The word 'universe' is obviously not intended to have a plural, but science has evolved in such a way that we need a plural noun for something similar to what we ordinarily call our universe.
Extra dimensional theories are sometimes considered science fiction with equations. I think that's a wrong attitude. I think extra dimensions are with us, they are with us to stay, and they entered physics a long time ago. They are not going to go away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Extra dimensions are a legitimate aspect of physics, often dismissed as speculative, but they have been part of scientific discourse for a long time.
This quote by Leonard Susskind emphasizes the important role that extra-dimensional theories play in the field of physics, arguing against the common perception that they are purely speculative or fictional. He asserts that these theories are integral to understanding the universe and have been established within the scientific framework for some time, suggesting that they are not fleeting ideas but rather vital components that will remain in scientific discussions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on theoretical physics, one could use this quote to highlight the significance of extra dimensions.
More from Leonard Susskind
All quotes →A lot of my research time is spent daydreaming - telling an imaginary admiring audience of laymen how to understand some difficult scientific idea.
Man - life in general - seems irrelevant to the workings of the universe: a mere smudge of water, grease, and carbon on a pinpoint planet circling a star of no special consequence.
I was going to engineering school but fell in love with physics.
Why is there space rather than no space? Why is space three-dimensional? Why is space big? We have a lot of room to move around in. How come it's not tiny? We have no consensus about these things. We're still exploring them.
Similar quotes
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We send messages all the time, free of charge. There's a big shell out there now, 80 light-years around us. A civilization only a little more advanced than we are can pick those things up.
Fractal geometry is not just a chapter of mathematics, but one that helps Everyman to see the same world differently.
From the rocket we can see the huge sphere of the planet in one or another phase of the Moon. We can see how the sphere rotates, and how within a few hours it shows all its sides successively ... and we shall observe various points on the surface of the Earth for several minutes and from different sides very closely. This picture is so majestic, attractive and infinitely varied that I wish with all my soul that you and I could see it.
The brain is the most complicated organ in the universe. We have learned a lot about other human organs. We know how the heart pumps and how the kidney does what it does. To a certain degree, we have read the letters of the human genome. But the brain has 100 billion neurons. Each one of those has about 10,000 connections.
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.