Word: smolins
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...doubters are becoming more vocal. Skeptical bloggers have become increasingly critical of the theory, and next month two books will be hitting the shelves to make the point in greater detail. Not Even Wrong, by Columbia University mathematician Peter Woit, and The Trouble with Physics, by Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont., both argue that string theory (or superstring theory, as it is also known) is largely a fad propped up by practitioners who tend to be arrogantly dismissive of anyone who dare suggest that the emperor has no clothes...
...seemed, this scheme appeared on first blush to explain why particles have the characteristics they do. As a side benefit, it also included a quantum version of gravity and thus of relativity. Just as important, nobody had a better idea. So lots of physicists, including Woit and Smolin, began working...
Most scientists are wary of abandoning time, but Barbour's idea is taken quite seriously by such respected physicists as Penn State's Lee Smolin and the University of Alberta's Don Page. There may even be a way to test it experimentally; a consequence of Barbour's theory is that the universe would be filled with more black holes and neutron stars than experts believe. If so, we could know within a decade whether his theory is supported by astronomical observations--and whether the ideas of time we've clung to for most of human history will...
...Smolin, 27, graduated from Fairfax High himself in 1978. But his classroom reflects a taste for the cultural artifacts of earlier eras. Jimi Hendrix posters keep company with theater reviews from West Side Story. His unusual methods -- using song lyrics to teach literary themes, for instance -- are popular with students. But he fears he may soon wilt under the pressure to entertain. "My first year I used to come home hoarse," he says. "I can't keep up five shows a day and not get burned...
...ultimate satisfaction comes from the occasional student who, given the right nurturing, suddenly blossoms. Barry Smolin twinkles at the very thought of his "victory student." The Fairfax junior had a mother who was a junkie, a sister who was a prostitute and a father who had long ago abandoned the family. "I gave her a writing assignment, and she was brilliant," says Smolin. "She still had trouble, but she got into college and now she wants to be a writer." What keeps many teachers going is the conviction that somewhere out there, there are more victory students waiting...