Author Archives: woit

Various

Posted on June 18, 2019 by woit

First something really important: chalk. If you care about chalk, you should watch this video and read this story. Next, something slightly less important: money. The Simons Foundation in recent years has been having a huge (positive, if you ask … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Not So Spooky Action at a Distance

Posted on June 11, 2019 by woit

I’ve recently read another new popular book about quantum mechanics, Quantum Strangeness by George Greenstein. Before getting to saying something about the book, I need to get something off my chest: what’s all this nonsense about Bell’s theorem and supposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Quantum Mechanics | 62 Comments

Various News Items

Posted on June 4, 2019 by woit

For physicists: For the latest news on US HEP funding, see presentations at this recent HEPAP meeting. It is rarely publicly acknowledged by scientists, but during the Trump years funding for a lot of scientific research research has increased, often … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

The Universe Speaks in Numbers

Posted on May 24, 2019 by woit

Graham Farmelo’s new book The Universe Speaks in Numbers has recently been published in the UK, US publication is next week. The topic of the book is one close to my heart, the relationship of mathematics and physics. I’m very … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 45 Comments

Various

Posted on May 13, 2019 by woit

Possibly of interest: Goro Shimura, one of the major figures in twentieth century number theory and arithmetic geometry passed away on May 3 in Princeton at the age of 89. Princeton has an article about his life and work here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Obituaries, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Witten Interview

Posted on May 2, 2019 by woit

Graham Farmelo has posted a very interesting interview he did with Witten last year, as part of his promotion of his forthcoming book The Universe Speaks in Numbers. One surprising thing I learned from the interview is that Witten learned … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 38 Comments

The Scientific Attitude

Posted on April 29, 2019 by woit

Just when I thought I was done for now with the “falsifiability” business, in our local book store I found a new book, The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud and Pseudoscience, by Lee McIntyre. This won’t be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 16 Comments

Falsifiability and Physics

Posted on April 23, 2019 by woit

Symmetry magazine today published an article on Falsifiability and physics, yet another in the genre of defense of current HEP theory against its critics. As usual, only defenders of the status quo are quoted, the critics remain unnamed and their … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 33 Comments

This and That

Posted on April 16, 2019 by woit

Since you’ve read about the black hole image elsewhere, here are a few other items that might be of interest: I was sorry to hear today of the death on April 11 of Geoffrey Chew. Throughout the 1960s, Chew’s S-matrix/bootstrap … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments

Why Trust a Theory?

Posted on April 5, 2019 by woit

I noticed today that Cambridge University Press has recently published Why Trust a Theory?, a volume of articles based on a December 2015 conference held in Munich. The book is available online here (if your university is paying for it…), … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 26 Comments