In the following Yahoo article at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/science/story.html?s=v/ap/19990721/
sc/germany_hawking_1.html
awking admits that "a so-called `theory of everything' to explain the universe
...might take longer than he had expected." and that "...we don't seem much
nearer to our goal".
But what is even more significant, is that Hawking admits that there might be
*no* `theory of everything':
"There may be no theory that can be applied in different situations, just as
there is no map that covers the entire world," he said..."
Note the religious morivation behind Hawking's quest:
"We don't understand the origin of the universe or why we are here," he
said. "A complete unified theory might not bring much material benefit, but
it would answer that age-old question."
The ancient Hebrew sage could have pointed out to Hawking that his quest to
"know the mind of God" (Hawking S.W., "A Brief History of Time, 1991, p185),
was impossible:
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the
hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning
to end." (Ecc 3:11).
Steve
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Yahoo! News Science Headlines
Wednesday July 21 8:44 AM ET
Hawking Awaits Unified Theory Proof
By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer
POTSDAM, Germany (AP) - Stephen Hawking remains confident that
physicists will prove string theory - a so-called "theory of everything" to
explain the universe - but said today it might take longer than he had
expected.
The world's best-known physicist, who was attending a conference on
string theory, revised his prediction in the 1980s that there was a 50-50
chance the theory would be proven in 20 years.
"Although we have made great progress in the last 20 years, we don't seem
much nearer to our goal," he said. Hawking's odds on proving the theory
are the same, but he now says it could take another 20 years.
If proven, string theory would unite the two main theories of physics:
Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory. Scientists hope it
will unlock the mysteries of black holes and the origins of the universe.
The week-long annual conference, this year called "Strings '99," is being
held in Germany for the first time. The host is the Max Planck Institute for
Gravitational Physics - also known as the Albert Einstein Institute - in the
city of Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin.
The conference site is just down the road from Einstein's summer home,
where he spent his last years in Germany pondering a unifying theory for
physics. The scientist never returned to his native country after an overseas
trip in 1932, because friends warned him of the dangers he faced as a Jew
under Hitler.
Einstein continued work on a unified theory later at Princeton University,
but never found a solution. In fact, said Hawking, a unified theory may not
have a solution that is applicable all the time.
"There may be no theory that can be applied in different situations, just as
there is no map that covers the entire world," he said, speaking through a
computer attached to his wheelchair.
Hawking holds the Cambridge University post once held by Sir Isaac
Newton and is the author of "A Brief History of Time." Now 57, he has
suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, since
his 20s.
Firing back at critics who say a unified theory will serve only scientists,
Hawking said there will be a tangible benefit in solving humankind's
deepest mysteries.
"We don't understand the origin of the universe or why we are here," he
said. "A complete unified theory might not bring much material benefit, but
it would answer that age-old question."
[...]
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"Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not
designed, but rather evolved." (Crick F.H.C., "What Mad Pursuit: A
Personal View of Scientific Discovery", [1988], Penguin Books: London
UK, 1990, reprint, p138)
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