The recently celebrated discovery of the Higgs boson has captivated the public's imagination with the promise that it can explain the origins of everything in the universe. It's no wonder that the media refers to it grandly as the "God particle." Yet behind closed doors, physicists are admitting that there is much more to this story, and even years of gunning the Large Hadron Collider and herculean number crunching may still not lead to a deep understanding of the laws of nature. In this fascinating and eye-opening account, theoretical physicist Alexander Unzicker and science writer Sheilla Jones offer a polemic. They question whether the large-scale, multinational enterprises actually lead us to the promised land of understanding the universe. The two scientists take us on a tour of contemporary physics and show how a series of highly publicized theories met a dead end. Unzicker and Jones systematically unpack the recent hot theories such as "parallel universes," "string theory," and "inflationary cosmology," and provide an accessible explanation of each. They argue that physics has abandoned its evidence-based roots and shifted to untestable mathematical theories, and they issue a clarion call for the science to return to its experimental foundation.

Bankrupting Physics: How Today's Top Scientists are Gambling Away Their Credibility (MacSci)

Science & Math

Unzicker, Alexander

Jones, Sheilla

Physics

St.Martin's Press

Did the Nobel Prize In Physics in 2013 Make Einstein Turn In His Grave? The Higgs Fake – How Particle Physicists Fooled the Nobel Committee is a merciless critique of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and of the theoretical model on which the world’s most expensive experiment is based. Unzicker, a German physicist and award-winning science writer, argues that the reaction of the Swedish Academy to last year’s discovery appears to be a result of being beguiled by CERN’s attempts to justify the billions of dollars of public money being spent. The book starts off by claiming that the greatest physicists such as Einstein, Dirac of Schrödinger would have considered the “discovery” of the Higgs particle ridiculous. The reasons, according to the author, are that: “1) the so-called standard model has grown unbelievably complicated, 2) none of the great riddles of physics that have persisted for a century have been solved, 3) history suggests that the current model is a dead end, 4) with their ever-more intricate experimental techniques, particle physicists are fooling themselves with alleged results, 5) scientific convictions in the community are established by blind faith in expert opinions, group-think and parroting, and 6) the data analysis in its complexity cannot be overseen by anybody.” Unzicker gives a historical survey of the field, and concludes that particle physics, as practiced since 1930, is “a futile enterprise in its entirety.” The book is peppered with a series of funny quotes from famous philosophers and scientists. In the last section, “Antidotes,” he specifically attacks “the overstated claims by famous physicists such as Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Sean Carroll, Brian Cox and Jim Al-Khalili.” At the end, Unzicker lists questions that he would like to be asked to particle physicists at press conferences, hearings and discussions. Unzicker's books have been praised as “well-grounded, sound, [and] informed,” and as “vehement pleading for physics as a natural science, in its best tradition,” but also dismissed by particle physicists as an “incoherent rant” and “time-wasting nonsense.” The new book, written in an even more explicit and provocative tone, is likely to upset the high energy physics community. Praise for previous books of the author: The assertion that “science means, after all, not being a sucker” is well worth taking to heart. – Publishersweekly A broad dismissal of modern theoretical physicists…Unzicker also targets the massive expenditures of funds on high-energy particle accelerators. – Kirkus Reviews Unzicker dares to think outside the mainstream. A refreshing and provoking book... – Prof. Hans Volker Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, University of Heidelberg Timely needed revision of contemporary physics´ idiocies. – Prof. Antonio Ruiz de Elvira, University of Alcalá de Henares A passionate and profound search for scientific truth. Unzicker's questions to particle physicists at CERN are justified. PD Peter Thirolf, nuclear physicist at Munich University. A major contribution to physics... Unzicker is pointing out that the emperor is naked... The establishment scientists will curse and moan. – Edwin E Klingman, author, former NASA Research Physicist

The Higgs Fake: How Particle Physicists Fooled the Nobel Committee

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

One hundred years after the completion of the General Theory of Relativity, conferences, meetings, and celebrations are taking place all around the world. Yet a decisive consideration on the subject by Albert Einstein has completely fallen into oblivion. Already in 1911, he held the key to an even greater discovery in his hands: a theory concerning the variable speed of light that would have explained the origin of gravity by referring to distant masses in the universe. Eventually, the consequences for modern cosmology would be revolutionary: the picture of an expanding universe and the Big Bang would need to be revised. Sadly, Einstein's ingenious idea came twenty years too early. For it took until the 1930s before the true size of the universe was revealed, which would have confirmed his formula about the variable speed of light. Due to a series of accidents, the theory remained practically unknown, although the Nobelists Erwin Schrödinger and Paul Dirac had worked on similar ideas. Einstein's Lost Key is a description of relativity comprehensible for lay people, a vividly exposed history of science, and a serious, though controversial input for modern research. Dr. Alexander Unzicker is a German physicist and award-winning science writer. His books Bankrupting Physics and The Higgs Fake have generated controversy in the physics community. With Einstein’s Lost Key, Unzicker gives an account of his long-lasting pursuit of Einstein's ideas. 
 KIRKUS REVIEWS: ...the author’s ideas are engaging and he presents them well. [...] turns into a screed against the scientific establishment.

Einstein's Lost Key: How We Overlooked the Best Idea of the 20th Century

Astronomy & Space Science

Alexander Unzicker ist theoretischer Physiker und schreibt &#65533;ber elementare naturphilosophische Fragen. Sein wissenschaftskritisches Buch Vom Urknall zum Durchknall erhielt 2010 den Preis "Wissensbuch des Jahres". Mit "Die mathematische Realit&#65533;t" legt Unzicker sein bisher grundlegendstes Werk vor, das aus jahrelanger Auseinandersetzung mit Naturgesetzen und ihrer historischen Entwicklung entstand.Die Entdeckung fundamentaler Naturgesetze hat das Schicksal von Homo sapiens bisher mehr beeinflusst als alles andere. Hat die moderne Physik diese Gesetze im Wesentlichen erkannt? Viele elementare R&#65533;tsel, welche Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac oder Erwin Schr&#65533;dinger formuliert hatten, sind bis heute ungel&#65533;st, insbesondere was die Bedeutung von Naturkonstanten betrifft. Hier wird die These vertreten, dass eine rationale Naturbeschreibung ohne solche willk&#65533;rlichen Konstanten auskommen muss.Eine systematische historische Analyse zeigt, dass das zugrunde liegende Problem der Physik noch fataler ist: Die Begriffe von Raum und Zeit selbst, seit Newton unangefochtene Grundlage jeder Naturwissenschaft, sind zur Beschreibung der Realit&#65533;t fundamental ungeeignet, obwohl sie der menschlichen Wahrnehmung so unmittelbar einleuchten.Ein neues Verst&#65533;ndnis der Realit&#65533;t kann sich nur aus der Mathematik ergeben. Mit der Erforschung der dreidimensionalen Einheitssph&#65533;re, welche die Begriffe von Raum uns Zeit ersetzen k&#65533;nnte, legt der Autor in anschaulicher Weise eine mathematische Vision dar, die den Weg zu einer neuen Auffassung der Realit&#65533;t weist.

Die mathematische Realität: Warum Raum und Zeit eine Illusion sind (German Edition)

Independently published

Auf dem Holzweg durchs Universum: Warum CERN & Co. der Physik nicht weiterhelfen (German Edition)

Die Physik ist bei der Jagd nach der Weltformel in eine Sackgasse geraten. Der Autor zeichnet nach, wie die theoretische Physik vom Weg abkam und nun mit immer größeren Spekulationsblasen in die Esoterik abdriftet. Witzig-bissig und mit unterhaltsamen Anekdoten, aber auch fundiert bis ins Detail nimmt er die heutige Physik aufs Korn und erinnert an die unbeantworteten Fragen, die die wirklichen Größen der Physik bewegt haben. Trotz oder gerade wegen der kritischen Töne ein faszinierendes und nachdenklich machendes Plädoyer für die Wissenschaft.

Vom Urknall zum Durchknall: Die absurde Jagd nach der Weltformel (German Edition)

Springer Spektrum

Make Physics Great Again: America has Failed

History

World

The Liquid Sun: A Coming Revolution in Astrophysics

The Mathematical Reality: Why Space and Time Are an Illusion

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