Lost in Math
How Beauty Leads Physics Astray
Unable to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Failed to remove from Wish List.
Adding to library failed
Unable to follow podcast
Unable to unfollow podcast
Get 30 days of Standard free
Lost in Math
Buy Now for €15.48
-
Narrated by:
-
Laura Jennings
A contrarian argues that modern physicists' obsession with beauty has given us wonderful math but bad science
Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria. Worse, these "too good to not be true" theories are actually untestable and they have left the field in a cul-de-sac. To escape, physicists must rethink their methods. Only by embracing reality as it is can science discover the truth.
©2018 Sabine Hossenfelder (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.An absolute delight for a physicist
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
