Space and time Launceston Grammar alumnus (1974) Professor Bill Spence is the founding Director of the Centre for Research in String Theory at Queen Mary University of London. He has recently published a book Everything is Now: Revolutionary Ideas from String Theory.
Professor David Tong, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge is quoted as saying that, ‘String theory is often paraded as a theory of everything, but there are a large number of untold stories in which string theory gives us insight into other areas of physics. Bill Spence does an excellent job of explaining the deep connections between string theory, particle physics, and the novel way of viewing space and time.’ News from Launceston Grammar caught up with Professor Spence recently. Q. Tell us about the journey which led you to the Queen Mary University of London? A. I knew early on that I wanted to go and study the theories about the universe – relativity and quantum mechanics. There was only one university in Australia that had a specialised department for this – the Australian National University (ANU). After studying at ANU I came to the UK; the universities have excellent people from all around the world. I did a PhD at King’s College London with an up-and-coming researcher who wasn’t
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much older than I was. I subsequently went to Queen Mary when the inventor of string theory, Prof Michael Green, recruited me. A little later I founded a new research centre at Queen Mary and with colleagues recruited a wonderful group of bright young people. It has been a real pleasure working there for most of my career. Q. With three decades researching string theory, what does it mean for you to have Everything is Now: Revolutionary Ideas from String Theory published? A. For the third decade you mention (age creeps up on you!) I had been in leadership positions in my university – lastly as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor. After that I took a sabbatical to get back into research, and during this decided to write about the latest results that were coming out. I aimed the book at a general audience and kept it short so people could hopefully get some of the basic ideas more easily. It is always a pleasure to write about something that you find interesting, and I was fortunate to have that opportunity.
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