We use cookies to provide you with a better onsite experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Skip to main content

    Features

    A Cosmic Conundrum

    A new incarnation of Einstein's cosmological constant may point the way beyond general relativity

    By Lawrence M. Krauss and Michael S. Turner

    A Century of Einstein

    Scientific American has covered Einstein's theories--and the refinements and reactions to them--ever since scientists began to grasp the import of his landmark 1905 papers. Read on for a sampling of our reports, some by leading physicists of their times

    By Daniel C. Schlenoff

    The Search for Relativity Violations

    To uncover evidence for an ultimate theory, scientists are looking for infractions of Einstein's once sacrosanct physical principle

    By Alan Kostelecký

    Was Einstein Right?

    Unlike nearly all his contemporaries, Albert Einstein thought quantum mechanics would give way to a classical theory. Some researchers nowadays are inclined to agree

    By George Musser

    The String Theory Landscape

    The theory of strings predicts that the universe might occupy one random "valley" out of a virtually infinite selection of valleys in a vast landscape of possibilities

    By Raphael Bousso and Joseph Polchinski
    The Patent Clerk's Legacy
    The Sciences

    The Patent Clerk's Legacy

    In 1905 the musings of a functionary in the Swiss patent office changed the world forever. His intellectual bequest remains for a new generation of physicists vying to concoct a theory of everything

    By Gary Stix
    Forces of the World, Unite!
    The Sciences

    Forces of the World, Unite!

    In a 1950 Scientific American article, Einstein outlined his unified theory of physics. Too bad it was wrong

    By George Musser

    Everyday Einstein

    Finding your way out of the woods with GPS? Hanging a picture frame with a laser level? Making photocopies? Better thank Einstein

    By Philip Yam

    Einstein's Compass

    What was it about the magnetism of an iron bar that could divert Einstein from perfecting his celebrated theory of general relativity?

    By Peter Galison

    Einstein and Newton: Genius Compared

    The two scientific giants were alike in intellect and temperament

    By Alan Lightman

    Atomic Spin-offs for the 21st Century

    A new generation of technologies aims to put Einstein's theories to work in computers, hospitals--even submarines

    By W. Wayt Gibbs

    Departments

    • Letters

      Letters

    • Erratum

    • Advances

      Nipah's Return

    • Piecing the Past

    • Chemical Conversations

    • Paleolithic Pensioners

    • Location, Location, Location

    • Cracked Caloric Counter

    • Ringed Up

    • Full Entangled House

    • No Place Like Home

    • Recommended

      Existential Terroir in Northern California

    • Skeptic

      Mustangs, Monists and Meaning

    • Anti Gravity

      Terror Bull

    • 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago

      Prolific Stars -- Clever Horse -- Busy Worms

    • Perspectives

      Einstein = Man of Conscience2

    • In Brief

      Data Points: September 2004

    • Brief Points: September 2004

    • Voyages

      Hiking Underground

    • By the Numbers

      Oil Haves and Have-Nots

    • Working Knowledge

      String Theory

    • Insights

      Superhot among the Ultracool

    • Ask the Experts

      Ask the Experts, September 2004

    Purchase To Read More

    Already purchased this issue? Sign In to Access
    Select Format
    September 2004

    See the World from a Different Perspective

    Subscribe to Scientific American MIND

    Subscribe