From Bookfourm's Omnivore blog, a collection of links on physics, cosmology, and the metaphysics of the universe.

Fundamental physics is in a metaphysical mess

MAY 30 2013

1:00PM

• 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.