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Particle physicist Weinberg's extraordinary intelligence infuses every sentence, but without pushiness or arrogance. Not every concept and theory he presents comes through clearly to this non-mathematical layman, but the currents, both of writing and thought, flow smoothly. And he brings a different approach to some concepts than I have run across in other "popularizations." (Weinberg includes no math here, but certain ideas in particle physics are close to impossible to envision completely without that background.)

You may of may not agree that a "final theory" of physics � a firm theoretical basis to all of reality � is possible (I don't, or at least not fully), or that we are on the cusp of such a culmination within our lifetime or that of our children (that I severely doubt), but you can't fault his reasoning or the depth of his fervor in promoting the idea.

At base, this is a (restrained) paean to the human need to know. He discusses the idea of "beauty" in the study of physics and of science in general, but takes it in a different direction than is usually presented. As a man of intellect, he could not do otherwise that search for the ultimate: the ultimate what � meaning? In the end, that ultimate may have a different name for each of use, or no name at all. But oh yes, says Weinberg, we do want to know.

The one sad note is his heartfelt promotion of the Superconducting Super Collider � a particle smasher twice the size of CERN's Large Hadron Collider � which was killed by Congress a couple years after the book came out. But the LHC did find the Higg's particle, so I hope he feels that all was not lost.