title: The unification of physics: the quest for a theory of everything.
abstract: The holy grail of physics has been to merge each of its fundamental branches into a unified "theory of everything" that would explain the functioning and existence of the universe. The last step toward this goal is to reconcile general relativity with the principles of quantum mechanics, a quest that has thus far eluded physicists. Will physics ever be able to develop an all-encompassing theory, or should we simply acknowledge that science will always have inherent limitations as to what can be known? Should new theories be validated solely on the basis of calculations that can never be empirically tested? Can we ever truly grasp the implications of modern physics when the basic laws of nature do not always operate according to our standard paradigms? These and other questions are discussed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Public Radio, Madison, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paulson
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gleiser
authors.affiliation: NORDITA - Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stockholm, Sweden.|University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Freese
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tegmark
mesh_terms: D055580:Astronomical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D019563:Mechanics; D010825:Physics / Q000639:trends*; D011789:Quantum Theory
keywords: general relativity; physics; quantum mechanics; universe