Why String Theory?
About this book
Physics World's 'Book of the Year' for 2016
An Entertaining and Enlightening Guide to the Who, What, and Why of String Theory, now also available in an updated reflowable electronic format compatible with mobile devices and e-readers.
During the last 50 years, numerous physicists have tried to unravel the secrets of string theory. Yet why do these scientists work on a theory lacking experimental confirmation?
Why String Theory? provides the answer, offering a highly readable and accessible panorama of the who, what, and why of this large aspect of modern theoretical physics. The author, a theoretical physics professor at the University of Oxford and a leading string theorist, explains what string theory is and where it originated. He describes how string theory fits into physics and why so many physicists and mathematicians find it appealing when working on topics from M-theory to monsters and from cosmology to superconductors.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Preface
- Section I: Why?
- Chapter 1: The Long Wait
- Chapter 2: Scales of Science: Little and Large
- Chapter 3: Big Lessons of Physics
- Chapter 4: The Truth Is Out There
- Section II: What?
- Chapter 5: What Was String Theory?
- Chapter 6: What Is String Theory?
- Section III: What For?
- Chapter 7: Direct Experimental Evidence for String Theory
- Chapter 8: Why Strings? Quantum Field Theory
- Chapter 9: Why Strings? Mathematics
- Chapter 10: Why Strings? Cosmology and Particle Physics
- Chapter 11: Why Strings? Quantum Gravity
- Section IV: Who?
- Chapter 12: A Thousand Flowers Blooming: Styles of Science
- Chapter 13: #EpicFail? Criticisms of String Theory
- Chapter 14: Why String Theory?
- Notes and Bibliography
- Back Cover
