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[T]he real world out there … must exist independently of us.

Lee Smolin (2006)



SU(5) is the most elegant way imaginable of unifying quarks with leptons, and it leads to a codification of the properties of the standard model in simple terms. Even after twenty-five years I still find it stunning that SU(5) doesn’t work.

Lee Smolin (1996)



In this way, time is represented as if it were another dimension of space. Motion is frozen, and a whole history of constant motion and change is presented to us as something static and unchanging. If I had to guess (and guessing is what I do for a living), this is the scene of the crime.

Lee Smolin (2006)



… the greatest heroes in the history of science…. No one in human history has ever guessed correctly about such a large expansion of the known world.

Lee Smolin (2006)



[S]upersymmetric string theories are deeply elegant objects.

Lee Smolin (2006)



… in loop quantum gravity appeared to contradict Einstein’s special theory. … [T]hat possibility was too scary to contemplate, and after struggling with this, I dropped the whole line of research.

Lee Smolin (2007)



There is no way we can have two theories of nature covering different phenomena, as if one had nothing to do with the other. Any claim for a final theory must be a complete theory of nature. It must encompass all we know.

Lee Smolin (2006)



Don’t start with space or anything moving in space. Start with something that is purely quantum mechanical and has, instead of space, some kind of purely quantum structure.

Lee Smolin (2007)



The search for quantum gravity is a true quest.

Lee Smolin (2006)