From Physics and Philosophy, Helge Kragh (Aarhus): The Controversial Universe: A Historical Perspective on the Scientific Status of Cosmology; Richard Dawid (Vienna): Scientific Realism in the Age of String Theory. From TED, Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones? Can the fundamental law, the so-called "theory of everything," really explain everything? His answers will surprise you. A review of Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness by B. Alan Wallace. A review of Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond by Max Jammer. In a parallel universe, this theory would make sense: If only we could prove that the multiverse was real, we could explain the contradictions of quantum mechanics. A review of Tales of Mathematicians and Physicists by Simon Gindikin; and a review of The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History by Eli Maor. A strange new family of algorithms probes the boundary between easy and hard problems. Mathematical police find security bug: Cryptographers uncover potential weakness in encryption algorithms.
