Why String Theory [Paperback]

Physics World's 'Book of the Year' for 2016

An Entertaining and Enlightening Guide to the Who, What, and Why of String Theory, now also available in an updated reflowable electronic format compatible with mobile devices and e-readers.

During the last 50 years, numerous physicists have tried to unravel the secrets of string theory. Yet why do these scientists work on a theory lacking experimental confirmation?

Why String Theory?provides the answer, offering a highly readable and accessible panorama of the who, what, and why of this large aspect of modern theoretical physics. The author, a theoretical physics professor at the University of Oxford and a leading string theorist, explains what string theory is and where it originated. He describes how string theory fits into physics and why so many physicists and mathematicians find it appealing when working on topics from M-theory to monsters and from cosmology to superconductors.

Why?
The Long Wait

Scales of Science: Little and Large

Big Lessons of Physics
SPACE AND TIME ARE CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH
SPACETIME IS DYNAMICAL
THE WORLD IS DESCRIBED BY QUANTUM MECHANICS
THE WORLD REALLY, HONESTLY, TRULY IS DESCRIBED BY QUANTUM MECHANICS
NATURE LIKES SYMMETRIES
THE UNIVERSE WAS YOUNG, SMOOTH AND HOT, BUT IS NOW OLD, COLD AND WRINKLY
DIFFERENT CAN BE THE SAME
NATURE IS SMARTER THAN WE ARE

What?
What Was String Theory?
THE BIRTH
THE NAMING CEREMONY
THE WILDERNESS YEARS
HARBINGERS OF GREAT JOY
THE LIMELIGHT
THE THEORló`