Lost In Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

Lost In Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

In this "provocative" book (New York Times), a contrarian physicist argues that her field's modern obsession with beauty has given us wonderful math but bad science.Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades.The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria. Worse, these "too good to not be true" theories are actually untestable and they have left the field in a cul-de-sac. To escape, physicists must rethink their methods. Only by embracing reality as it is can science discover the truth.Review"[A] provocative new book."?New York Times "According to the physicist and prolific blogger Sabine Hossenfelder, Einstein and others who work in a similar way are 'lost in math,' the title of her lively and provocative book."?Wall Street Journal"Hossenfelder ably mixes simplified explanation of the science with compelling portraits of the fascinating characters who study it."?Vanity Fair"In her new book,Lost In Math, Sabine Hossenfelder adroitly confronts this crisis head on.... The book is a wild, deep, thought-provoking read that would make any reasonable person in the field who's still capable of introspection doubt themselves."?Forbes"Lost in Math is self-aware and dosed with acerbic wit, and it asks bold questions."?Nature"Sabine Hossenfelder's new bookLost in Math provides a well-informed take on the current situation in fundamental physical theory. The author is completely honest, utterly fearless, and often quite funny."?MAA Reviews "[Hossenfelder's] critical assessment of the field is appropriately timed."?Science"Eavesdrop on accessible and frank conversations in Hossenfelder's Lost in Math, which wrestles with big questions of quantum mechanics and beauty in a fun, fascinating way."?Popular ScienceChoice award for outstanding academic title"Entertaining and engaging."?Ars TechnicaAbout the AuthorSabine Hossenfelder is a research fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she studies the phenomenology of quantum gravity. She has published more than fifty research articles on physics, cosmology, and quantum mechanics. She resides in Frankfurt, Germany.