"Not Even Wrong"
I've been reading (which in this case does not necessarily mean understanding) Peter Woit's book "Not Even Wrong", subtitled "The Failure of String Theory and the Continuing Challenge to Unify the Laws of Physics". Some pithy stuff from there, hope to add to this post at intervals:
( Wikipedia would have entries for most names or terms that you don't understand below)
"Not Even Wrong" -- this was Pauli's way of describing a theory that he felt was worse than wrong. Woit's taking a dig at string theory by reusing that phrase.
From a strong criticism of string theory by Sheldon Glashow:
"...Until the string theory people can intepret perceived properties of the real world they simply are not doing physics. Should they be paid by universities and be permitted to pervert impressionable students ? Will young Ph.Ds, whose expertise is limited to superstring theory, be employable if, and when, the string snaps ? Are string thoughts more appropriate to departments of mathematics, or even schools of divinity than to physics departments ? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin ? How many dimensions are there in a compactified manifold, 30 powers of ten smaller than a pinhead ? "
A topologist is someone who doesn't know the difference between a coffee and a doughnut
( Wikipedia would have entries for most names or terms that you don't understand below)
"Not Even Wrong" -- this was Pauli's way of describing a theory that he felt was worse than wrong. Woit's taking a dig at string theory by reusing that phrase.
From a strong criticism of string theory by Sheldon Glashow:
"...Until the string theory people can intepret perceived properties of the real world they simply are not doing physics. Should they be paid by universities and be permitted to pervert impressionable students ? Will young Ph.Ds, whose expertise is limited to superstring theory, be employable if, and when, the string snaps ? Are string thoughts more appropriate to departments of mathematics, or even schools of divinity than to physics departments ? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin ? How many dimensions are there in a compactified manifold, 30 powers of ten smaller than a pinhead ? "
A topologist is someone who doesn't know the difference between a coffee and a doughnut
posted by VK at 7:43 PM
1 Comments:
So whats string theory?
BTW, one of the beautiful things introductions I had about topology referenced the equivalence of the doughnut and the coffee cup. I read only a little bit more about topology, and have forgotten all, but the donut coffee cup equivalence is a picture that sticks.
Arvind
Arvin
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