The Trouble with Physics

The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next

Author	Lee Smolin
Published	2006
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin
Pages	392
ISBN	978-0-618-55105-7

The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next is a 2006 book by the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin. It examines what Smolin regards as a crisis in fundamental physics — the failure, over roughly three decades, to make verifiable progress on unifying the forces of nature — and lays much of the blame on the dominance of String Theory.

Main arguments

• String theory has made no confirmed predictions. Smolin argues that string theory has yet to produce a single new prediction that could be tested with any foreseeable technology, that it lacks a complete and coherent mathematical formulation, and that it has not even been proved to be finite.
• The "five great problems." The book is organised around five open problems in physics, including unifying general relativity and quantum theory, resolving the foundations of quantum mechanics, unifying the particles and forces, explaining the free constants of the Standard Model, and understanding dark matter and dark energy.
• A monoculture in physics. Smolin contends that string theory holds an unhealthy near-monopoly on funding, jobs and prestige in fundamental physics, especially in the United States, crowding out alternative approaches such as loop quantum gravity.
• The sociology of science. A large part of the book concerns how science should work — the roles of controversy, groupthink, and diversity of approaches — and argues that a healthy field needs "seers" pursuing risky, foundational questions, not only technically skilled "craftspeople."

Reception

The book was widely read and provoked considerable debate about the status of string theory, appearing at nearly the same time as Peter Woit's similarly critical Not Even Wrong. It was praised for opening up a public discussion of the direction of theoretical physics, and criticised by some prominent physicists — including Sean Carroll and the string theorists Joseph Polchinski and Luboš Motl — who disputed its characterisation of string theory. Within the dissident-physics community the book is often cited approvingly for its argument that mainstream physics has become intolerant of alternative ideas.

External links

• The Trouble with Physics on Wikipedia
• The Trouble with Physics at leesmolin.com