|  | Author: Lee Smolin
Publisher: Mariner Books
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Rating:  123 reviews
Sales Rank: 10450
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 061891868X
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.14
EAN: 9780618918683
ASIN: 061891868X
Publication Date: September 4, 2007
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Showing reviews 11-15 of 123
 an important invitation for discussion & debate April 2, 2009
Tom Fly (Spartanburg, SC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
the review, "unstrung" in "The New Yorker" (by Jim Holt, October 2, 2006) curiously concluded with some thoughts that had occurred independently to me. karl popper evidently "believed (that) there will prove to be no end to the succession of deeper and deeper theories." the idea - basically repeated in the history of physics - had occurred to me that if string theory is ever completed, it will open our eyes so wide that eventually, we'll begin to notice problems with the theory itself, ultimately necessitating a "theory of everything we used to know, and then some."
even if that turns out to be true, perhaps there will be only a finite "succession of deeper and deeper theories," but at some point, "the next theory" simply may prove to be beyond even a group of 1000 newton, carnot, maxwell, lorentz, einstein, bohr, heisenberg, schrödinger, dirac, gell-mann, feynman, 't hooft, etc., clones: "Perhaps the most fundamental truth about nature is simply beyond the human intellect, the way that quantum mechanics is beyond the intellect of a dog."
in george musser's book on string theory (a good "layman's" primer for this book), feynman was quoted as saying, "one thing that bothers me about physics, as it is understood today, is that an infinite number of logical operations, by any existing digital computer, would be required to understand what's going on in the tiniest bit of space." turning that statement around, we should expect that this will not be the case with the "theory of everything" - it basically will be "computable."
the final sentence of The New Yorker review bothers me, as feynman was bothered by the above:
"And, even if a final theory is found, it will leave the questions about nature that most concern us - how the brain gives rise to consciousness ... - untouched."
during my freshman year, i developed a rather complete epistemology of my own, which is essentially positivistic. i was naive enough to think that nobody else had ever thought of that stuff before me (or perhaps i didn't even happen to wonder if anyone else had), but ultimately i concluded that consciousness is fundamentally beyond our understanding and explanation, because the only "tools" for understanding consciousness are the elements of consciousness, themselves. consequently, any "theory of consciousness" necessarily would be self-referential, and whatever logic that provided scaffolding for the theory, ultimately would be circular.
it seems to me that an honest-to-goodness "theory of everything" must also explain consciousness. however, if consciousness is fundamentally beyond human understanding, then so it would seem is this "ultimate theory of everything."
for my part, overall, smolin wrote quite an interesting, informative, and thought provoking book. my impression is that the difference of opinion between him and joe polchinsky (as the "representative" of string theory) - that each tend to perceive the "opposing camp" of exaggerating their own successes, while having obvious biases against views they don't share - is a somewhat predictable consequence of each having a point of view that he strongly believes in ... and, of course, the fact that they strongly believe in differing points of view is basically due to the fact that they have differing judgments regarding physics, sociology, etc.
in "black holes & time warps," thorne made a comment regarding the remarkable difference in the ways that 1st-order-approximation-similar people think, using himself & stephen hawking as an example. one of smolin's central theses, of course, is that given the complexity of present day theoretical physics, such differences in modes of thinking are, in fact, an indispensable resource.
polchinsky, presumably, doesn't fundamentally disagree, but simply believes that smolin overestimates the degree to which string theory's dominance limits the opportunities of those having very different ideas (as the early lack of respect for string theory affected the opportunities of people like john schwartz, who ... after princeton put him out on the street ... likely spent 12 years as a research associate because feynman thought string theory was "crazy").
and presumably both would agree with the idea, and ideal, expressed by feynman: "Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself" ...
note the word, "trying" - if anyone had a crystal ball, he could easily avoid the possibility that the future may judge him a fool.
but that's too serious a way to end, following peter shor's review, above - without a doubt the funniest piece of "scientific humor" i've ever read! (obviously, i haven't spent the past quarter-century or so working on string theory.) however, he neglected to mention one key scam, as follows:
String theorists: "the theory you sold me yesterday was pregnant. it gave birth to 4 or 5 more theories, and they're spilling all over my neighbors' lawns!"
Nature: "no problemo! UPS just delivered a bunch of nice new dualities..."
String theorists: "what are those?"
Nature: "well, they're kind of like inverse fun-house mirrors. if you set them up in just the right way, you can make a whole bunch of theories look like just only one theory! if you hurry, your neighbors may not even notice that their lawns are covered in physics equations."
String theorists: "ok, i'll take a set of dualities, too."
Nature: "no problemo! and here's 5 more c-y manifolds, on the house!"
i guess we'll just have to wait for the einstein of the 21st century to come along & slash thru this great gordian knot ... maybe a "genetic marriage" of kip thone & stephen hawking (having 2 Y-chromosomes, and therefore really, really, super mathematical ability, and also lots & lots of facial & body hair) could pull it off.
did peter mention seers? i happen to be a seer, and i "see" that the final theory will be a quantum mechanical analogue of how to make bets with yourself, in such a way that in the long run, you come out a winner ... unfortunately, i'm not enough of a master craftsman to work out the details.
 The trouble with Lee Smolin March 11, 2009
Thomas (Europe)
5 out of 30 found this review helpful
The trouble with Lee Smolin is that he doesn't publish and doesn't do much real physics .
He writes books instead .
This book explains us that the physics is dominated by evil mafias of string theorists that persecute seers and trust chairs .
Lee Smolin being himself a self proclaimed seer , he suffers from this persecution .
Other categories are also persecuted for sexist or racial reasons especially if they are not string theorists .
Do you think that is an exageration ?
Well not at all , a good half of the book is dedicated to this discussion .
As for the first half we learn that Lee Smolin thinks that QM , GR and string theory have all fatal flaws .
He also (wrongly) thinks that physics stopped since he (Lee Smolin) began to interest himself in physics .
I know it is a bit short but that's about it .
It might well be the reasons why he can't do any real physics .
In any case read this book only if you are interested what is the trouble with Lee Smolin .
If you are interested by physics read Feynman instead .
Nice Critique of String Theory, Unfortunately Determined to Make All The Same Mistakes February 27, 2009
C. Lambright (NYC)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Smolin's book is extremely well written, and is an apologetic, yet punishing critique of String Theory and theoretical physics in general. We are left with the impression that String Theory is nothing more than metaphysics parading as science [which is what most educated people have always believed about it anyway].
Unfortunately, Smolin is unwilling to give up [or even critique] the ideas of Feyerabend and other post-modern science philosophers, which have helped to justify String Theory and similarly exotic departures from traditional science. He seems determined to march down a merry road that is essentially "String Theory: Part Deux". It would have been nice to see some humility learned from the incredible shenanigans that have characterised the history of String Theory, but Smolin concludes with the assertion that genius "seers" are what is needed, and guess who can spot them? Him. In fact, most of them are close personal friends of his.
Uh... No. Try again, please.
But a great book, anyway!
 A brilliant discussion on the present and future of theoretical physics from a leading scientist. February 19, 2009
Poor Man
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book of Smolin is a delightful presentation of what theoretical physics has been up to in the last centuries, and of the troubles with it nowadays. As an insider (he is a distinguished theoretical physicist active for many years in string theory, among other things), he gives a lively description of a strange state of affairs, where a particular approach to particle physics, though still incomplete and not supported by experimental confirmations, has come to be described as THE ultimate theory of everything; and how this made nearly impossible for a young physicist to build a career on different, even promising, approaches, which for this reason have been abandoned (should we say ignored?) in the last 30 years. However, you will not find here the ideas of a polemic writer, or a string-hater! You just will find a honest discussion by someone who loves science, and respects it. Many open answers for insiders, and a wonderful fresco for the cultivated outsider. Higly recommended to the strings community.
Physics for the mathematically challenged January 20, 2009
Cliff P. Boer (Perth, Western Australia)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Lee Smolin is a man of many talents. This book demonstrates not only his wonderful ability as a physicist, but also his excellent writing skills and ability to describe highly technical mathematical domains in a manner that those of us who are mathematically challenged can never-the-less get a chance to enjoy the view.
I am a person who is incredibly curious about "Life, the Universe and Everything", but not having the mathematical background to grasp cutting edge physics in its raw state, Lee was able to decipher the hieroglyphics in a manner that I could completely understand. That is a special talent he has, for which I am most thankful.
This book was riveting throughout, and gave me some of the deepest insights that I have had the pleasure of experiencing in my desire to understand more about this subject.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a general interest in the subject as being one of the best books that you can read, understand and enjoy.
Showing reviews 11-15 of 123
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