Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.25 (585 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0465092756 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-04-08 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as "not even wrong," meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not. In Not Even Wrong, he shows that what many physicists call superstring "theory" is not a theory at all. Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed
But echoing Lee Smolin's forthcoming The Trouble with Physics (Reviews, July 24), Woit, a Ph.D. The first half of Woit's book is a tightly argued, beautifully written account of the development of the standard model and includes a history of particle accelerators that will interest science buffs. (Sept.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. When he gets into the history of string theory, however, his pace accelerates alarmingly, with highly sketchy chapters. All rights re
His math and physics blog, Not Even Wrong (mathlumbia/woit/wordpress), has been featured in Discover, Seed, and New Scientist. Peter Woit is a lecturer in the mathematics department of Columbia University, where in recent years he has taught graduate courses in quantum field theory, representation theory, and differential geometry. He lives in New York.
An Ecstatic Read for Those Who Wonder if the Universe is Still Elegant Charlene An ecstatic read, indeed. I picked up this book after reading Brian Greene's the Elegant Universe and realized it was so out of date that the universe is no longer "elegant" as claimed, with the exponentially-growing possibilities of "multi-verses," the alleged "multi-verses." Even to start with the title of this book, in grad school I've repeatedly heard some mathematician snobs attacking others' work as "not even wrong," with pure sarcasm and even a bit of intentional insult. But I don't view the book as a direct attack on the standing of string theory, but rather, a recount of the theory from a mathematical perspective--Peter Woit, . M. Wang said The emperor has no clothes. I am writing this blurb in reply to Lubos Motl's (you guess it, another String practitioner whose livelihood is being threatened by this book) comment.The fact that Peter Woit runs a blog critical of String only shows that he is consistent with his opinions. It should shock any impartial observer that in the eye of String practitioners--Lubos Motl being by no means exceptional among String people--this somehow automatically qualifies Woit and his readers as "crackpots". But what is even more shocking is the comparison to William Dembski's ID (Intelligent Design) blog, because String itself actually provides the perfect analogy to ID.Le. Deep, deep Thoughts Harry R. Jordan I picked up "Not Even Wrong" after working my way through "The Trouble with Physics" by Lee Smolin. Both books attack the problems of string theory from much the same direction - string theory shows none of the results necessary to be classified as anything more than a new type of math. In other words, if you can't use it to predict any new results and it only confirms old results by presetting all your variables to already known values, it's not science. And the opposite of science is religion, which is exactly how a lot of string theory adherents view this new math. "The Trouble with Physics" is an easier read, with lots of backgroun