"Burstein, Michael A - Reality Check" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burstein Michael A)

tell me now what this is all about, or do I still have to guess?"

She clasped her hands together. "I notice that most of your work is in the
field of lower energy interactions."

So she wasnТt planning to get directly to the point. "ThatТs right."

"May I ask why?"

"You know, IТm really not here for a job interview."

She unclasped her hands. "ItТs not an interview, IТm just curious."

David shrugged. "I find lower energies more interesting."

"Why?"

"Because the theories are actually verifiable by experiment, if you want to
know the truth. A lot of my colleagues have their heads lost in the clouds,
working on things like supersymmetry and string theory. ItТs already past
the point of technological impossibility. We would need an accelerator
running around the equator of the Moon to test some of their ideas." David
paused. "ThereТs also the anonymity problem."

"Anonymity?"

"Look around you," David said, sweeping his arm around. "High energy
physics has gotten bigger and bigger over the years. It used to be that a
group consisted of just a few scientists, all getting equal credit for the
work done. Now thereТs no way many of our theories can be verified without
huge experiments, requiring hundreds of scientists. How many co-authors did
you have on your last paper? Fifty? One hundred?"

Kristin looked over his shoulder. "IТm not really sure."

"My point exactly. I donТt want my name among a string of et. al.s."

Kristin seemed to consider that for a moment. "Pardon me for saying this,
but you donТt seem like the kind of person who needs to get so much
recognition for his work."

"Oh, IТm not an egotist. Its just that when I work on theories in lower
energies, I know that theyТre wholly mine. And when IТm working with my
experimental colleagues, I know that they can actually verify or disprove
my work. If I were working in higher energies, either IТd have to arrange
for time on the SSC, or else wait for an even larger collider to be built."
David knew that his comments might sound confrontational, but he didnТt
care. "I donТt see the point, frankly."

KristinТs only reaction was to smile. "Ironic, given what we brought you