Just once it'd be nice if the author was somebody other than Brian Greene. Seems like he's the only advocate for string theory these days.
Yeah, well, string theory would get a lot more advocates if it would make a damn prediction we can actually test . I mean, if the point is to unify quantum mechanics with general relativity, shouldn't the string theorists look for any experimental domain where those two sets of physics will both operate, start predicting, and start testing? Problem is, at this point I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone say that st…
This is much easier said than done. Let's imagine that, for instance, the way to have gravity comport with the uncertainty principle starts with verifying the graviton doesn't exist, and that gravity is a non-discrete field effect (contrary to electric fields -- this is unlikely to be true or to help, but is an example of a statement we can evaluate for electric fields, which are similar but better understood). The experimental accuracy you would need for this is astounding, perhaps impossible except at exceptionally low temperatures or other extreme conditions.