From Edge, Lee Smolin on thinking about nature and how to make a theory of the universe as a whole system. James Gleick reviews Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe by Lee Smolin. Lisa Randall’s Guide to the Galaxy: The famed cosmologist unveils her latest theories on the invisible universe, extra dimensions and human consciousness. Dark matter is the commonest, most elusive stuff there is — can we grasp this great unsolved problem in physics? Big news from the annals of science last week: A British newspaper reports that the mysteries of the universe may have been solved by a hedge-fund economist who left academia 20 years ago. Jon F. Wilkins on Eric Weinstein and an outsider’s Theory of Everything. Philosophy isn't dead yet: Far from having replaced metaphysics, fundamental physics is in a metaphysical mess and needs help — Einstein saw it coming.
