String Theory on Trial

For nearly sixty years, string theory has occupied a strange place between scientific triumph and seductive illusion. Born when Gabriel Veneziano discovered that a centuries-old equation unexpectedly matched particle-collision data, it grew from a failed theory of the strong nuclear force into an audacious attempt to unite matter, gravity, space, and time through the vibrations of unimaginably small strings. Follow string theory through death, resurrection, hidden dimensions, supersymmetry, cosmic origami, M-theory, black holes, holographic universes, and a landscape containing as many as 10⁵⁰⁰ possible realities. Its mathematics repeatedly reveals astonishing connections, yet experiments have found no supersymmetric particles, hidden dimensions, or decisive proof that strings exist—leaving physics with its longest-running mistrial: are we uncovering the architecture of the cosmos, or admiring the architecture of the human mind?