String Theory For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10

Early Strings and Superstrings: Unearthing the Theory’s Beginnings

IN THIS CHAPTER

Knowing how string theory got its start

Focusing on the theory’s basic concepts

Saving the science with superstrings and supergravity

Cheering on the first superstring revolution

A year before astronauts set foot on the moon, no one had ever heard of string theory. The concepts at the core of the theory were being neither discussed nor debated. Physicists struggled to complete the Standard Model of particle physics but had abandoned their hopes for a theory of everything (if they ever had any such hope in the first place).

In other words, no one was looking for strings when physicists found them.

In this chapter, we tell you about the early beginnings of string theory, which quickly failed to do anything the creators expected (or wanted) it to do. Then we explain how, from these humble beginnings, several elements of string theory began to spring up, which drew more and more scientists to pursue it.

Bosonic String Theory: The First String Theory

The first string theory, which became known ...