Edward Witten

Reading Physics I came across this gentleman who among physicists has been thought to be the next Einstein. His work in Superstring Theory, Quarks and Black Holes has made him a 'name' in his field. He's like David Letterman to the talk show host circuit, or say Pavarotti to the Opera Crowd. One day we may know Physics so that when asked we might mention the leading physicist of the day rather than think, just Einstein and Newton, not that either of those were a slouch. But it's a tendency we have when things are in our face. Who would have known that John Lennon would be who he was when he was playing strip clubs but today he and McCartney are who they are. Edward Witten is that 'guy' in physics. What I like about him is that he's readable, like Einstein. His articles are not just for physicists but are understandable to the college educated not just the mathematical elite. He's made sense of the 26 dimentional world of string theory with an idea called "M-Theory". Not explaining the "M" in the word, it's been said to stand for 'membrane'. Now being biologically minded, I just have to love a physicist who thinks organically.

http://www.sns.ias.edu/~witten/