n, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied tString theory, also known as superstring theory, is a dubious scientific theory which has received a lot of hype since the 1980s, when it showed promise toward being the much sought Unified Field Theory, or Theory of Everything, a theory which in principle is capable of explaining everything in physics. Unfortunately, after over 20 years, no one has been able to make a single experimentally verifiable prediction from string theory. Far from being the Theory of Everything, string theory thus far is a Theory of Nothing! Some have even gone so far as to say string theory is not science but theology, since it fails to make any testable predictions.

String theory got its start in 1968, when Gabriele Veneziano developed a mathematical model for the strong interaction, the force binding quarks together. His model turned out to be a consequence of particles being strings, one-dimensional objects, rather than point particles. From 1968 to 1974, a handful of particle physicists including Nambu, Nielsen, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied to

ple is capable of explaining everything in physics. Unfortunately, after over 20 years, no one has been able to make a single experimentally verifiable prediction from string theory. Far from being the Theory of Everything, string theory thus far is a Theory of Nothing! Some have even gone so far as to say string theory is not science but theology, since it fails to make any testable predictions.

String theory got its start in 1968, when Gabriele Veneziano developed a mathematical model for the strong interaction, the force binding quarks together. His model turned out to be a consequence of particles being strings, one-dimensional objects, rather than point particles. From 1968 to 1974, a handful of particle physicists including Nambu, Nielsen, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied t

heory of Nothing! Some have even gone so far as to say string theory is not science but theology, since it fails to make any testable predictions.

String theory got its start in 1968, when Gabriele Veneziano developed a mathematical model for the strong interaction, the force binding quarks together. His model turned out to be a consequence of particles being strings, one-dimensional objects, rather than point particles. From 1968 to 1974, a handful of particle physicists including Nambu, Nielsen, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied t

strong interaction, the force binding quarks together. His model turned out to be a consequence of particles being strings, one-dimensional objects, rather than point particles. From 1968 to 1974, a handful of particle physicists including Nambu, Nielsen, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied tn, and Susskind continued to investigate this theory. It fell out of favor in 1974 when it became clear that it predicted that the universe had 26 dimensions. String theory made a big comeback in 1984 however once it was shown that it could be applied to fermions as well as bosons. This initiated the first superstring revolution, from 1984 to 1986. By 1986, string theorists became disillusioned once again when they realized that there was not one but five potentially viable versions of string theory. The second superstring revolution occurred in 1995 when string theory was supplanted by M-theory, which unified these five versions into one. M-theory states that the fundamental particles are not just strings but so-called p-branes, tiny objects with dimensions 1 to 10 lying in 11 dimensions.

Over the years I have wavered in how I feel about string theory. It's certainly quite exciting that it shows some promise toward being the Theory of Everything and many of its ideas are certainly quite beautiful. On the other hand, the fact that no testable predictions have emerged from string theory for over 20 years is certainly quite frustrating, and I often wonder if it really can be called science.