Superstring Theory.

GREEN, Michael B.; John H. Schwarz and Edward Witten. [Stephen Hawking].

Item Number: 119483

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

First edition of the fundamental text on superstring theory. Octavo, original cloth. From the library of Stephen Hawking. Hawking was a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. Hawking’s scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. He was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Hawking may be one of the most recognizable of theoretical physicists in part due to ALS, which gradually paralyzed him over the decades. After the loss of his speech, he was able to communicate through a speech-generating device—initially through use of a handheld switch, and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. He is also well known since he achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discussed his theories and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. A wonderful connection to this book, which Hawking likely used in his development of his final paper based on string theory, called “A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation”, which had its latest revisions approved on March 4, ten days before Hawking’s death. Hawking met the authors at many conferences, as they were in the same field, including at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Both volumes are near fine in near fine dust jackets. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise clamshell box. An exceptionally desirable provenance.

Published during a period of rapid progress in superstring theory, Green, Schwarz, and Witten's two volumes on the subject were highly influential for a generation of students and researchers. A self-contained introduction to superstrings, Volume 1 begins with an elementary treatment of the bosonic string, before describing the incorporation of additional degrees of freedom: fermionic degrees of freedom leading to supersymmetry and internal quantum numbers leading to gauge interactions. The second volume is concerned largely with the evaluation of one-loop amplitudes, the study of anomalies, and phenomenology. "At a 1990 conference on cosmology," wrote John Horgan in 2014, "I asked attendees, who included folks like Stephen Hawking, Michael Turner, James Peebles, Alan Guth and Andrei Linde, to nominate the smartest living physicist. Edward Witten got the most votes (with Steven Weinberg the runner-up). Some considered Witten to be in the same league as Einstein and Newton.