Συνέχεια στο "The trouble with physics" (II)

Η Λίζα Ράνταλ, καθηγήτρια στο Χάρβαρντ έστειλε επιστολή στον "The New Yorker" για το άρθρο-παρουσίαση των βιβλίων του Σμόλιν και Βόιτ, και για τα οποία είχα γράψει κάτι μικρό παλιότερα. Δεν βρήκα τον σύνδεσμο στην σελίδα του Νεουορκέζου- δεν βάζουν τα γράμματα και γιάυτό το βάζω εδώ.

"Few scientific discoveries have the clarity or finality of a satisfying story arc. Subtlety and ambiguity don't make for a great story, but conflict often does. This might explain why Holt, and others reviewing Smolin's and Woit's books, present a distorted picture of a string theory war. The reality is that although all physicists know that string theory provides many frustratingly difficult problems and no one is sure of the best approach, string theorists continue to investigate new and promising possibilities, as do model builders, who work to find connections among the physical phenomena that are experimantally observed. New ideas with one approach might trigger excitement in another, and although the enthousiasm is sometimes premature and exaggerated, ideas are sorted out over time, and the good ones move forward. Although some string theorists think beauty is the ultimate arbiter of truth, most know better. String theory is probably far removed from experiment, but ideas that are essential to string theory, such as extra dimensions and supersymmetry, might well be within experimental reach when the Large Hadron Collider starts operating next year. All physicists eagerly await the discoveries that should take place there over the next few years. "


Υ.Γ. Δείτε και το ιστολόγιο του Αχιλλέα "Περί χορδών και εστιών" και τους σχετικούς συνδέσμους του. Η συζήτση στο ιστολόγιο του Κάρολ έχει λίγο ενδιαφέρον.