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"Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information. By Vlatko Vedral. Oxford University Press; 256 pages; $29.95 and £16.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk ONE of the most elusive goals in modern physics has turned out to be the creation of a grand unified theory combining general relativity and quantum mechanics, the two pillars of 20th-century physics. General relativity deals with gravity and time and space; quantum mechanics with the microscopic workings of matter. Both are incredibly successful in their own domains, but they are inconsistent with one another. For decades physicists have tried to put the two together. At the heart of the quest lies the question, of what is the universe made? Is it atoms of matter, as most people learned in school? Or some sort of energy? String theory, currently a popular idea, holds that the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings. Other equally esoteric candidates abound. Indeed, cynics claim that there are as many grand unified theories as there are theoretical physicists attempting unification. Now Vlatko Vedral, an Oxford physicist, examines the claim that bits of information are the universe's basic units, and the universe as a whole is a giant quantum computer. He argues that all of reality can be explained if readers accept that information is at the root of everything."