String theorists can be likened to a primitive tribe excavating a buried spacecraft onto which they’ve stumbled. By tinkering and fiddling, the tribe would slowly establish aspects of the spacecraft’s operation, and this would nurture a sense that all the buttons and toggles work together in a coordinated and unified manner. A similar feeling prevails among string theorists. Results found over many years of research are dovetailing and converging. This has instilled a growing confidence among researchers that string theory is closing in on one powerful, coherent framework – which has yet to be unearthed fully, but ultimately will expose nature’s inner workings with unsurpassed clarity and comprehensiveness.
(from The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene)
9*/10. The complete review is here.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment