During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth?or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and written in a lively fashion, the book will appeal to a wide variety of readers from novice to specialist.
This book offers a lively survey of the forty-year history of string theory, focusing on how what has been called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing' came to exist, and how it came to occupy its present position in physics.
History and Mythology.- Part I: The (Very) Early Years: 1959-1973.- Particle Physics in the Sixties.- The Veneziano Model.- The Hadronic String.- Supersymmetric Strings and Field Theoretic Limits.- Part II: A Decade of Darkness: 1974-1984.- An Early Demise? Theoretical Exaptation in String Theory.- Turning Point(s).- Part III: String Theory Becomes Super: 1985-1995.- Superstring Theory and the Real World.- A 'Second Superstring Revolution' and the Future of String Theory.
Certainly any historian wishing to deal with thissubject matter in the future will take this pioneering work as a startingpoint. Indeed, the book offers a multitude of such starting points, offering aquestion worthy of a dissertation on almost every page. & an indispensablecompendium for anybody interested in tackling this difficult and importantsubject. (Alexander Blum, ISIS, Vol. 106 (4), December, 2015)
This is a good textbook tracing the origin of string theory in physical scientl30
![A Brief History of String Theory From Dual Models to M-Theory [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/8/9/1/2_981498.jpg)