The Straight Skinny on String (Theory)

Courtesy WGBHPhysicists' quest for the "theory of everything," now focused on string theory, poses unusual problems of imagination...

Courtesy WGBH

Physicists' quest for the "theory of everything," now focused on string theory, poses unusual problems of imagination and visualization, even for specialists. Brian Greene '84 made a marked contribution toward public understanding in his book The Elegant Universe (which reviewer Alan Lightman called the "clearest and most comprehensive" popularization; see July-August 1999, page 25). Among the challenges: coming to terms with the six extra dimensions in Calabi-Yau spaces required by string theory, depicted above.

The image is from a Nova series based on Greene's book, airing on public television in late October and early November, and featuring Greene and Harvard physics professors Nima Arkani-Hamed, Peter Galison (a scientific historian, as well), and Cumrun Vafa, among others.

   

Most popular

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Free Speech, the Bomb—and Donald Trump

A Harvard cardiologist on the unlikely alliances that shaped a global movement to prevent nuclear war

Explore More From Current Issue

Catherine Zipf smiling, wearing striped shirt and dark sweater outdoors.

Preserving the History of Jim Crow Era Safe Havens

Architectural historian Catherine Zipf is building a database of Green Book sites.  

Illustration of scientists injecting large syringe with mitochondria into human heart.

Do Mitochondria Hold the Power to Heal?

From Alzheimer’s to cancer, this tiny organelle might expand treatment options. 

Two women in traditional kimonos, one lighting a cigarette, in a scene from Apart from You.

Harvard Film Archive Spotlights Japanese Director Mikio Naruse

A retrospective of the filmmaker’s works, from Floating Clouds to Flowing