Hawking: No 'Theory of Everything'

Flash Modin writes "In a Scientific American essay based on their new book A Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow are now claiming physicists may never find a theory of everything. Instead, they propose a 'family of interconnected theories' might emerge, with each describing a certain reality under specific conditions. The claim is a reversal for Hawking, who claimed in 1980 that there would be a unified theory by the turn of the century."

Comments

Oblig

[gmuslera]

xkcd

Re:Oblig

[blair1q]

You know, it's no longer necessary to actually link to xkcd from /.

Just mention the number.

We'll laugh just as hard.

Re:Oblig

[jewens]

Some people just don't know how to tell a joke.

unified theory by the turn of the century

[Culture20]

"The claim is a reversal for Hawking, who claimed in 1980 that there would be a unified theory by the turn of the century."

I think the turn of the century reversed his claim for him.

Re:Past His Prime

[amicusNYCL]

It seems like he's been saying stuff recently just to say stuff.

Totally. He just likes to hear his own voice.

Excuse me, Dr. Hawking?

[Theory of Everything]

I'm right here. I promise I do exist. Really.

Re:Excuse me, Dr. Hawking?

[neo-mkrey]

I'm torn -- do I give you +1 Funny or +1 Informative?? Ooops, seeing as I have now posted, you will get neither.

Re:Celebrity physicist troll train

[guyminuslife]

String Theory says there is.

Re:Past His Prime

[smooth wombat]

Just invent a one-way time machine. Then you could mate with all the women you wanted when men become scarce (after the giraffes have long since ceased to rule the planet) then move forward in time, wait for the last photon to decay, see the Big Bang take place, take a potshot at Hitler and as the current time approaches, slow down enough to see the comments appearing, wait for someone else to make the joke then mod them up!

Of course you have to hope this universe isn't 10' higher than the previous universe.

In other news...

[djupedal]

...Theory of Everything held a press conference today, stating "There is no Stephen Hawking."

When asked what the implications were as to whether or not there could ever be a Stephen Hawking, ToE replied "The door is open for a Stephen Hawking in the future, but it can only be a possibility if graphene birds fly out of my lily white butt..."

Re:Celebrity physicist troll train

[ColdWetDog]

It's about time they rethink this artificial theoretical/experimental barrier if all the "theories" being cooked up are so far out of the realm of verification that they might as well move to philosophy department.

I mean, it wouldn't it be surprising if they were given advanced degrees like "Doctor of Philosophy" or something like that?

What about Dr. Cooper's work?

[JAZ]

I've been watching documentaries about Dr Sheldon Cooper's work out at Caltech and I'm lead to believe that he's very close to proving String Theory as a Grand Unified Theory.

Surely, Professor Hawking is aware of this research?