2008/03/21 by R. B. Laughlin, David Pines · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
paper · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262026215.003.0017
openalex publication_date 2008/03/21 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This chapter explains the ultimate theory of the universe, or the Theory of Everything, as a set of equations capable of describing all phenomena that have been observed, or that will ever be observed. It is an approach to the natural world favored by many due to its success in bettering mankind, and remains the central paradigm in physics for the same group of people. One great instance of this approach can be seen in the equation of conventional nonrelativistic quantum mechanics that describes the everyday world of human beings. The less immediate things in the universe are not described by this equation, but these are considered irrelevant to people-scale phenomena. The chapter explores how and why the Theory of Everything is not, in fact, a theory of every thing.