Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) Billah and Scanlan (1991) reported that in fact, many physics textbooks (for example Resnick et al. and Tipler et al.) wrongly explain that the cause of the failure of the Tacoma Narrows bridge was externally forced mechanical resonance. Resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at larger amplitudes at certain frequencies, known as the system's natural frequencies. At these frequencies, even relatively small periodic driving forces can produce large amplitude vibrations, because the system stores energy. For example, a child using a swing realizes that if the pushes are properly timed, the swing can move with a very
The Trouble with Physics in 2006 took place between UCSB physicists at KITP and science journalist George Johnson regarding the controversy caused by Smolin's and Peter Woit's books. The meeting was titled "The String Wars" to reflect the impression the media has given people regarding the controversy in string theory caused by Smolin's and Woit's books. A video of the proceedings is available at UCSB's website. The Trouble with Physics The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next is a 2006 book by the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin about the problems with string theory.