What: A public presentation, "Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory & the Continuing Challenge to Unify the Laws of Physics"
Where: Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West (corner of Prospect Park West and 1st Street), Brooklyn, NY [map]
When: Monday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.
Cost: free and open to the public.
Peter Woit is a mathematician and physicist at Columbia University who will discuss string theory and why it is controversial, as well as prospects for new experiments and a better understanding of the mathematical theories used to describe the physical world.
Woit, who specializes in theoretical particle physics and the use of mathematics to address fundamental issues in physics, is the author of the 2007 book, Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Continuing Challenge to Unify the Laws of Physics. Since 2004 he has run the blog "Not Even Wrong, which focuses on news about current topics in mathematics and particle physics research, and has become a focal point for the controversy surrounding string theory.
Wasn't it JBS Haldane who said the universe is not only stranger than we conceive, it's stranger than we can conceive? I just know some of the wingnuts down here in Houston are beyond even the ability of string theory to conceptualize.