Whew, what an intriguing, ambitious, out-of-control train wreck of a book this is!
Eger says that the world is made up of music because, according to string theory, the most elemental particules are multi-dimensional loops that vibrate. In what sense can that be called "music," when the vibrations aren't audible to anybody's ears and what does that possibly do to enlighten us about music? Eger also relies on the fact that he calls his view a theory and none of his physics friends trash his theory when he brings it up in conversation, which isn't exactly strong evidence either.
The dust jacket mentions all the famous people in Eger's life who are mentioned in the book. They are interesting and Eger's insights into how as a conductor he gets the most out of his orchestra are also interesting. However, there is just far too little on those topics to merit reading the book. Most of the book is spent haphazardly trying to explain quantum physics, shich is just not something Eger is skilled at.
One wishes that an editor would have given Eger clearer feedback that his book was neither lucid nor organized. Unfortunately, a pitfall of being eminent and intelligent is that honest feedback is hard to find.
While I enjoyed reading some aspects of this book, it is organized in a helter-skelter fashion. The author jumps from subject to subject without any seeming connectedness. Maestro Eger's musical passion is obvious, nevertheless, and his interest in quantum physics is real enough. I did not think, however, that his arguments of the interrelatedness of music and physics were developed in a concrete fashion. Dana Zohar's "The Quantum Society" is much better reading for people interested in connecting the new physics with our individual and societal functions.
While the author's politics were never completely explained to the reader, it is quite obvious that he leans towards a progressive or even socialistic philosophy. Yes, there are virtual relationships in music, physics, and math. I doubt, however, that the same is true for the author's liberal outlook on society with respect to these other subjects. In my opinion, his poorly written attempts to link music, physics, and math with his social philosophy failed completely.
This book may well be enjoyable reading for some musicians. That said, I can't imagine anyone other than far left activists grasping at straws that would be interested in reading this volume.
