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For anyone who hasn't come across Lee Smolin, he's one of the most articulate critics of String Theory (or the family of theories that fit vaguely under that ba

For anyone who hasn't come across Lee Smolin, he's one of the most articulate critics of String Theory (or the family of theories that fit vaguely under that banner). I thoroughly recommend reading his book "The Trouble With Physics", where he shares some (from my perspective) great insights on some of the mis-steps the Physics community has taken over the past 30-40 years.

xlm1717 11y ago
To add to this, I thoroughly recommend reading Smolin's paper on the "limited, and hence reasonable, effectiveness of mathematics in physics." He expands on one of those mis-steps (quoting from the paper): >This is in contradiction with the Platonic view of mathematics held by many physicists and mathematicians according to which, mathematical truths are facts about mathematical objects which exist in a separate, timeless realm of reality, which exists apart from and in addition to physical reality http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03733 http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03733
mindcrime 11y ago
I thoroughly recommend reading his book "The Trouble With Physics", where he shares some (from my perspective) great insights on some of the mis-steps the Physics community has taken over the past 30-40 years. I second this motion. I'd also recommend reading the book Not Even Wrong by Peter Woit. This book covers similar ground (and, coincidentally, came out near the same time as The Trouble with Physics) and makes a nice complement to TTwP.