In at the deep end

I'm reading Not Even Wrong by Peter Woit, a physicist and mathematician (here's a link to his blog). The book is a critical assessment of String Theory. Woit argues that String Theory isn't science because it doesn't (and, if I understand him properly, can't) make experimentally testable predictions. It's taking physics up an expensive blind alley. Much of his argument involves mathematics far too difficult for me, but he does use, in support, the fact that Richard Feynman was also deeply sceptical of String Theory. Shortly before his death, Feynman said "I think all this superstring stuff is crazy and is in the wrong direction."

Well as far as I'm concerned, if Feynman thought String Theory is wrong, that's good enough for me. I know that he would say not to take his word for it, work it out for yourself, but I for one won't be wasting any more time trying to visualise10-dimensional Calabi-Yao spaces.

Michael Scott, the first president of Apple, tells the story of his first encounter with Feynman, at CalTech:

There were 183 of us freshmen, and a bowling ball hanging from the three-story ceiling to just above the floor. Feynman walked in and, without a word, grabbed the ball and backed against the wall with the ball touching his nose. He let go, and the ball swung slowly 60 feet across the room and back — stopping naturally just short of crushing his face. Then he took the ball again, stepped forward, and said: "I wanted to show you that I believe in what I'm going to teach you over the next two years."

[Children, do try this at home, but maybe start with something softer than a bowling ball, and be sure to just let go of the ball without giving it any extra push. Momentum is conserved.]

I'd be surprised if Professor Feynman didn't crop up again in this blog.