"A Skeptic Guide to String Theory"

Lecture (Q&A coming soon) "Truth" written and recorded by Todd Rundgren. ©2003 humanoid music. Used by permission.

Scientific American editor and writer George Musser discusses his book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory," the String Wars, and verifiability in science. Musser will also address how string theory helps illuminate skeptical issues, such as claims that quantum fields could be the "energy fields" of traditional Chinese medicine. Musser and Scientific American Editor-in-Chief John Rennie will then offer their thoughts on the the nature of science and the general relevance of basic physics to skepticism.

After pursuing journalism as a hobby, writing on topics ranging from architecture to crack cocaine, George Musser got into science writing when he served as editor of Mercury magazine and of The Universe in the Classroom tutorial series at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. After expanding and revamping both publications, the San Francisco Examiner called Mercury "the most exciting and thought-provoking astronomy magazine for several light-years around." He got his graduate degree in planetary science from Cornell University, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. His thesis work, done with Steve Squyres (latterly of Mars rover fame), modeled mantle convection on Venus in order to explain broad plateaus mapped by NASA’s Magellan orbiter. More...

John Rennie is only the seventh editor in chief in the 162-year history of Scientific American magazine. Since his appointment in late 1994, he has been the creative force behind the modernization and reinvigoration of this great publishing institution. For several years, Rennie also worked by night as a sketch and improvisational comedian in New York, Boston and college venues. These days his major hobby is the study of Karate, in which he holds the rank of Yondan (4th degree black belt).