Guest Blogger: Joe Polchinski on the String Debates

You may have read here and there about the genteel discussions concerning the status of string theory within contemporary theoretical physics. We've discussed it on CV here, here, and even way back here, and Clifford has hosted a multipart discussion at Asymptotia (I, II, III, IV, V, VI). We are now very happy to host a guest post by the man who wrote the book, as it were, on string theory -- Joe Polchinski of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara. Joe was asked by American Scientist to review Peter Woit's Not Even Wrong and Lee Smolin's The Trouble With Physics. Here is a slightly-modified version of the review, enhanced by footnotes that expand on some more technical points. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a review/response, written some time ago, that has just appeared in American Scientist. A few notes: 1) I did not choose the title, but ...