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> But yet, there isn't a crisis in physics at all since these theorists are so far removed from reality, I don't really care what they think. They don't really

> But yet, there isn't a crisis in physics at all since these theorists are so far removed from reality, I don't really care what they think. They don't really tell use anything useful or interesting so I tend to ignore them. Einstein was a theoretical physicist. Without his theories: * Japan might not have been defeated in WWII. * There might be more coal power plants, because there would be no nuclear power plants. * GPS probably would never have worked. * We'd have fewer successful space missions. * There would be no superconductive magnets. * There would be no digital cameras or solar cells. * There would be no lasers. I could keep going if you want... References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity http://www.guidetothecosmos.com/present_wwe.html http://www.guidetothecosmos.com/present_wwe.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission

dstyrb 11y ago
Japan's surrender had absolutely nothing to do with the bomb. And why does everyone think that without Einstein we would somehow enter a 100 year long dark age?
- wtallis 11y ago
  > "And why does everyone think that without Einstein we would somehow enter a 100 year long dark age?" He said "without Einstein's theories". Physics would probably have progressed about the same, albeit set back by a bit without the man himself, but all those technologies would still have been dependent on someone doing what Einstein did.
  - jjaredsimpson 11y ago
    Like Hilbert.
fengwick3 11y ago
I don't think you seem to understand the argument here. Einstein is a prime example of a theorist whose bold theories predicted verifiable results, such as the Einstein Cross. The problem with modern theorists, as the article and the parent comment articulated, is that string theories and whatnot often predict untestable and unverifiable results. This is not an attack on all physics theorists - rather, it's a criticism on the fashionable line of research into string theories and other unverifiable theories.
- lmm 11y ago
  "Then I would feel sorry for the good Lord; the theory is correct". Einstein's theories were ultimately verified, but only long after they were completed. Research into string theory is driven by its theoretical elegance in exactly the same way as Einstein's original SR work.
- tmptmp 11y ago
  >> untestable and unverifiable ... As someone has pointed out above, these theroies are surely "untestable and unverifiable" for now but that doesn't make them unfalsifiable so we must not critisize the theorists just because we cannot test and verify them.
fengwick3 11y ago
I don't think you seem to understand the argument here. Einstein is a prime example of a theorist whose bold theories predicted verifiable results, such as the Einstein Cross. The problem with modern theorists, as the article and the parent comment articulated, is that string theories and whatnot often predict untestable and unverifiable results. This is not an attack on all physics theorists - rather, it's a criticism on the fashionable line of research into string theories and other unverifiable theories.
poelzi 11y ago
Einstein was special because he never got lost with reality: "We can invent as many theories we like, and any one of them can be made to fit the facts. But that theory is always preferred which makes the fewest number of assumptions." And yet, physics ignores his LAST and FINAL conclusion about HIS theory: "We may say that according to the general theory of relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, there exists an aether. According to the general theory of relativity space without aether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only would be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standards of space and time (measuring-rods and clocks), nor therefore any space-time intervals in the physical sense. But this aether may not be thought of as endowed with the quality characteristic of ponderable media, as consisting of parts which may be tracked through time. The idea of motion may not be applied to it."
xrange 11y ago
>* There would be no superconductive magnets. Can you expand upon this? I'm unclear as to which of Einstein's theories you are referencing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_superconductivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_superconductivity

dstyrb 11y ago

Japan's surrender had absolutely nothing to do with the bomb. And why does everyone think that without Einstein we would somehow enter a 100 year long dark age?

wtallis 11y ago
> "And why does everyone think that without Einstein we would somehow enter a 100 year long dark age?" He said "without Einstein's theories". Physics would probably have progressed about the same, albeit set back by a bit without the man himself, but all those technologies would still have been dependent on someone doing what Einstein did.
- jjaredsimpson 11y ago
  Like Hilbert.

fengwick3 11y ago

I don't think you seem to understand the argument here. Einstein is a prime example of a theorist whose bold theories predicted verifiable results, such as the Einstein Cross. The problem with modern theorists, as the article and the parent comment articulated, is that string theories and whatnot often predict untestable and unverifiable results. This is not an attack on all physics theorists - rather, it's a criticism on the fashionable line of research into string theories and other unverifiable theories.

lmm 11y ago
"Then I would feel sorry for the good Lord; the theory is correct". Einstein's theories were ultimately verified, but only long after they were completed. Research into string theory is driven by its theoretical elegance in exactly the same way as Einstein's original SR work.
tmptmp 11y ago
>> untestable and unverifiable ... As someone has pointed out above, these theroies are surely "untestable and unverifiable" for now but that doesn't make them unfalsifiable so we must not critisize the theorists just because we cannot test and verify them.

fengwick3 11y ago

poelzi 11y ago

Einstein was special because he never got lost with reality: "We can invent as many theories we like, and any one of them can be made to fit the facts. But that theory is always preferred which makes the fewest number of assumptions." And yet, physics ignores his LAST and FINAL conclusion about HIS theory: "We may say that according to the general theory of relativity space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, there exists an aether. According to the general theory of relativity space without aether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only would be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standards of space and time (measuring-rods and clocks), nor therefore any space-time intervals in the physical sense. But this aether may not be thought of as endowed with the quality characteristic of ponderable media, as consisting of parts which may be tracked through time. The idea of motion may not be applied to it."

xrange 11y ago

>* There would be no superconductive magnets. Can you expand upon this? I'm unclear as to which of Einstein's theories you are referencing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_superconductivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_superconductivity