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Appendix B - History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Carlo Rovelli
Affiliation:
Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille
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Summary

In this appendix I sketch the main lines of development of the research in quantum gravity, from the first explorations in the early 1930s (the thirties) to nowadays.

I have no ambition of presenting complete references to all the important works on the subject; some of the references are to original works, others to reviews where references can be found. Errors and omissions are unfortunately unavoidable and I apologize for these. I have made my best efforts to be balanced, but in a field that has not yet succeeded in finding consensus, my perspective is obviously subjective. Trying to write history in the middle of the developments is hard. Time will pass, dust will settle, and it will slowly become clear if we are right, if some of us are right, or – a possibility never to disregard – if we all are wrong.

I am very much indebted to the many friends that have contributed to this historical perspective. I am particularly grateful to John Stachel, Augusto Sagnotti, Gary Horowitz, Ludwig Faddeev, Alejandro Corichi, Jorge Pullin, Lee Smolin, Joy Christian, Bryce DeWitt, Cecile DeWitt, Giovanni Amelino-Camelia, Daniel Grumiller, Nikolaos Mavromatos, Stanley Deser, Ted Newman and Gennady Gorelik.

Three main directions

The quest for quantum gravity can be separated into three main lines of research. The relative weight of these lines has changed, there have been important intersections and connections between the three, and there has been research that does not fit into any of the three lines. Nevertheless, the three lines have maintained a distinct individuality across 70 years of research.

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Quantum Gravity , pp. 393 - 414
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • History
  • Carlo Rovelli, Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille
  • Book: Quantum Gravity
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755804.015
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  • History
  • Carlo Rovelli, Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille
  • Book: Quantum Gravity
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755804.015
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • History
  • Carlo Rovelli, Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille
  • Book: Quantum Gravity
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755804.015
Available formats
×