Comment Science...Why hast thou turned on me so? (Score 1) 78
Having just finished the book yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see the review on /. While reading it my mood alternated between excitement and remorse. Greene's description of string theory as the merger between relativity and quantum mechanics deserves an applause, however string theory seems to do away with some of the older convention such as infinitely small points and infinitely massive areas in space that seemed to give our reality that magical flare.
As quantum mechanics probes down to the sub atomic level I can't help but feel like physicists are merely creating conventions for the phenomena that they cannot theoretically explain. I think that this is one of the main differences between classical and modern physics. Classical physics discovered the physical laws that govern our universe while modern physics speculates a reality that fits absurdly abstract mathematical models, which is the feeling that the book left me with.
As quantum mechanics probes down to the sub atomic level I can't help but feel like physicists are merely creating conventions for the phenomena that they cannot theoretically explain. I think that this is one of the main differences between classical and modern physics. Classical physics discovered the physical laws that govern our universe while modern physics speculates a reality that fits absurdly abstract mathematical models, which is the feeling that the book left me with.
