The Elegant Universe

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A while back, I posted a thread about the documentary series "Fabric of the Cosmos" with Brian Greene, based on his book of the same name:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt172067.html

Unfortunately, the videos I posted in that thread will no play because that youtube account was terminated but you can still see the series here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhKa9x7depqHee3UmAmvpfDxa3_iMR10B

Now however, I've decided to show you Brian Greene's first documentary series called "The Elegant Universe", also based on a book that he wrote. This series tries to explain string theory on a popular science level so that ordinary people can understand it. Yes, I know there are some people on WP who have said that string theory can't be tested etc. However, I thought that this documentary does give a fair hearing to both critics of string theory and it's proponents. Also, let's not forget that even it turns out to be wrong, string theory is still an attempt to solve one of the greatest puzzles in modern physics, so the documentary is still pretty interesting from that point of view. The videos are divided into the three parts of the documentary. They are called respectively, "Einstein's Dream", "Strings the Thing" and "Welcome to the 11th Dimension". Here are the videos:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV_X2B5OK1I&list=PL512DFA77C3BD9E53&index=1[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9giLn5UiJw&list=PL512DFA77C3BD9E53[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36tGKrWY4QE&list=PL512DFA77C3BD9E53[/youtube]

Enjoy.

Nobody interested? What did you think of the documentary?

Thanks jono; I'm going to download them now...

Just to point out, you may want to skip to 5 minute mark of each video because that's where the documentary really starts. The first 5 minutes are really just adverts.

String theory may turn out to be a loser.

Maybe, we'll see. We'll probably eventually get another theory of everything or quantum gravity if that turns out to be the case.

We have been waiting to see for over 30 years.

Quantum Theory which overturned classical mechanics and classical electro dynamics took less than 30 years to win its day.

So far the bulk of experimental physics supports the Standard Model of Fields and Particles which is an elaboration of the quantum theory that emerged from the Brow of Zeus around 1926.

ruveyn

Some of the initial predictions of quantum mechanics were not out of reach of the then current technology, though some quantum effects were. Also, the development of quantum theory started as an attempt to explain black-body radiation, an observed phenomena which could not be explained by classical physics. This is unlike the case for string theory, which is more of an attempt to reconcile two different incompatible theories of physics which are nonetheless both hugely successful as far as empirical evidence is concerned. I don't personally don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though since both the theories special and general relativity as well as quantum field theory initially developed that way as well.

Regarding the fact that we've been waiting more than 30 years, Peter Higgs waited more than 50 years for the Higgs Boson to be discovered.

Also, we already know that the Standard Model of particle physics is not the complete picture. Not only because of observations of things like dark matter, but also because of other details like the fact that the Standard Model on it's own did not predict that neutrinos have mass or that the newly discovered Higgs Boson is similar to but not exactly the same as the Higgs Boson predicted by the Standard Model.