- Hossenfelder, Sabine.
Lost in Math.
New York: Basic Books, 2019.
ISBN 978-0-465-09425-7.
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Many of the fundamental theories of physics: general relativity,
quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics, for example, exhibit
great mathematical beauty and elegance once you've mastered the
notation in which they are expressed. Some physicists believe
that a correct theory must be elegant and beautiful.
But what if they're wrong? Many sciences, such as biology and
geology, are complicated and messy, with few general principles
that don't have exceptions, and in which explanation must take
into account a long history of events which might have happened
differently. The author, a theoretical physicist, cautions that
as her field becomes disconnected from experiment and exploring
notions such as string theory and multiple universes, it may be
overlooking a reality which, messy though it may be, is the one
we actually inhabit and, as scientists, try to understand.
May 2020 