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Edited on Sun Nov-26-06 10:21 PM by papau
I am buying for myself and for friends who are fellow scientists/mathematicians and who know that life arises from bound states of atoms, not quantum field theory calculations even when combined with the pointless tautology of the Anthropic Principle, and who tire of folks who use scientific materialism arguments to advance atheism in articles pretending to be articles on science - which means for every friend I have with a decent science/math background I am buying a cutting edge physics book - FANTASTIC REALITIES - 49 Mind Journeys and A Trip to Stockholm by Frank Wilczek (MIT).
For my atheist friends who need reinforcement of their belief system I like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins assisted Brian Flemming "non-fiction" DVD The God Who Wasn't There (2005) - I've already laid out why the various statements in the DVD are Bull (IMO but then all such discussion is only opinion) but I need to get them up to speed on their side of the idea so as to have a fun discussion!
For those on my side of the discussion on religion, I may be buying Why Bad Things Happen To Good People: (The Christian's Promised Land)- A 2 Peter 1:5 Study (Paperback)by Mark D. Bristow
A mention should be made of The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next by Lee Smolin (Hardcover - Sep 19, 2006) where Lee notes that there is zero physical evidence of 11 dimensions, branes, parallel universes and indeed anything that string theory folk propose based on their following their mathematics. This book sounds like it might be fun - besides which my neighbor Peter W. Shor of Wellesley, MA wrote the following review - which has got me even more interested in the book.
"The part of the book I found most interesting was the part which tells how the string theorists were scammed by Nature (or Mathematics). Of course, Smolin doesn't put it exactly like this, but imagine the following conversation.
String theorists: We've got the Standard Model, and it works great, but it doesn't include gravity, and it doesn't explain lots of other stuff, like why all the elementary particles have the masses they do. We need a new, broader theory.
Nature: Here's a great new theory I can sell you. It combines quantum field theory and gravity, and there's only one adjustable parameter in it, so all you have to do is find the right value of that parameter, and the Standard Model will pop right out.
String theorists: We'll take it.
String theorists (some time later): Wait a minute, Nature, our new theory won't fit into our driveway. String theory has ten dimensions, and our driveway only has four.
Nature: I can sell you a Calabi-Yau manifold. These are really neat gadgets, and they'll fold up string theory into four dimensions, no problem.
String theorists: We'll take one of those as well, please.
Nature: Happy to help.
String theorists (some time later): Wait a minute, Nature, there's too many different ways to fold our Calabi-Yao manifold up. And it keeps trying to come unfolded. And string theory is only compatible with a negative cosmological constant, and we own a positive one.
Nature: No problem. Just let me tie this Calabi-Yao manifold up with some strings and branes, and maybe a little duct tape, and you'll be all set.
String theorists: But our beautiful new theory is so ugly now!
Nature: Ah! But the Anthropic Principle says that all the best theories are ugly.
String theorists: It does?
Nature: It does. And once you make it the fashion to be ugly, you'll ensure that other theories will never beat you in beauty contests.
String theorists: Hooray! Hooray! Look at our beautiful new theory."
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