--- title: "5 String Theorists Quotes By Lee Smolin" description: "5 String Theorists quotes by Lee Smolin. Plus more from Lee Smolin and more String Theorists sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fc/lee-smolin-4171_general-relativity_the-subject-of-this-chapter-is-string-th_669894.png" --- > [“The subject of this chapter is string theory, and I begin it with these reflections for two reasons. First, because the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-subject-of-this-chapter-is-string-theory-and-i-begin-it-with/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fc/lee-smolin-4171_general-relativity_the-subject-of-this-chapter-is-string-th_669894.png) > [“On the other hand, if string theorists are wrong, they can't be just a little wrong. If the new dimensions and symmetries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/on-the-other-hand-if-string-theorists-are-wrong-they-can-t-be-just-a/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50d/lee-smolin-4171_theorists_on-the-other-hand-if-string-theorists-ar_1072290.jpg) > [“Galileo discovered new stars and moons, and later astronomers discovered new planets. All this would pale in the face of the discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/galileo-discovered-new-stars-and-moons-and-later-astronomers/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/lee-smolin-4171_theory_galileo-discovered-new-stars-and-moons-a_2099596.png) > [Some string theorists prefer to believe that string theory is too arcane to be understood by human beings, rather than consider the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/some-string-theorists-prefer-to-believe-that-string-theory-is-too/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58c/lee-smolin-4171_arcane_some-string-theorists-prefer-to-believe_2561587.jpg) > [“Like the old twistor theorists, the few followers Connes has acquired are committed. For a conference at Penn State University on different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/like-the-old-twistor-theorists-the-few-followers-connes-has-acquired/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/lee-smolin-4171_different-approach_like-the-old-twistor-theorists-the-few-f_2828419.png) ## More by Lee Smolin > [“This unification of forces and motion has a simple consequence. In a particle theory, you can freely add all kinds of forces, so there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/this-unification-of-forces-and-motion-has-a-simple-consequence-in-a/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an arrow and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/one-field-faraday-studied-was-the-electric-field-this-is-not-a-number/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“It is interesting to note that the quantum-mechanical revolution was made by a virtually orphaned generation of scientists. Many members of the generation above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/it-is-interesting-to-note-that-the-quantum-mechanical-revolution-was/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“In fact, the particle-antiparticle annihilation and the closing of the string is necessary, if the theory is to be consistent with relativity, meaning the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/in-fact-the-particle-antiparticle-annihilation-and-the-closing-of-the/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [Every string theory that's been written down says the speed of light is universal. But other ideas about quantum gravity predict the speed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/every-string-theory-that-s-been-written-down-says-the-speed-of-light/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“Unfortunately, no one has ever successfully postulated a super-symmetry holding between two known particles. Instead, in all the supersymmetric theories the numbers of particles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/unfortunately-no-one-has-ever-successfully-postulated-a-super/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [Those who do good science do so because they choose problems that are suited to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/those-who-do-good-science-do-so-because-they-choose-problems-that-are/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“Here's a simplified version of what the Stanford group did. They started with a much-studied kind of string theory-a flat four-dimensional spacetime with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/here-s-a-simplified-version-of-what-the-stanford-group-did-they/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“The current crisis in particle physics springs from the fact that the theories have gone beyond the standard model in the last thirty years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-current-crisis-in-particle-physics-springs-from-the-fact-that-the/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“By the time I began my study of physics in the early 1970s, the idea of unifying gravity with the other forces was as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/by-the-time-i-began-my-study-of-physics-in-the-early-1970s-the-idea/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“These two discoveries, of relativity and of the quantum, each required us to break definitively with Newtonian physics. However, in spite of great progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/these-two-discoveries-of-relativity-and-of-the-quantum-each-required/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/so-the-challenge-for-any-quantum-theory-of-gravity-is-to-give-us-a/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim to be the complete theory of nature. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/problem-1-combine-general-relativity-and-quantum-theory-into-a-single/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“The loop approach to quantum gravity is now a thriving field of research. Many of the older ideas, such as supergravity and the study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-loop-approach-to-quantum-gravity-is-now-a-thriving-field-of/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“During the life of a black hole, it will pull in huge amounts of matter, carrying huge amounts of intrinsic information. At the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/during-the-life-of-a-black-hole-it-will-pull-in-huge-amounts-of/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/string-theorists/lee-smolin/#itemlist", "name": "5 String Theorists Quotes By Lee Smolin", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The subject of this chapter is string theory, and I begin it with these reflections for two reasons. 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