Rationally Speaking Podcast

Rationally Speaking #7 - Peter Woit discusses whether string theory is "not even wrong"


Listen Later

We are taking on fundamental physics! Our guest, Peter Woit, is a physicist in the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University and author of "Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law." We discuss the apparently peculiar state of theoretical physics and the rather startling possibility that superstring theory — the best candidate in decades as the elusive "theory of everything" — may actually have been a colossal dead end for the physics community. We also explore the meaning of theory in science, and what is the connection between theory, observation and experiment. As it turns out, superstring theory has not been able to make any empirically testable predictions, which supports the argument that perhaps it isn't — as Peter puts it — "even wrong," meaning that it just isn't science.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Rationally Speaking PodcastBy New York City Skeptics

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

702 ratings


More shows like Rationally Speaking Podcast

View all
Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,991 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,689 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,681 Listeners

Left, Right & Center by KCRW

Left, Right & Center

5,086 Listeners

Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

26,375 Listeners

EconTalk by Russ Roberts

EconTalk

4,268 Listeners

Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Conversations with Tyler

2,424 Listeners

The Audio Long Read by The Guardian

The Audio Long Read

841 Listeners

The Joe Walker Podcast by Joe Walker

The Joe Walker Podcast

123 Listeners

If You're Listening by ABC listen

If You're Listening

325 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,153 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

75 Listeners

Decoding the Gurus by Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Decoding the Gurus

958 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,043 Listeners

Plain English with Derek Thompson by The Ringer

Plain English with Derek Thompson

2,288 Listeners