So Stephen Hawking has apparently convinced himself that something called "M-theory" explains the origins of the universe, without any need for intervention by God. It's a pity he didn't tell us this before all that money was wasted on the Large Hadron Collider. Who would have thought that all we needed was a pencil and paper, a very large brain, and the brass balls to peddle an embryonic collection of untestable ideas as a "theory of everything"?
Hawking's thesis has not exactly attracted widespread support -- and I'm not just referring to the inevitable rebuttals from religious leaders (of which Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's is, predictably, the best). Some of Hawking's theoretical physicist peers are fairly scathing too, with one speculating that the M in M-theory stands for "myth".
Some years ago, it was reported that one of Hawking's Cambridge colleagues was asked how it felt to work with the best physicist in the world. The response: "Best in the world? He's not even the best physicist in the college". I'm in no position to judge the truth of that, but it might be worth keeping it in mind as the hype, not unrelated to the publication of Hawking's new book next week, swirls on.
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