Excellent stuff until the final third - Rated 
Hard work at times, off on a crusade at others, but always worth the effort because there were real insights into a fascinating, if alien, world. The last section was a bit of a rant about the state of modern science, which I didn't really warm to, but the earlier discussion of string theory was top-notch.
Where the book was best was when it tried to nail exactly where modern physics currently is and where it should be going. The sadness (make that anger) Smolin feels at the time currently being wasted by the physics establishment was an eye-opener but not really what I wanted to read about for half a dozen chapters. I was after the nitty-gritty of what the boffins are up to and only got this for half of the book...that half was excellent, however.
Stringent attack on string theory - Rated 
Lee Smolin perceives 5 big problems in today's physics: quantum gravity, the foundations of quantum mechanics, the unification of particles and laws, the values of the free constants and dark matter and dark energy.
Of those 5 problems string theory proposes a solution for only one of them: the unification of particles and laws. However, the theory cannot be tested with our current technology. For the author it is a dead end, because a theory which is not subject to experiment can never fail, but can never succeed either. Into the bargain, string theory is background-dependent and not background independent like Einstein's general theory of relativity, where the geometry of space is not part of the laws of nature.
Lee Smolin launches a frontal attack on the dictatorship of string theorists in universities, because they are grabbing nearly all funds for fundamental research and are making a laughing stock of its opponents.
He proposes 3 basic ideas for a successful approach of quantum gravity: space is emergent, everything in the universe is discrete and causality is fundamental for its description.
A far better theory than superstrings is loop (formed by field lines) quantum gravity, which is background-independent. The theory could mean that the universe existed before the Big Bang. But, its main problem is to find a way to unfreeze time (to represent time without turning it into space).
Lee Smolin's book is a goldmine for those wanting to know more about the current state of physics.
Making us more humble, he tells us that we only know 4 % of the universe, because 26 % of it is dark matter and 70 % dark energy.
He explains clearly the gauge theory (all properties of a force can be determined by symmetries) or the importance of spontaneous symmetry breaking, proving that the properties of the elementary particles depend in part on history and environment.
This book is a must read for all those interested in the world we live in.
Not for the layman - Rated 
Do you know what a Higgs Boson is? Do you have a thorough grounding in Gauge Theory? Me neither. I have to admit, here and now, that I'm not clever enough to understand 60% of this book.
Now maybe I'm a fool for buying a book which is unashamedly about theoretical physics and then complaining that it contains a lot of complicated things about physics, but the problem is that I think I should be able to enjoy a read like this. To give you some background I have a physics A-level (circa 1991), I read Biological Sciences at University and I have several 'pop' science titles on my bookshelves. If a book like this is to have any mass market appeal then someone like me should be able to find it accessible. Instead, I couldn't recommend this book to you unless you have a very good and current knowledge of at least degree level physics. In fact, I'd guess that the number of people world wide who could truly grasp the entirety of this book wouldn't be more than a few thousand. I also think there is a severe case of 'the emporer's new clothes' going on with all the folk who have given this book rave reviews.
If Lee Smolin really wanted to write a popular science book that would bring his thoughts on this arcane subject to a wider audience then I think he should have employed a science author/journalist to ghost write for him. The results of Smolin's efforts feel more like a long open letter to his colleagues working at the cutting edge of his field rather than a proper attempt at writing for the layman. In fact, the whole precept of this book, namely that anyone not working in academia should or does care that the string theory boffins have been wasting their time for 3 decades, is a bit odd. It might engender a nice feeling of schadenfreude from us thickies, but to suggest that it is important in a 'wider world' context is plainly wrong.
When the book moves away from the theories Smolin proves himself to be an interesting and confident writer. Stories of hubris amongst members of the scientific community never fail to amuse and there are a few anecdotes thrown in too. However, this isn't reason enough to hand over your cash.
I'll now precis the main points of the book. Please either stop reading this review or send me ten pounds which is part of the money you will save by no longer having to buy this book.
For the last 30 years theoretical physicists have postulated little that can be verified by experiment. To make their equations work they have had to invent extra dimensions that are so small their existence cannot be proved (or disproved). While the theorists have been busy contriving models that cannot be tested, the experimentalists and astronomers have been discovering plenty of phenomena that cannot be explained by the current theories. The theorist's solution? To keep extending the theories so they are even less predictive and then use disingenuous logic arguments that rely on the existence of a vast numbers of other universes (even though we only have experience of one) to make them seem probable.
Consequently what the theorists have come up with could be a profound understanding of the nature of our world or it could just be a way to ensure they all retain their jobs as well paid professors. Theories about our existence that can be neither proved or disproved have been around for millennia, they're called religion. And clever well paid people who pretend to give the rest of us a route to this sacred knowledge have been around just as long, we call them high priests. Or theoretical physicists.
Fresh air - Rated
A very amusing read.
The book is divided clearly in two parts. In the first and longest, the current status of basic physical sciences is described, of course with the aim to emphasize that the string theory has made it go into a blind alley. The experiment data that are still unexplained are presented, since they should provide the basis for verification or falsification of the new theories. Even only for this, the book is worth the read, since this kind of up to date information is not easy to find.
In the second and shorter part, the status of the academic institutions and the social aspects of the research in basic physics are presented, from the point of view of the author.
Both parts are very subjective. Smolin opinions are certainly not mainstream, and the reader should go for counter-opinions from the other side. But this subjectivity is the real value of the book.
In my humble opinion, it has been very important that somebody has dared to say out loud what many people are thinking now about physics: they've come to a dead end. I don't know whether it is because physicist took the wrong way, or because most of what can be experimented has already got a theoretical framework, and doing science without experimenting is not possible. Smolin argues this is not the case: doable experiments can show us the way, and he also argues against the antrophic principle. I wouldn't be so sure...
Unspinning the web of hubris - an honest view of theoretical physics - Rated
For anyone interested in the new mysteries of dark energy and dark matter etc. which have unsettled the attitude of "nearly finished" complacency exhibited by many spokesmen for theoretical physics, this book is a refreshing eye-opener for the interested layman. A new approach, String Theory, which promised a lot twenty five years ago has failed to deliver on its promises yet the aggressive promotion of this research programme and the tribal "groupthink" mentality of its adherents has led to it gaining the dominant position in terms of monopolizing grants and tenures at elite institutions normally reserved for a proven paradigm which has made successful predictions confirmed by experiment. A failed revolution has become the new "normal science" paradigm although it is unsuited to tackling most of the fundamental problems.
Most popular science books and TV programmes follow the unquestioning hype approach with infantile sci-fi style visuals and narrators rehashing hubris about pet theories unlocking the keys to supposedly the greatest mysteries of existence. Smolin, once an active participant in the String story, lists the 5 major problems facing theoretical physics and shows that very little progress has been made in resolving these over the last 30 years.
Unlike most physicists (excepting Bohm and Peat)Smolin dares to confront the sociological issues which result in the exclusion of freethinkers who question fundamental assumptions and put forward new ideas. Twenty years ago Rubinstein et al. wrote Science as Cognitive Process showing how a "paradigm" resembles a mode of cognition/perception and how "sciencing" resembles tribal rituals and taboos etc. Such "us and them" attitudes and the hostility to any questioning of basic assumptions means that the philosophically-minded young physicists, interested in the foundations of Quantum Theory etc., are denied career opportunities. The rise of String Theory also smacks of the "one true faith" zealotry prevalent in Western culture.
Smolin recognises that the fact that String "theories" assume a particular Space-Time background rather than attempt to explain the emergence of Space-Time from a deeper quantum reality means that background-dependent string "theories" cannot be the final or ultimate theories.
Smolin refers to "seers" and "craftspeople" in regard to the philosophically-minded questioners and the glorified technicians of mainstream science. Smolin, now free to work on the foundations of QT at a new institute funded by a wealthy patron, lists the philosophically-minded founders of QT such as Bohr, Heisenberg and Schrodinger amongst his heroes. However, unlike them he remains a realist assuming that physical theories can actually apprehend Reality as it is. As part of the philosophical questioning necessary to re-examine near-universal assumptions, Smolin fails to recognise the errors in Galileo's notion of primary and secondary qualities. As Schrodinger and Husserl etc. recognised, primary measurable qualities actually presuppose a conscious observer to determine them. Thus Galileo began the "despiritualization" of Nature by abstraction of measurable quantities.
Whereas Smolin points to the Cartesian representation of Time as a frozen dimension as possibly the big mistaken assumption of physics, the likes of Heisenberg and Schrodinger were far more philosophically profound than would-be "seer" Smolin. So too was David Bohm whom Smolin's greatest hero Einstein befriended at Princeton. Smolin would do well to ask why Schrodinger was an advocate of Vedanta (Brahmanism), why Heisenberg said that Indian philosophy subconsciously influenced his physics ideas, why Bohm was a friend of Krishnamurti, and Pauli with Carl Jung. As Heisenberg said, it came as a great help to him to discover than an entire civilisation already subscribed to a view that resembled that of the new Quantum Mechanics which had so shocked the Western Mind (from Capra: Uncommon Wisdom). Heisenberg even checked the chapter on QM in "The Philosophy of Space and Time and the Inner Constitution of Nature" by mathematical physicist and Sanskrit-literate mystic Michael Whiteman in which Whiteman argued for a Universal Consciousness. All these mathematical theories simply explore the realm of possibilities or archetypes well known to mystics. The true Reality lies beyond such ideational realms in the distinctionless Ground of Universal Consciousness whose energetic vibrations manifest the phenomenal universe. Physics cannot even account for the most basic fact of our existence, our consciousness!
Sutapas Bhattacharya
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