Einstein--college professor David Swift learns Einstein just might have really discovered the holy grail of physics--The Theory of Everything. Now David has to stay one step ahead of the killer and the government to stay alive.

A fun, fast read that may actually teach you a thing or two about physics.
Author is able to explain complex theories in layman's terms.
Highly recommend.

[Cristina Bermúdez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maquiavélico, sería la palabra para describir el libro. La historia nos presenta una reflexión interesante sobre la ciencia , la codicia humana y el fin de la humanidad, donde podemos ver un mundo crudo que nos recuerda la corrupto que está el sistema y como la gente no suele luchar por el bien común, sino por lo que le conviene a cada uno. Triste pero cierto.

[Rajesh Bookrider · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/5 stars

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the face of it, this has all the elements of what should have been a thriller tailor-made for me. Unfortunately, the plotting and the telling are a bit Dan Brown so that I came away from the novel sighing about missed opportunities.

History records that Einstein spent the last decades of his life in a fruitless search for the Grand Universal Theory (GUT) or Theory of Everything. The immediate incentive was to find a unity between General Relativity and Quantum Theory, both of which work exceptionally well at describing the universe on, respectively, the macro and the micro scales, but which are mutually incompatible. The aim beyond that was to explain the forces of the universe -- gravity, electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces -- in terms of a single, coherent theory. That theory would in effect explain the universe in its entirety -- hence the grandiosity of its two most frequently used nicknames.

The premise of this novel is that Einstein's search was not in fact fruitless. However, having derived the GUT, he realized that the knowledge it enshrined was dangerous: just in the same way that E = mc2 led to the atomic bomb, people could easily work out from the GUT how to create weapons (using wormholes and sterile neutrinos) that were capable of literally destroying the world.

So Einstein kept the GUT a secret. He did, however, give chunks of it to each of his trusted assistants, so that the knowledge would be preserved. Now, decades later, it seems a shady terrorist group is trying to get hold of the various bits of the theory through torturing the information out of the elderly assistants. The FBI has got wind of this, and is thus likewise hot on the trail of the GUT.

One of the assistants was the college mentor of history-of-science prof David Swift, and a cryptic deathbed message sets David off on an adventure to stop both the terrorists and the government getting hold of the GUT. En route he teams up with the red-hot (in both contexts) particle physicist he didn't quite sleep with back in the day, Monique Reynolds, plus a ragbag of others, including an autistic kid who's addicted to playing a shootemup on his Gameboy.

There are some good moments in all this -- the final showdown at Fermilab is a lot of fun, and the caustic portrayals of various members of a certain US administration had me grinning on occasion -- but there's also quite a lot of cheese. For example, the strongest and most appealing character in the book, the physicist Monique, is black, and so she's reflexively given a dire family background, a sister who's a "crack whore," and all the rest of a deluge of cliche. Elsewhere, time and again I'd read a passage and think, "Real people would never do that" -- the Dan Brown effect, in other words.

The meaty bits of the science -- the string-theory stuff about branes and sterile neutrinos (complete with natty little diagrams) -- are a great deal of fun when they finally arrive, although until then I'd spent well over 200 pages wishing they'd bloody hurry up and do so. At a more basic level of science, the trope of David's ability to quickly gizmo up a deus ex machina when required to do so by exigencies of plot, because he knows his elementary science and the bad guys don't, becomes a bit tired.

Final Theory is, then, a moderately enjoyable thriller where I'd hoped for something a tad more. Perhaps it's my expectations that were at fault rather than the book itself.

[Marieke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of hijinks and escape-via-bullshit-machination. You gotta suspend your disbelief to have fun.

A bit predictable at parts, but a thoroughly gripping story nonetheless.

The autistic-savant-is-a-key-to-a-bigger-plot is a trope that was already tired when the book was written in 2008 and feels particularly dated as a reader in 2023.

A fun read overall.

[Falcon Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, Mark Alpert was an unknown author, but the title of his book, 'Final Theory', caught my attention. I have great respect for mr. Albert Einstein, so when an author involve him in his history, I simply have to read the book.

Many authors writes about the law of physics in their books, but unfortunately, too often it turns out, that they are either very shallow, or they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Thankfully, Mark Alpert does not apply to this pitiful category of writers.

Not only does 'Final Theory' appear to be written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about. It was also found that Mark Alpert was an excellent writer. Although the book deals with difficult issues such as particle physics and astrophysics, it is described in an interesting and entertaining way.

'Final Theory' takes the reader on a breathless chase. The book's protagonist, David Swift, is hunted down because he accidentally are handed the code to Albert Einstein's 'Einheitliche Feldttheorie'. This theory provides unlimited possibilities for particle physics - especially for military purposes. David begins his own quest for Einstiens 'Einheitliche Feldttheorie' and while he tries to escape the police, the FBI, the U.S. Army and a sadistic assassin, he tries to find the meaning in the numerical code his old professor confided to him shortly before he died. Now it is a matter of life and death - his own and the whole world.

'Final Theory' was not only entertaining reading. I actually learned something while I was reading it and that is not so bad, right?

[Susan Beamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be careful what you wish for. David Swift wished for more than just being a writer of scientific theories. He wanted to be a scientist who discovered big things. He wanted to be a physicist like his mentor, an assistant to the great Albert Einstein. When he is called to the side of his mentor, the man gives him the first clue to the greatest treasure hunt he will ever be on.
The great prize of physics is the Unified Theory, the Theory of Everything. This theory, or the idea that it had been found and codified, is the driving force behind this book. It is a treasure hunt, with David and his party only one of the groups hunting it. Another of Einstein's assistants is looking, along with the Pentagon and a Russian mercenary. Each have their own agendas and their own plans for use of the Theory. I would have expected more hunters.
One of my main quibbles with this kind of chase thriller is the usual "just in time" clue or event. I really did not find them in this story. David is driven more by the other seekers than by his own knowledge or expertise. He does get a little more luck than I would expect, but it isn't excessive. I like that the Theory is hidden finally where it isn't expected, but still in plain sight.
All in all, this was a fun book. I liked it.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a mess. From the title, you might realize that it involves the "final theory" of physics, the "theory of everything" that unites general relativity and quantum mechanics, which are currently considered incompatible.

Alpert wrote a novel in which Einstein in fact discovered the equations that would unite the two branches. However, because he was afraid of the power that holding such a theory would bring, he did not publicize it. Instead he gave it to his various underlings in chunks. The plot of the novel is present-day, and someone is out to reunite the various chunks. It might be a good set-up, but the novel itself is a bland, shoot-em-up chase thriller through the backstreets of the eastern U.S. There are literally hundreds of cheap police/spy thrillers out there with the same plot; Alpert just made the theory of everything his MacGuffin.

You could combine all the physics discussions into a 15-page article and leave out the garbage. In fact, I wish he had.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page-turner about the search for Einstein's "Theory of Everything."
Learned some good science-type stuff.

[Liana Aldina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ar vieglu fizikas piegaršu.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of weekends ago, I found myself out and about with several hours to kill before an event, and no Kindle or iPad to be found. I headed into the nearest newsagent, hoping that they'd have a selection of cheap books available, and thankfully they did! I've been on a historical conspiracy thriller kick lately, and Final Theory sounded right up my alley. I'm happy to say that it was $4.50 well spent!

These kinds of books usually seek to explain some sort of historical secret or conspiracy using science: like Dan Brown using antimatter to explain Genesis, or James Rollins chalking up the loss of the ancient city of Ubar to a freak lightning storm in Sandstorm. But Final Theory was a little different. In this case the science was the historical secret. The characters are rushing to discover a scientific theory that was hidden by Albert Einstein some 50 years ago, that if harnessed, could destroy the world.

I'm not scientifically inclined at all. I enjoy reading news about various scientific breakthroughs, but only if they're in the most layman's terms. I can't do maths, physics or chemistry to save my life, and my brain instantly goes into panic mode if I'm confronted with anything but the most simple equation. That's why I like these books: they explore the craziest areas of science, but break it down for the average person to understand.

That being said, there were times in Final Theory where I did get lost. I'm sure a physics major would instantly see how the Unified Theory could be weaponised, but I was lost until they explicitly said 'we can do this and this and blow up ALL THE THINGS'. Maybe it's the Supernatural fan in me that loves a biblical apocalypse story, but I was hoping that somehow knowing the Unified Theory could trigger the unravelling of our world: that everything would start breaking down not unlike what the swarms of alien 'termites' do in The Day The Earth Stood Still.

I was also lost during the final scenes at Fermilab. I understood the general premise: smash particles together and create sterile neutrinos that go for a frolic through spacetime and emerge somewhere else for a little fireworks display. But Alpert threw in a lot of extra info about the Tevatron that was totally lost on me. I don't think the reader needed to know so much about the process; just inform the reader that the machine uses super magnets and helium to direct the particles, so the reader isn't surprised when Swift takes an axe to the helium pipes. Just briefly mention the use of mineral oil to detect neutrinos, and the impossibility for a human to swim in it, so the reader isn't surprised when Brock drowns in the stuff. We don't need to know all the scientific details, that doing x and y in the Tevatron creates z, and that neutrinos create little flashes in the mineral oil.

All that being said, I wasn't surprised to read the Author's Note where Alpert says that he writes for Scientific American. I've never bothered to Google String Theory (for fear of sending my brain into panic mode), so all I knew was that it partially explains the universe. I'm now happy to say that I have a very basic understanding of what it is, and I avoided a brain meltdown! I still don't know anything about relativity, quantum mechanics or particles, but this book taught me that relativity and string theory use maths that aren't compatible. To me, math is math, so the idea of different types of physics being like different languages was new and fascinating to me.

Much in the way that Robert Langdon is a Gary Stu for Dan Brown, I was unsurprised to read that Mark Alpert's career path mirrored David Swift's: he had started out as a physicist, but eventually realised that he didn't have the aptitude to be one of the greats in the field, and that his real talents lay in writing. It was really refreshing to read a historical conspiracy novel where the main character isn't this expert in the field that all others defer to on the subject. I enjoyed the scenes where Swift just couldn't keep up with Monique's physics blather, needing her to break it down for him. It made Swift so much more human, compared to Dan Brown's Robert Langdon, who sounds like a robot reciting Wikipedia entries when he's called on to explain a symbol.

That being said, the dialogue wasn't perfect. While it never read like Wikipedia, some of the dialogue was wooden and forced. When Monique's boyfriend yelled at David about being a Nazi, the scene felt forced and contrived, like David would wake up and we'd realise it was an absurd dream sequence. Karen's explanation of the divorce also failed to hit the mark, feeling rushed and unbelievable. It essentially read like 'I'm a selfish bitch and wanted a big house and nice clothes, but he dressed too casually for my taste and didn't go for a promotion that would've let us upgrade the house, so I divorced him'. Fair enough if that had been David's perspective on the divorce, portraying Karen as a superficial selfish bitch, but it was Karen's perspective!

The scene with the Super Soaker was also ridiculous, reminding me of this irrational teacher I had in high school. This teacher read an article once upon a time about a kid getting set on fire by other children when they were dropped off at school before teachers arrived for the day. This teacher lived far away, and was convinced that if she dropped her kids off early (often it was still dark in Winter), the same thing would happen to them. Karen's dislike for the Super Soaker was on that level of irrationality.

Thankfully the other characters were written a lot better. Simon and Brock were utterly repulsive villains, and days later I still feel sick over Brock being so perverse that he would actually masturbate over the torture and attempted murder of David and his family. It's funny how a disturbed villain is a prerequisite of writing in this genre, but I never fail to be surprised by the creepy monsters cooked up by authors. I felt no sympathy for Simon's family perishing at the hands of the American soldiers, not when the crimes he'd committed in revenge were so much more foul. He deserved a much more painful and grisly death than death-by-golf cart, but at least he did die. Brock's death was spectacular and utterly deserved, and I was hoping for something just as gory for Simon.

I really liked Monique. I liked that she had come from a poor background to become the first African American woman in physics, and admired how she continued to deal with racism in this day and age. I liked her strong sense of independence: living just for her in buying that Corvette and sleeping with a guy half her age, not being phased in the least by the knowledge that he had other women on the side.

I loved the inclusion of Michael as an autistic child, too. Although I can't say that I've read too much into the subject, I do find autism fascinating: the concept that while they don't interpret and interact with the world as non-autistic people do, they can do things that the rest of us simply aren't capable of: memorising phone directories, recreating scenes via charcoal or paint that they only glimpsed for a few seconds, and knowing how many matchsticks are in that pile. I remember being intrigued by Philip K Dick's Martian Time-Slip book, in which he theorised that autistic people interpret the passage of time differently. While it's obviously not the current dominant scientific understanding of the issue, it was a fascinating take on it nonetheless and really stuck with me!

Overall: I went into this expecting a run of the mill historical conspiracy, and ended up with something more grounded in science! It was entertaining nonetheless, filled with despicable villains and breaking down string theory so even I could understand it. Although some of the dialogue was wooden and the science a bit complex at times, it was $4.50 well spent!

[Itamar · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can do is damn this book with faint praise.
It's an OK techno-thriller, one which did not make me really care about its characters and the technology in which was somewhat familiar to me.

I found the behavior of some of the antagonists unbelievable, most characters flat and just kind of "meh" and the scientific threat non-credible.
This is funny, because it appears that the author of the book was also the author of the scientific paper around which the speculative threat revolves, so it appears I am in some sort of physics "uncanny valley" where I know enough physics to wrinkle my nose at the premise of dimensional-warping super-weapon, but not enough to see that it actually is theoretically possible.

I'd take Tom Clancy over this any day of the week.

[Aditya Sundararajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun, racy read with a couple of twists that were well set up and executed. The premise worked within my suspension of disbelief, though it does fall prey to the trope of heroic academics who can do everything from firing a gun with precision to running like an athlete. I really loved how the antagonists were characters with a spine; each had a strong palpable motive that aligned well with the central macguffin, and their presence leaped off the pages in certain instances. The incorporation of a national lab and, of course, the particle accelerator at Fermilab were some gems that satisfied the engineer within me. If not for the academics-turn-action-heroes-instantly trope and some developments that felt overtly convenient, I'd have rated it higher.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first published novel. I hope you enjoy it!

[Kees Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi boek met mooie wendingen

[Marina Shemesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Final Theory" is written by Mark Alpert, an editor at "Scientific American". Although the book is about Albert Einstein's Unified Field Theory, or the Theory of Everything, Mister Alpert has written a fast-paced thriller that will have you turning the pages as fast as you can read them.

The protagonist is David Swift, a Columbia University professor. His university mentor, a physicist who had worked with Albert Einstein, is brutally attacked and asks for David. Just before the physicist dies, he whispers in David's ear the German words Einheitliche Feldtheorie (Unified Field Theory) and a few numbers that seem to be a code.

David Swift, who is now being chased by the FBI and a clever and ruthless Chechen mercenary turns to an old friend for help. Monique Reynolds is a physicist from Princeton, the university where Albert Einstein lived and worked. Not only is she one of the few people who can understand the physics of the Unified Field Theory, she is also an excellent driver and a resourceful partner for David.

In real life Albert Einstein did look for the Unified Field Theory, a single set of equations that can explain all the forces of the nature. He never did unravel the theory, but the author Mark Alpert assumes in "The Final Theory" that he did. Realizing the potential harm the theory can cause if used as a weapon, Einstein never made his work public. He entrusted the secret to a handful of his students, one being David Swift's mentor.

"The Final Theory" is a great book. Mark Alpert has managed to make a dry subject like physics fascinating. Together with the cross country chase to unearth the theory and staying one step ahead of the FBI, "The Final Theory" has a proper story and interesting plot twists.

I enjoyed the secondary characters that Mark Alpert has created to help tell the story. There is an autistic teenager who only seems to play computer games, a military hooker and a religious snake handler. Even the ruthless mercenary and his client, the head of the FBI and some of the agents all seem like real people.

Another note of interest is that the final scenes in the book takes place at Fermilab, the home of the Tevatron, a particle collider. Mark Alpert mentions in his Author's note how he enjoyed visiting the particle collider and a requisite safety briefing. It is not every day that a hero in a book must worry about asphyxiation from escaping helium.

Whenever I write a book review, I try to be objective, even if I did like the book a lot. With "The Final Theory" there is nothing negative to say, or to caution readers about. The science in the book is understandable and yet not that crucial to follow the plot and enjoy the story.

I am looking forward to read any other books of Mark Alpert and will not be surprised if "The Final Theory" is turned into a movie.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albert Einstein is probably best known for the "Theory of Relativity" (e=mc2). In "Final Theory" he has discovered the formula for the "Theory of Everything" and this could either bring peace to the world or total destruction. Einstein, in his wisdom, knowing that this knowledge would be sought by man for destructive purposes, gives the information to three of this colleagues and swears them to secrecy. A fourth colleague of Einstein knows of the discovery but is not given the information because Einstein does not trust him.

David Swift, who knows one of the physicists (Hans Kleinman), is summoned to a hospital when Kleinman is found mortally wounded. Before he dies David is given a series of numbers that may lead him to the "Theory of Everything". It is only after leaving the hospital that David learns that the other two physicists that have the formula have been murdered.

David is led to the fourth colleague, Amil Gupta, who may help him find the formula. David is also faced with outwitting an unknown assailant, the FBI, and Delta Force. Obviously the United States Government and an unknown entity wants thie formula and wants it bad.

The formula is so valuable that David's estranged wife and his son are brought into the conflict. David must also enlist the help of Monique Reynolds, a professor of physics at Princeton University.

The reader is now led on a chase that starts in New York and goes through West Virginia, Florida, and New Jersey. We are also shown how ruthless people can be when they believe that they are right and that anything they do justifies their actions.

This justification leads to the murder of a number of individuals, some of whom you will find yourself mourning their demise.

I would caution the reader that there are a number of passages that are quite technical in nature - remember we are talking physics and math here. You will be faced with protons, neutrinos, and antiprotons. AQlthough I did not understand everything, it did make fkor interesting reading and as long as you do not get bogged down in the technical aspect you will find this a very enjoyable read.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so deliciously awful that I couldn't disengage. Kind of like the cliched car wreck in its addicting disastrousness. Where to begin? My list is in no particular order.

-The dialogue was very stilted; it didn't sound natural at all. Forced-sounding speech is very jarring.
-Quite a lot of scientific information had to be conveyed, since it's a science-based story, and these facts were poorly incorporated. Usually it was one character lecturing another for several paragraphs (see point above), although sometimes it was the main character remembering what he read in a /Scientific America/ article or some such, and remembering all those details for us.
-The ongoing action relied on ridiculous leaps; no one can have that many horrible coincidences fall into line in just a few days. I'm a fan of fiction that requires me to suspend my disbelief, but this was completely implausible.
-There were a few scenes that were difficult-- the main action-bad-guy has little depth and he enjoys doing incredibly painful things to other characters. Some of the descriptions were certainly cringe-inducing, and not in an enjoyable way (if that makes sense). It wasn't interesting, it didn't add detail; it was over-the-top graphic violence for the sake of shock value. (PCD, don't go there.)

[Carol Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Physics and the Theory of Everything

A exciting and fun read about what if Einstein already found a "Theory of Everything.? " A unification theory would join the physics of the world of quantum theory , and the theory of relatively. Would
this create more efficient ways for the destruction of our enemies or miraculous applications in medicine and energy production . This is a story that is for science geeks and anyone interested in what Morgan Freeman talks about on The Unverse. The science is based on real theories . What would happen if science found the answer to the what , how and why of the universe - fifty years later after the Enstein hid it. Of course there is the fun stuff too, the main character has found a lost romance with a brilliant female physicist. (How convenient) The FBI is racing a corrupt military for the prze. There is a demented physicist who is a former assistant to Einstein whose grandson has "autism" (Asperger's Syndrome) and becomes central to the story. A small warning : There is profanity and pole dancing - But heck what would a good story be without it....Enjoy I did.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured Final Theory by Mark Alpert. In his debut thriller, Alpert has used science, history and politics to create a unique page turner. He majored in astrophysics at Princeton University and actually wrote his undergraduate thesis on an application of Einsteins's theory of relativity according to the book jacket.

After reading the first chapter where an old professor is brutally tortured, I thought about putting the book down. It's a great story but the torture throughout makes for very uncomfortable reading.

The story concerns Einheitliche Feldtheorie. There is much discussion of science and Einstein's proposed Unified Theory, which he died without finding. The story supposes that Einstein may have discovered the theory but created an elaborate plan to keep it away from those who would use it for evil. Suddenly our hero, Professor David Swift, is running for his life and trying to find the theory so it can be kept safe.

Already translated into 16 languages, this could be a big title once it is available in June 2008. Look for a movie down the road!

[Anthony Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

| Mark Alpert

Science editor/writer for Scientific American magazine brings his extraordinary ability to describe complex science engagingly and effectively for the general reader to imaginative and speculative storytelling in a hard-hard-sf novel, with fully-fleshed and fully-minded interesting characters one can easily love or hate, realistic speculative science extrapolation, fine writing (style and grace), unpredictable suspense.

Wells, Asimov and Heinlein probably would have enjoyed this book. Einstein would have gotten a kick out of it, and Feynman might have starting writing sf.

I read it on my Kindle for PC.

[Josip Brecak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Columbian University Professor is trusted with the key that can unlock Einstein's greatest discovery, the theory of everything. He's main purpose is to keep it safe however it turns out to be more difficult than he thought it would be. This Professor now is on the run from the FBI and a Russian hit man who both are after Einstein's discovery and he fears if it falls under the wrong hands it could be used as a weapon that can deal unimaginable devastation. Surprisingly for a Mystery Thriller which involves science it turned out to be not only interesting and suspenseful. It was also informative and thought me a few things on physics and how the universe works.

I definitely recommend the book. Was a fun and fast read which can teach you few things about science and it won't turn out to be a headache.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A co-worker recommended this book to me. He said it was similar to the DaVinci code and I partially agree. I found it more like the Bourne Identity but with more accurate science (I think). The author or Final Theory studied Physics and then gave that up for journalism. Very fast read. I actually stayed up most of monday night because I couldn't put it down. I can't say it was a profound book of course but I did enjoy reading it. Think action packed, thriller with a few twists. I did find one thing weird about the book- the author tended to use specific brand products quite often when referring to different things- Snackwell's instead of cookies or Macbook instead of computer. I dunno. Maybe it isn't that weird. Read it and I think you will enjoy it!

[Vichy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I started reading this book, I felt I had to reach to its end as soon as possible! It is a captivating adventurous science thriller. The author is a man of science and makes it relatively easy for the reader to understand physics meanings and theories, but he also seems to have the the germ for detective novels with manhunt and intrigue. I really could not comprehend the extreme range from low to high readers' ratings but I finally came to the conclusion that the author, trying to mix science and police adventure with political involvement and social consequences, disappointed the people who stand clearly in the one or the other side. Relax people, I enjoyed this book for one reason. I adored the mixing!

[Christos Bouras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Εντάξει, με κέντρισε ο τίτλος αλλά ... έχει ελάχιστη εκλαϊκευμένη φυσική και περισσότερο μυθιστορηματική πλοκή. Η ιστορία με την τελική εξίσωση του Einstein και την αναζήτηση της από παλιούς μαθητές του, την αμερικανική κυβέρνηση και έναν παλαβιαρη Ρώσο έχει ένα κάποιο ενδιαφέρον. Στα θετικά η οπτική ενός road movie και η έξυπνη αποθήκευση της θεωρίας στο μυαλό ενός αυτιστικού παιδιού. Στα πολλά αρνητικά είναι οι χαρακτήρες: ο ιδιότυπος του ηλιθιου Αμερικανού μπάτσου, η τοξικομανης κόρη του διαβολικου Γκουπτα, ο παλαβός Ρώσος, ο χωριάτης που βλέπει παντού εχθρούς κλπ. Ιδεοτυπικοι χαρακτήρες χτισμένοι από το φθηνό αμερικανικό σινεμά που μάλλον βλέπει ο συγγραφέας. Μέτριο ως ��έμα αλλά με καλή ροή και ευκολοδιαβαστο βιβλίο.

[AshishB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Alpert the writer of this book has used real science, history and politics..This book is complete Movie Material(well i wonder no one has thought of making one).
The Author himself is the student of such high level of Physics studies n that thing was absolutely essential for this book...the way he explained certain phenomenons of subject were absolutely Brilliant....
Because of this book I got interested in the unified theory n Omega theory..well this book has awaken the science thirst in me...

Book is really good...there r really perfect twists in the story tht u just cant think...so go for it...

[Alex Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final Theory is a book that I bought at Costco and I just bought it because I had to read an independent book for school and I thought it would be an easy read. The book was very great and thoroughly surprised me considering the fact that almost none of the librarians I asked knew about the book. I read and reread the book countless times and it never displeases me. I told my teacher about the book and she said that she would look into the book and she also loved it. I would recommend this to anyone that can read in-between the lines and think about the book to modern society.

[Gary Grubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

After taking a small breather upon finishing "Atlas Shrugged" I'm now into a book that was given to me as a gift... "Final Theory". Gift books can certainly be a challenge when, not only am I particular about the books I read, but the giver is not at all familiar with my reading habits. Well, "Final Theory" is proving to be not only an easy read (particularly after "Atlas Shrugged"), but also a fun read. For me it's a hard one to put down.