Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray Kindle Edition

This book is a refreshing review of what is wrong with theoretical physics today. The author is brutally honest about others in the field and herself. It is also quite humorous at times. One line that I'll paraphrase, I think, encapsulates the problems today: in the past, theoretical physics would develop a theory to support an interesting observation; today, theoretical physics creates theories to justify why they are not seeing the observations that they expected.What comes from this is a hodgepodge of theories - including two that make me personally cringe - string theory and multiverse. And, then of course, there is Tegmark's theory that the universe is defined by a set of math equations. And, then, maybe we live in a huge computer simulation.The idea that theoretical physicists are "lost in math" is clear from the start. As the author interviews one super smart physicist after another, who has his/her theory based upon his/her math and then states that the other theory is OK but mixed up, but doesn't appear to explain why in clear terms, you can see the confusion in the field.These theories are fun to read about, especially if you have a background in math, but they appear to miss something, and the author puts her finger on it - a base point in real world observations. There is no data to support any of these theories. And, so on it goes...The author also highlights another reason why this is the way that it is - bias of all forms. Each theoretical physics group has their own camp, and they confirm and discuss why their theory is correct - a scientific "groupthink". And, it probably won't change, as the author so clearly states at the end when she says - oh, I just received funding on my proposal - until we receive some confirmation observations that support one theory over another.In spite of this, I do like to read these books. They are mind opening. I do have one disagreement with many physicists (including Stephen Hawking who I think is finding out that he was wrong right now) and this is brought up in an interview with one of them. Some of these theoretical physicists, don't think that there is a God, because science can define everything. Well, science is struggling there as highlighted in the book, proving that there is a God. The universe is a lot more complex than we can imagine. After all, we really don't understand the concept of infinity - mathematicians have proved that there some infinities that are larger than others... or is this true (just because of some mathematical proof)?

I really enjoyed this book. Sabine does a great job of laying the foundations throughout the book to support her conclusions by the end.She also does a great job in simplifying, for me, the differences in relativity and quantum theory. She also explains black holes and Hawking radiation, among other things. But that's not what this book is about. Sabine eloquently reminds us that scientists are humans, subject to the same cognitive biases as the rest of us. And she remains aware of her own biases. Which is probably why she spent time traveling to interview many physicists in the writing of this book.This is a great read for any scientist, not just theoretical physicists. Especially if you recently got your degree.

Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder is a theoretical physicist currently working at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. Her focus in this interesting book is the set of assumptions and attitudes theoretical physicists have generally clung to since the 1970s. She feels these (often unspoken) assumptions are part of the reason that fundamental theory has essentially not advanced at all past the Standard Model. Many ideas have been suggested, beginning in the late 1970s and continuing to the present day, none of which have found any experimental confirmation or support. Indeed, most disturbingly, some of these ideas by their very nature could not possibly ever have experimental support!Hossenfelder's main approach is to interview a number of very famous theoretical physicists (and some who will probably never be famous, but are doing very interesting research). Almost all of the physicists she interviews agree with using vague concepts such as "beauty," "simplicity" and "naturalness" in looking for new approaches in the description of fundamental processes. However, they also uniformly describe the Standard Model as "ugly." Reality check--- since the early 1970s the Standard Model has met every last experimental test with flying colors. It is the most successful fundamental physics theory ever constructed. And this is a big part of the problem. Since the Standard Model, while obviously incomplete (no neutrino masses, no gravity, no dark matter, no dark energy), never fails when tested in any specific area, it provides no hint at all as to the correct way to go beyond it and improve it!Hossenfelder's discussions make the sociological and philosophical problems existing in research at the frontiers of physics very clear and quite depressing. In a final chapter she outlines some possible, very partial remedies, but really, nothing can be done currently about the basic current state of both experimental and theoretical physics, both of which have inadvertently hit a kind of stone wall that prevents us from getting any hint of what a future, more general description of nature might be like.The book is recommended if you have any interest in the future of fundamental physics. Hossenfelder does a good job of quickly sketching out the background information that a non-physicist reader will need in following the discussions. I might mention that she also has a physics blog, which if I remember correctly is called "Backreaction." She has also posted a large number of short videos on YouTube, and the few I have watched do an excellent job of explaining various problems and puzzles encountered in fundamental physics.

Eu gosto do estilo da Sabine..estou lendo e acho que das fontes de informação que estão acontecendo na física moderna e os pontos de destaque nas teorias de um modo geral, é de grande importância para quem quer explorar melhor esses temas.

Me interesó por el respeto que me inspira su autora.

Muy, muy divertido. Es el viaje de una física en su intento de dar sentido a su carrera. Muchas entrevistas con algunos de los físicos más relevantes del panorama y no me refiero a divulgadores. Hay gente que no disfruta de los sarcasmos y las ironías, si es así, ni os acerquéis a este. Para mí es como el aderezo perfecto para la obra.

I love reading this book. Sabine is smart, funny, and hard-headed. The book is a delight to read.Very intelligent, very clear and simple to grasp and follow. Sabine knows how to introduce complex ideas through simple analogies. So ok, she's a scientist and has limited patience for speculative nonsense, but she's subtle and funny enough to make it work. I believe I am one of those theorists she would disdain, and even so - I loved her voice and her book.PSSomething is rotten in the LHC... ;-)

Geen "maths" in dit boek om in te verdwalen. Wel een sterk overzicht van de vooruitgang van en bestaande theorieën in fysica. En een kritische blik op de koers die binnen de wetenschap wordt gevolgd. Hossenfelder schrijft leuk, open en intelligent. In dit boek beschrijft ze ook gesprekken die ze met vooraanstaande fysici heeft gehad over het onderwerp