Category Archives: Multiverse Mania

Some News, Then More of the Same

Posted on September 11, 2022 by woit

Some News: I’ll be in England later in the month, in Oxford much of the week of the 26th-30th. That week is the week of the 2022 Clay Research Conference and Workshops. The evening of Tuesday the 27th I’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 48 Comments

Before the Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe from the Multiverse

Posted on July 29, 2022 by woit

There’s a new book out this month, Before the Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe from the Multiverse, about which we’re told: One of the world’s most celebrated cosmologists presents her breakthrough explanation of our origins in the multiverse. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 17 Comments

In a Parallel Universe, Another You

Posted on June 21, 2022 by woit

From today’s New York Times, Michio Kaku explains: In physics, the concept of a multiverse is a key element of a leading area of study based on the theory of everything. It’s called string theory, which is the focus of … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 28 Comments

This Way to the Universe

Posted on February 10, 2022 by woit

There’s a new popular book out this week by string theorist Michael Dine, This Way to the Universe, as well a a new Sean Carroll podcast interviewing him about the book and the state of particle theory research. According to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 9 Comments

Witten Goes Anthropic

Posted on December 22, 2021 by woit

Multiverse mania started seriously among string theorists around 2003, with a defining event Susskind’s February 2003 The Anthropic Landscape of String Theory. At the time I was finishing up writing what became the book “Not Even Wrong”, and my reaction … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 41 Comments

This and That

Posted on December 2, 2019 by woit

First, a few physics items: Mark Alpert has a new novel out, Saint Joan of New York, a thriller subtitled “A Novel About God and String Theory”, which is an accurate description. It’s published by Springer, so you may be … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 23 Comments

The Number of the Heavens

Posted on September 18, 2019 by woit

Multiverse mania seems to have been dying down recently, with this only the third entry in that category here so far this year, after 10 in 2018, 13 in 2017, 10 in 2016, 17 in 2015, 18 in 2014, 12 … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 10 Comments

Something Deeply Hidden

Posted on August 20, 2019 by woit

Sean Carroll’s new (available in stores early September) book, Something Deeply Hidden, is a quite good introduction to issues in the understanding of quantum mechanics, unfortunately wrapped in a book cover and promotional campaign of utter nonsense. Most people won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania, Quantum Mechanics | 76 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 End of (one type of) Physics, and the Rise of the Machines

Posted on November 20, 2018 by woit

Way back in 1996 science writer John Horgan published The End of Science, in which he made the argument that various fields of science were running up against obstacles to any further progress of the magnitude they had previously experienced. … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 43 Comments