I'm glad sean put up the link ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html ) to the NOVA series on string/M theory. I was watching those a couple weeks ago, before they had put up the third hour, and I'm thankful that I got to see it.

...I find it hilarious that I was have such a curiosity for things like this but absolutely no grasp of mathematics, so I just have to sit back and let the scientists do their work and marvel at it.

so, discuss!

[Edited on Nov 15, 2003 by tomahto]

Keith

Oklahoma City, OK

August 2002

NOV 14, 2003 11:38 PM

I'm still on chapter 6 of hour 1, but it's fascinating!

Keith

Oklahoma City, OK

August 2002

NOV 14, 2003 11:39 PM

And I hear you on the math. I can grasp pretty much what they're talking about, as long as they don't bring equations into it -- at which point my brain plays like a frightened hermet crab and retreats into it's shell.

Keith

Oklahoma City, OK

August 2002

NOV 14, 2003 11:42 PM

What's interesting to me is the similarity to Pythagorean theory, the universe as music.

I was reading about Pythagorean theory not too long ago, in some interesting articles on Richard Lloyd's (the guitarist from Television) website, which can be found here: http://www.richardlloyd.com/lessons/choice2.htm

[Edited on Nov 14, 2003 by Keith]

Lamia1

I'm lost

October 2003

NOV 15, 2003 02:11 AM

i caught it on pbs and was fascinated; watched as much as i could. but i think i didn't catch all parts. did they make it clear at some point if they call it 'string' because, if you could see it, it would actually resemble string, or if it's just a metaphor? i wonder because of other instances where the metaphorical has been mistakenly taken to be literal as far as descriptions in quantum physics go.

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

NOV 15, 2003 02:14 AM

'The Elegant Universe' is one of the best things ever produced for TV.

Keith

Oklahoma City, OK

August 2002

NOV 15, 2003 02:14 AM

From what I understood, they believe that it is an actual particle resembling a vibrating string, which is either open ended or a closed loop. I should have clarified myself, though, because you're right, the similarities to Pythagorean are merely metaphorical.

Lamia1

I'm lost

October 2003

NOV 15, 2003 02:25 AM

well then it's okay to actually picture it as such! cool. i think all theories are, at some point in the deconstruction, metaphorical. so the next best thing is to match aesthetics, and so it fits for the pythagorean to be matched to music, and quantum physics to be regarded in such terms as 'strange', 'charmed', etc. good descriptions for hard-to-visualize things and accurate at least on the aesthetic level.

fadedOrion

Portland, OR

October 2003

NOV 15, 2003 02:46 AM

blackholes intrigue me.

JakeMarley

I'm lost

October 2002

NOV 15, 2003 04:55 AM

Somehow I accidentally deleted this program from my DVR in the middle of watching it. I screamed in agony when I realized what I had done. Thank Sean for that link! Now I will have to move my office computer into the living room and hook it up the TV. And I thought I wasted my money on that fancy TV-Out graphics cards....

PMVirgin

Portland, OR

July 2002

NOV 15, 2003 03:13 PM

My dad and I watched the first two episodes on OPB, but I never found out when/if they aired the third. I think it's pretty interesting stuff...

- I wonder how they arrived at exactly 10 (or was it 11) dimensions - of course, I'm pretty sure it involves some formula that is way to complicated for me to understand.
- It's interesting to me that such apparent chaos at such a small scale can translate to such apparent order at such a large scale.
- I almost wonder if the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (Without outside influence, everything tends towards disorder) might actually be off slightly (that things actually tend toward equilibrium).

Rumford

Portland, OR

March 2003

NOV 15, 2003 07:15 PM

Fascninating stuff. I would be interested in how or if they can use it to address dark matter