"Enter superstring theory. The concept that particles are really tiny strings dates from the 1960s, but it took on wings in 1974, when John Schwarz... and Joel Scherk... came to terms with what had been an ugly blemish in their calculations. String theory kept predicting the existence of a particle with zero mass and a spin of two. Schwarz and Scherk realized that this unwelcome particle was nothing other than the graviton, the quantum carrier of gravitational force (Although there is no quantum theory of gravity yet, it is possible to specify some of the characteristics of the quantum particle thought to convey it.) This was liberating: The calculations were saying not only that string theory might be the way to a fully unified account of all particles and forces but that one could not write a string theory without incorporating gravity. Ed Witten... recalled that this news constituted "the greatest intellectual thrill of my life."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Timothy Ferris, The Whole Shebang: A State of the Universe Report (1998) p. 221.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gravity
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Gravity
89 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Gravity →
Related Quotes
"Our two greatest problems are gravity and paper work. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming."
"In order that a pendulum may continue to make the same number of oscillations in a given time, it must be shortened a…"
"The globe of the Earth stands supportless in space... Just as the [spherical] bulb of a Kadamba flower is covered all…"
"GRAVITATION, n. The tendency of all bodies to approach one another with a strength proportion to the quantity of matt…"
"The earth attracts inert bodies in space towards itself. The attracted body appears to fall down on the earth. Since …"
"There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world. The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep…"
"A positive pressure produces an attractive gravitational field... Positive pressures are just sort of normal pressure…"
"Anaxagoras... speaks absurdly concerning the permanency of the infinite: for he says that the infinite itself support…"
"Moreover, force, gravity, and words of that kind, are often, and not unwisely, used in the concrete; in such a way th…"
"Cotes's Preface [to the 2nd edition of Principia] is of historical importance... It is interpreted as advocating the …"