Lost in Math

ভালো লেগেছে। প্রোভোকেটিভ বলা চলে।

Theoretical physics has reached an impasse. The Large Hadron Collider did manage to locate the Higgs boson, which everyone expected, but hasn't yet produced any novel and interesting data. All theory-of-everything attempts are so far out there that no experiments can currently be devised to verify them. Does high-level physics turn into philosophy, without the need to crunch any numbers?

Sabine Hossenfelder is here to call out the whole field of theoretical physics on their cognitive bias towards beautiful math, beautiful theories and group think. Her writing is sharp and funny and offers a fascinating glimpse into the a field that's so abstract and far from our everyday, that we just assume these smart people must know what they're doing.

There's a fair amount of serious physics explained in this. I admit, after a first attempt I gave up on trying to follow along with it (with an intention of going back should I ever be in need of a good explanation). But the book is still interesting and thought-provoking even for the non-initiated.

Interesting take on the frustrations physicists are beginning to feel with the current state of theorizing based on “naturalness” and “beauty”, and the recent lack of progress in the field. Have they really cast aside the scientific method? What is to be done about this? The author illuminates these and other questions by interviewing leading members of the theoretical physics community.