by Michael DiMario

Title: The Allure of the Multiverse
Author: Paul Halpern
Publisher: Basic Books, New York
Publication Date: January 2024
Total Pages: 320

In The Allure of the Multiverse, the author physicist Paul Halpern begins to describe the early ideas of the infinite cosmos with Giordano Bruno’s 1584 treatise On the Infinite Universe and Worlds. The author brings the reader through the history and controversies of not only our singular universe but of multiple universes before the Big Bang and of parallel universes. Time travel is discussed and the testing of time dilation brings the reader through an expanding topical discussion showing the interconnections of time, gravity, space, black holes, and a potential multiverse. Wormholes and time tunnels are discussed thoroughly as well as a description of our own Princeton J Richard Gott’s time loop.

This reader found the first half of the book a slow read delving into the history and controversies of the origins of the current multiverse theories. However, the read picked up in the latter half of the book as the reader is taken through time travel, worm holes, and the basis of the popular shows and movies of Interstellar, Star Trek, and faster than light tachyons. This is a great source to more fully understand the subject and origins of the concept of multiple universes.