Saturday, January 26, 2013

We Don't Need No Stinking Theory Of Everything!

This is a Q&A with Lisa Randall.

The reason why I'm highlighting this is that the questions being asked is the type of questions many of us faced with we talk to the public. The very first question, for example, is rather typical:

Doesn't every physicist dream of one neat theory of everything?

Of course not! But the public has a very narrow idea of what physics is. Many are surprised when I tell them that the largest percentage of physicists in the US are working in the area of condensed matter/material science, which is not the first of study that directly involves the Higgs, high energy physics, string, etc. So for many of us, this "theory of everything" isn't something we dwell on that much, not to mention, there are even prominent physicists who think that this "theory of everything" is a myth.

In any case, this article covers some of the common questions that we often see.

Zz.

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