Book Summary and Reviews of The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin

The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin

The Trouble With Physics

The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next

by Lee Smolin

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  • Published:
  • Sep 2006, 416 pages
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Book Summary

In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that fundamental physics—the search for the laws of nature—is losing its way. One of the major problems, according to Smolin, is the growing gulf between the speculations of theorists and reality as revealed by experiment. Ambitious ideas about extra dimensions, exotic particles, multiple universes, and strings have captured our imaginations. But these ideas have not been tested experimentally, and some—string theory, for example—seem to offer no possibility for experimental tests. And because these ideas have tied up funding and talent to the detriment of other pursuits, they threaten to impede the progress of science. With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Courting controversy, Smolin is a reflective, self-confident challenger to pro-string physicist - authors Brian Greene, Leonard Susskind, and Michio Kaku." - Booklist.

"This isn't easy reading, but it will appeal to dedicated science buffs interested in where physics may be headed in the next decade." - Publishers Weekly.

"...clearly written...with a passion all too rare in popular science books..." - The Toronto Star.

"It would be hard to imagine a better guide to this difficult subject." - Scientific American.

"[A] substantial and serious exploration of [string] theory's vulnerabilities." - New York Times.

"This is a well-written, critical profile of the theoretical physics community, free of equations, from the perspective of a member." - Library Journal.

This information about The Trouble With Physics was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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