The Trouble with Physics

The book generated much controversy and debate about the merits of string theory, and was criticised by some prominent physicists including Sean Carroll and string theorists Joseph Polchinski Hossenfelder believes that Smolin's book attempts to restore the relation physics once had with philosophy, quoting him as follows: Philosophy used to be part of the natural sciences – for a long time. For long centuries during which our understanding of the world we live in has progressed tremendously. There is no doubt that times change, but not all changes are a priori good if left without further consideration. Here, change has resulted in a gap between the natural sciences where questioning the basis of our theories, and an embedding into the historical and sociological context used to be. Even though many new specifically designed interdisciplinary fields have been established, investigating the foundations of our current theories has basically been erased out of curricula and textbooks. ==The String Wars==