Annotated Bibliography

Randall, Lisa. Warped Passages: Unraveling The Mysteries of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

Warped Passages gives deep insight into what theoretical physics are currently thinking about in the world of physics. The first section of the book, which covers chapters 1-4, gives the reader visual exercises where Randall tries to open perceptions of the world around us that might be unfamiliar to the common person. Randall uses many pictures, diagrams, and objects which are familiar to most people to introduce the reader to the idea (or thought) of perceiving extra dimensions and “braneworlds.” Chapters 5-13 comprise the second and third section of her book. These chapters walk people through 20th century discoveries in physics from Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics to the standard model of particle physics and the problems associated with it. Section four and five (Chapters 14-23) puts the thought exercises that were introduced in the first section into fruition as she discusses string theory and “proposals for extra-dimensional universes.”

Lisa Randall’s work is “among the best cited in all of science” and she “was the first tenured woman in the Princeton physics department, and the first tenured woman theoretical physicist at MIT and Harvard.” Though much of this book is unrelated to my specific research project, chapters 14-16 on “string theory and branes” is relevant to my project. By incorporating Randall’s insight into string theory and the idea of an elegant universe would be wise, because as I just mention her work is “among the best cited in all of science.” The size of the book should not make you cringe with fright (though I did upon first seeing it). Almost five-hundred pages of physics, which would make many common people, say to themselves “five-hundred pages of physics, no way!” This is an excellent book for anyone, and requires little physics background (perhaps none). Warped Passages is a must read for anyone interested in journeying into the mind of a present day theoretical physicist.

The Elegant Universe. Dir. Joseph McMaster. Perf. Brian Greene. 2003.

The Elegant Universe is a three hour long miniseries Nova special that aired on PBS in 2003. The first hour of the program entitled “Einstein’s Dream” introduces the viewer to the four forces of nature (gravity, electromagnetism, strong, and weak) and Einstein’s quest for unification. The first hour ends with the introduction to string theory and how this new theory could be what physicist have been looking for in there quest for unification. Hour 2 (String’s the Thing) is the history of string theory from how it was discovered to how it has evolved over the years. Hour 3 (Welcome to the 11th Dimension) talks about the consequences of string theory, and how things that were once considered fiction might be reality.

The host of the film Brian Greene (author of The Elegant Universe the book) is a professor at Columbia College New York and received his PhD at Oxford University. The film casted interviews with many of the worlds most well renowned physicist. This film illustrates how the idea of string theory is perceived to many renowned people in the physics community. This will in turn help me analyze popular belief of string theory with the views of many physicists who actually have work with it. This film will give me slightly more insight into the popular belief of string theory. The skeptics of string theory question whether it is a relevant part of modern physics or just a wild goose chase. This film will be an excellent source for my research project.

Woit, Peter. Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory & the Search for Unity in Physical Law. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

About half of Woit’s book covers the history of modern physics from the turn of the century to the development of the standard model in 1973. The rest of the book is a critique on string theory. In the last half of the book Woit goes into great detail on the failures of string theory as a fundamental theory of physics. As Woit mentions in his book his opinion of string theory is not the majority by any means, just that certain issues need to be address in this new theory which has taken the physics world by storm.

Peter Woit is a professor of mathematical physics at Columbia University and received his PhD in particle physics at Princeton University in 1985. Not Even Wrong will be another crucial part of my research paper. Woit’s in depth analysis of the problems with string theory will provide critical insight into the opposing views of string theory from a person that was not persuaded by the popular belief in the theory. Woit believes that conjecture is useless if it does not lead anywhere. He believes string theory is nothing but conjecture. Woit did not follow the band wagon of string theorist that emerged in the 1980’s.

Polchinski, Joseph. "All Strung Out?" American Scientist Jan/Feb 2007: 4,72-75.

This is a book review of Lee Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next and Peter Woit’s Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law. This article address the key issues of Smolin and Woit’s books and criticizes many aspects of there books. Along with the criticisms of Polchinski this article address how important string theory is in the advancement of scientific knowledge.

Joseph Polchinski is a professor of physics at University of California, Santa Barbra and is a member of the Kalvi Institute of Theoretical Physics. Polchinski is a string theorist, thus has first hand experience with the subject at hand. The harsh criticisms in this article seem like a direct response of Smolin and Woit’s idea that string theory is a waste of time and money for the physics community. This will directly relate to the argument of whether or not string theory is an important part of the physics of the 21st century. This source goes into much detail in some areas which will not aid my project, but overall this will be a valuable source for analyzing my argument.

Odenwald, Sten. "What if string theory is WRONG?" Astronomy Feb 2007: 30-34.

As the title of this article suggests this article is a look into what consequences or concerns would arise if string theory turned out to be wrong. The article addresses three key parts of string theory which have yet to be proven supersymmetry, extra spatial dimensions, and the graviton. The key point of the article is that the standard model of particle physics cannot explain phenomena like dark energy and dark matter, so there must be another more fundamental theory governing our known universe. The article postulates that the string theory could answer some of the problems associated with the standard model. Though string theory needs to have some experimental validation of whether or not it is correct.

“Astronomer Sten Odenwald works at NASA's Goddard Space Night Center in Maryland and is investigating the cosmic infrared background.” Astronomy magazine publishes many fascinating articles associated with astrophysics. Thus, this article has cosmological information that is tied to string theory. Odenwald’s article will aid my research project by validating the importance of string theory in the astrophysics community. Well written and comprehendible Odenwald’s article is a definite must read for anyone interested in learning how string theory plays that vital role in modern physics.

Carroll, Sean. "Not Dead Yet." New Scientist 19 May 2007: 54-54.

String theorists are still “in high demand in universities and scientific environments…” though string theory is regarded by some physicist to be a waste of effort, because no experimental evidence has proved the theory in one way or the other. As the title of Carroll’s article suggests string theory is alive and “thriving” as a leading theory of quantum gravity. Not Dead Yet is a progress report of current standings in the world of string theory.

Sean Carroll is a senior research associate in the department of physics at the California Institute of Technology and author of a graduate level textbook on general relativity entitled Spacetime and Geometry. Carroll’s article is relevant to my narrowed research question in that it gives support of string theories importance in the physics community. The article is short compared to the rest, but is easier to analyze because it is not filled with a bunch of technical jargon. Thus this article will be a somewhat good source for the credence of my final paper.

Kaku, Michio. "Will We Ever Have a Theory of Everything?" New Scientist 18 November 2006: 62-65.

Michio Kaku’s article addresses almost every issue associated with, whether or not string theory is a valuable theory in which many students of physicist should flock too. Kaku suggests that it is the best candidate for a theory of everything in physics. Not one other theory beyond the standard model has had as much success as string theory in explaining the problems associated with the standard model. Kaku says that physicists have always dove into the latest fads when it comes to physics, because know one wants to be get behind on current theories and ideas. This is why physicists want to know more about string theory. Throughout the article Kaku critiques the cynics of string theory with plenty of factual and rational support to back his claims.

Michio Kaku is the author of Hyperspace, Beyond Einstein, and his latest book Parallel Worlds. Hyperspace was named best science book of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post. Kaku hold the Henry Semat Professorship of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. This article is relevant to my research project in that it addresses mostly everything that my argument is based on. It addresses purpose, usefulness, and the cynics associated with string theory. Kaku’s arguments are well organized and the message he is trying to convey is clear and concise. This article was very well written and will help in giving me understanding to the many arguments brought forth by the idea of string theory.

Smolin, Lee. The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

Smolin’s book presents how string theory has failed to be the next great thing in the world of physics. He suggests that string theory is merely the continued pursuit of Einstein’s dream (that unification is a real possibility). Smolin addresses why he believes so strongly that string theory has been a great blunder of modern physics. Smolin does this by analyzing science in general with great detail. In the book he suggest that scientific resources should not be wasted on string theory and should be focused on something that is more useful, something that can actually be analyzed experimentally.

Lee Smolin is a researcher at the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics and is best known for his work on alternative theories for quantum gravity. Many parts of this book are directly related to my research project, though much of it is comprised of technical information which will be irrelevant to a ten page undergraduate research paper. Focusing on specific chapters which relate to my argument will reduce the complexity of the assignment. Smolins views will be a valuable resource for formulating my argument, because he argues about my question of whether or not string theory is valuable road for physicists throughout much of the book.

Vergano, Dan. "Hanging on by a Thread?" USA Today 19 September 2006.

Vergano’s article illustrates the many different opinions of string theory from people that support the theory to the cynics. Vergano summarizes many of the issues addressed in Lee Smolin’s book The Trouble with Physics, which was published the same year as the article. His article sides with Smolin’s view on the present troubles with physics, most notably the physics of strings.

USA Today is a well known newspaper that is distributed throughout most of the United States. Vergano’s article addresses many issues associated with my research paper, such as Smolin’s view of string theory. An unsatisfactory part of this article is that it read much like a dialog between two view points, which leads to a slight lack of much information to analyze and interpret. The article would be better if there was not so much “hear say.”