Conversations About Science with Theoretical Physicist Matt Strassler
Happy 2023 everyone! You’ve noticed, no doubt, that the blog has been quiet recently. That’s because I’ve got a book contract, with a deadline of March 31, 2023. [The book itself won’t be published til spring 2024.] I’ll tell you more about this in future posts. But over the next couple of months I’ll be … Read more
A number of people have asked why the blog has been quiet. To make a long story short, my two-year Harvard visit came to an end, and my grant proposals were turned down. No other options showed up except for a six-week fellowship at the Galileo Institute (thanks to the Simons Foundation), which ended last … Read more
After a very busy few months, in which a move to a new city forced me to curtail all work on this website, I’m looking to bring the blog gradually out of hibernation. [Wordsmiths and Latinists: what is the summer equivalent?] Even so, a host of responsibilities, requirements, grant applications, etc. will force me to ramp … Read more
One of the important lessons of last Tuesday’s debate about string theory is that if I’m going to talk about theories that do or don’t predict things, I’d better be very clear about what’s a theory? what’s a scientific theory expected to do? what’s a prediction? On Thursday I asked my readers if they felt misled … Read more
Welcome September! I’m going to be quite busy for a bit, partly because I have two big science projects that need to get finished, partly because I’m settling in at my new location this week — which always takes longer than one hopes and expects. But I’ve got a few things in the pipeline for … Read more
The rate of my blog posts has fallen off again, but for good reason… change is in the air. I decided this past year to leave Rutgers University, after a six-year stint as a professor at their “New” High Energy Theory Center, or NHETC. [No one ever deletes “new” from a name, cf. Pont Neuf. … Read more
Personal and professional activities require me to take a short break from posting. But I hope, whether you’re a novice with no knowledge of physics, or you’re a current, former, or soon-to-be scientist or engineer, or you’re somewhere between, that you can find plenty of articles of interest to you on this site. A couple … Read more
So I think the time is approaching for a serious overhaul of this website. First, there’s that new particle, which very much resembles a Higgs particle, though we’re not sure if it is of the simplest type; clearly many of the older pages on the website have to change to reflect this new information. Second, … Read more