Either love him or hate him: Brian Greene and his book are here to stay.  Recently, I have been intrigued by the ideas of physics and have been digesting the work of a few physicists (and there seems to be a number) who also write extremely well.  Alan Lightman comes to mind (_Great Ideas in Physics_) and I must say that Greene's book does a much better job explaining Special &amp; General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics to a reader without much of a physics background.  The first couple hundred pages of this book truly surprised me, as I was impressed with Lightman's treatment of these areas, not knowing that such a good account was out there.  If you're looking for an introduction to Relativity and Quantum Mechanics and the debate surrounding the two, you've come to the right place.<br><br>I also enjoyed Greene's chapters that gave the overview of strings and the general shape of the theory.  Many of the later chapters are highly technical and, while I read them carefully, I know that the ideas will not stay with me long, particularly in places where Greene has not provided a nice visual metaphor to help the solidify the concept.  Greene is so good at doing this in earlier chapters, one wonders if he simply got tired as the book progressed or if the complexity of the subject matter has simply advanced beyond a point where metaphors can even begin to latch onto the concepts they are aimed at clarifying.  In either case, this book is truly memorable for certain images and metaphors and these concepts will stick in your mind.<br><br>Is this a book for the masses?  Yes and no.  I think that most educated persons will be able to get much out of the first couple hundred of pages, but you may need to spend some time with them making sure that you are understanding it.  As the chapters march on, you will find yourself losing interest and getting lost in some of Greene's explanations.  I think that only someone with some background in physics will understand everything that is held between these pages, but this should not deter you from reading it.  No matter what you think of string theory, Brian Greene's book is very intriguing and a nice read-even for a Philosophy/English major.