Search Results for: Feynman

News, Interesting and Otherwise

Posted on November 3, 2014 by woit

On the side of interesting good news, I just heard that yet another Fields Medalist has a blog. This time it’s David Mumford, who is blogging here, with his latest posting about path integrals. His website contains a wealth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News, Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Smashing Physics

Posted on August 14, 2014 by woit

I recently finally found a copy of Jon Butterworth’s Smashing Physics, which came out in the UK a few months ago, but still hasn’t made it to the US. As far as I know it’s the first book about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 5 Comments

String Theory and Post-Empiricism

Posted on July 10, 2014 by woit

Note: This is being published simultaneously here and at Scientia Salon. Discussion will be at the Scientia Salon site. Last month’s Strings 2014 conference in Princeton included two remarkable talks by prominent physicists, both of whom invoked philosophy in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Favorite Old Posts, Uncategorized | Comments Off on String Theory and Post-Empiricism

String Theory Visions

Posted on June 27, 2014 by woit

Strings 2014 ended today, with five separate “vision” talks, giving a good picture of where the leaders of the string theory community see the subject going. I saw the talks on streaming video, presumably they should appear on the conference … Continue reading →

Posted in Strings 2XXX | 18 Comments

Quantum Mechanics and Representation Theory: talk and book progress

Posted on November 27, 2013 by woit

Last week I gave a colloquium talk at the Texas Tech math department, slides are here if you’re interested. One motivation for the talk was to advertise the book project I’m working on, which gives a lot more detail about … Continue reading →

Posted in Quantum Theory: The Book | 29 Comments

Bankrupting Physics

Posted on July 28, 2013 by woit

I just spent a depressing and tedious few hours reading through Bankrupting Physics, an English translation of Alexander Unzicker’s 2010 Von Urknall zum Durchknall written in German. When I started reading the thing I wasn’t expecting much, but figured it … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 34 Comments

Forty Years of String Theory

Posted on December 5, 2012 by woit

The journal Foundations of Physics has been promising a special issue on “Forty Years of String Theory: Reflecting on the Foundations” for quite a while now, with a contribution first appearing back when it really was 40 years since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments

Fundamental Physics Prize

Posted on July 31, 2012 by woit

String theory may not be doing so well in the popular press or among physicists, but at least a fabulously wealthy Russian investor is a fan. Yuri Milner recently deposited \$3 million each in the bank accounts of 5 string … Continue reading →

Posted in Favorite Old Posts, Uncategorized | 149 Comments

How the Hippies Saved Physics

Posted on June 13, 2011 by woit

A review that I wrote of David Kaiser’s How the Hippies Saved Physics is now available at American Scientist. A quick summary is that I think it’s a marvelous book, telling in well-researched and entertaining fashion a story I’ve always … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 37 Comments

Solar

Posted on April 5, 2010 by woit

Ian McEwan’s new novel Solar is now out, with a plot featuring Michael Beard, an aging theoretical physicist. Beard won a Nobel prize early in his career for the “Beard-Einstein Conflation”, which supposedly involves some unexpected coherent behavior in QED, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 9 Comments