--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <shempmcgurk@> > wrote: > > > > There was an article in the New Yorker two issues ago about string > > theory. I didn't understand a word of it. > > This article is blessedly nontechnical. It's > more about the *status* of string theory than > what the theory *is*. > > Tangentially, I find that as a layperson with > practically no math ability, whether I can get > an inkling of what a physics theory involves > depends on who's explaining it. Some writers > are much better at explaining complex stuff > like string theory to the general reader than > others. > > So if I read one piece and it makes no sense to > me, I've learned that that doesn't necessarily > mean it's hopeless; the next piece I read may > do a much better job at making it comprehensible. >
Generally, if you can't make head or tails of an explanation, it's because the scientist doesn't realy understand the subject either: "I think that I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." The character of physical law (Richard Feynman, Cambridge, USA, 1967) What I am going to tell you about is what we teach our physics students in the third or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does. QED, The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, ( Feynman, London, 1990) 9. On the other hand, even within the boundries of what is "well" understood, math is essential to grasp the finer details: To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature ... If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in. -The Character of Physical Law, Richard Feynman. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
