“Quantum mechanics has to be expanded, to allow for many different descriptions, depending on who the observer is.” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Because string theory is such a high-risk venture—unsupported by experiment,” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
If string theory is a mistake, it's not a trivial mistake. It's a deep mistake and therefore kind of worthy. — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
General relativity predicts that time ends inside black holes because the gravitational collapse squeezes matter to infinite density. — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Because string theory is such a high-risk venture—unsupported by experiment, though very generously supported by the academic” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Expressed in Planck units, the temperature T of a black hole is inversely proportional to its mass, m. This is a third… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“What we have, in fact, is not a theory at all but a large collection of approximate calculations, together with a web… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Just like an ordinary guitar string, a fundamental string can vibrate in different modes. And it is these different modes of vibration… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
The revolution which began with the creation of quantum theory and relativity theory can only be finished with their unification into a… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Every string theory that's been written down says the speed of light is universal. But other ideas about quantum gravity predict the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Some string theorists prefer to believe that string theory is too arcane to be understood by human beings, rather than consider the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Basically, string theory is the development of this visionary idea in a context of a fixed background of space and time. Loop… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“It is interesting to note that the quantum-mechanical revolution was made by a virtually orphaned generation of scientists. Many members of the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“These two discoveries, of relativity and of the quantum, each required us to break definitively with Newtonian physics. However, in spite of… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Thus, the double unification given by the equivalence principle becomes a triple unification: All motions are equivalent once the effects of gravity… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Whatever is happening on very small scales near the horizon of the black hole will be enlarged by the effect whereby the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“I understood Einstein's general theory of relativity, which meant that I knew how to demonstrate every essential property of it in a… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Over the last three decades, theorists have proposed at least a dozen new approaches. Each approach is motivated by a compelling hypothesis,… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“In 1914, a Finnish physicist named Gunnar Nordstrom found that all you had to do to unify gravity with electromagnetism was increase… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“On the other hand, if string theorists are wrong, they can't be just a little wrong. If the new dimensions and symmetries… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The current crisis in particle physics springs from the fact that the theories have gone beyond the standard model in the last… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The mind calls out for a third theory to unify all of physics, and for a simple reason. Nature is in an… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“A consequence of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism is that light rays move in straight lines. Thus it makes sense to use light… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Many of the important principles in twentieth century physics are expressed as limitations on what we can know. Einstein's principle of relativity… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“One success of noncommutative geometry is that it leads directly to the standard model of particle physics. As Alain and his colleagues… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Einstein solved the puzzle by playing the same great trick that Newton and Galileo had originally played to establish the relativity of… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Over the last century, our physical description of the world has simplified quite a bit. As far as particles are concerned, there… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Like the old twistor theorists, the few followers Connes has acquired are committed. For a conference at Penn State University on different… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim to be the complete theory of nature.… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
There certainly is a tension between the relativity of simultaneity and non-locality in quantum theory, but it's not strong enough to add… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The loop approach to quantum gravity is now a thriving field of research. Many of the older ideas, such as supergravity and… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So we may now pose a question which could be answered only if we have a quantum theory of gravity. What is… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Einstein recalled realizing that a person falling from the roof of a building would feel no effects of gravity as he fell.… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The entropy of the hot radiation she observes as a result of her acceleration turns out to be exactly proportional to the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Both loop quantum gravity and string theory assert that there is an atomic structure to space. In the next two chapters we… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Quantum theory can be described as a new kind of language to be used in a dialogue between us and the systems… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“For simple black holes, which do not rotate and have no electric charge, the values of the temperature and entropy can be… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“This unification of forces and motion has a simple consequence. In a particle theory, you can freely add all kinds of forces, so there… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an arrow and… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Those who do good science do so because they choose problems that are suited to them. — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“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… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The current crisis in particle physics springs from the fact that the theories have gone beyond the standard model in the last thirty years… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“By the time I began my study of physics in the early 1970s, the idea of unifying gravity with the other forces was as… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“These two discoveries, of relativity and of the quantum, each required us to break definitively with Newtonian physics. However, in spite of great progress… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
