Physicist Edward Witten on M-Theory, the leading contender for a ‘theory of everything’.

The Life Scientific returns with a special episode from the USA; Princeton, New Jersey, to be precise.

Here, the Institute for Advanced Study has hosted some of the greatest scientific minds of our time – Einstein was one of its first Professors, J. Robert Oppenheimer its longest-serving director – and today’s guest counts among them.

Edward Witten is Professor Emeritus at the Institute and the physicist behind M-Theory, a leading contender for what is commonly referred to as ‘the theory of everything’, uniting quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity.

He talks to Jim Al-Khalili about a career that’s spanned some of the most exciting periods in modern theoretical physics – and about one particular problem that’s both obsessed and eluded him since his days as a student…

Produced by Lucy Taylor.

Source: BBC Radio 4 – The Life Scientific, Edward Witten on ‘the theory of everything’