Monthly Archives: April 2009

The Strangest Man

Posted on April 29, 2009 by woit

When I was in Edinburgh I picked up a copy of Graham Farmelo’s new biography of Dirac. It’s entitled The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius, and is not yet available in the US. I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 27 Comments

Atiyah80

Posted on April 27, 2009 by woit

Last week I was in Edinburgh for a few days and managed to attend the last two days of the conference in honor of Sir Michael Atiyah’s 80th birthday. Atiyah is now retired, but he was one of the dominant … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Atiyah-Singer String Index Theorem

Posted on April 21, 2009 by woit

Just made it to Edinburgh for the Atiyah conference. It seems that someone at a local newspaper really wants to get my goat. See the story headlined World’s Great Minds Gather to Celebrate Atiyah’s Birthday. Update: Will try and write … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 23 Comments

Quantum tunnelling of a new, third kind could finally put string theory to the test

Posted on April 20, 2009 by woit

The whole “finally, a way is found to test string theory” business is starting to become a complete joke. See the latest such nonsense: Quantum tunnelling of a new, third kind could finally put string theory to the test which … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 7 Comments

Strings Strike Back

Posted on April 14, 2009 by woit

The February AAAS press event (discussed here) designed to get out the word that the critics are wrong and string theory is making predictions about physics that are getting tested has finally made it to Slashdot, via an article in … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 27 Comments

First Principles

Posted on April 10, 2009 by woit

I learned recently from Sabine Hossenfelder’s blog that there’s a new book out by Howard Burton, entitled First Principles: The Crazy Business of Doing Serious Science (she has some comments on the book here). It’s a fascinating and entertaining book. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 15 Comments

Various News

Posted on April 6, 2009 by woit

The CERN Bulletin has been providing weekly updates about the progress of LHC repairs, with the latest one here. One thing they don’t seem to have mentioned is that it looks like the schedule has recently slipped by nearly a … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News, Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Origin of the World

Posted on April 1, 2009 by woit

Arizona State University’s new Origins Initiative is starting off this year with some mind-expanding programs, including an Origins Symposium that will start tomorrow. The number and quality of speakers who will be making the trip to Tempe is remarkably high. … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 10 Comments