The Longest Distance Between Two Points
An Introduction To String Theory
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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’ Isaac Asimov
In string theory, all particles are vibrations on a tiny rubber band; physics is the harmonies on the string; chemistry is the melodies we play on vibrating strings; the universe is a symphony of strings, and the ‘Mind of God’ is cosmic music resonating in 11-dimensional hyperspace — Michio Kaku
Science is ridiculously interesting. Just when you think ‘this is it, this is the discovery that changes everything and explains the world’ , you realize you were only staring at the tip of the iceberg. You have no choice but to laugh and soldier on. The study of sub-atomic particles — Quantum physics explained things classical physics could not. Now, there is a new theoretical framework that attempts to tie together gravitational forces, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces that is being explored further. This framework is called ‘String Theory’. Gabrielle Veneziano (an Italian theorerical physicist), in 1991, published a paper that showed how an inflationary cosmological model can be obtained from string theory, thus opening the door to a description of string cosmological pre-big bang scenarios. This article explains ‘String Theory’ and leaves the reader with a question to mull over this new year.
I was sitting in a local coffee shop ‘Kaldi’s Coffee’ in St Louis with a professional writer. It was a bright winter morning in December. The sunlight passed through the French windows and uplifted my mood. Over the course of our conversation, the pro (I like to think I am an amateur writer) asked me a very profound question ‘does the world need economists?’ He followed up his own question and asked me ‘what is macro-economics? I found it a very funny question not because I thought that the world doesn’t need economists but because people look at many theoretical frameworks with the same suspicion as they would a…
