This all-encompassing framework would explain the most basic building blocks of matter and all the forces of nature. It would lay to rest lingering questions left by Einstein and offer a clearer understanding of the origins of the universe. One theorist blurts out an adequate rendition of the popular Latin tune on his trumpet. Scores of hands reach out.
Hands tap the backs of heads.
Then, still in unison, some of science's sharpest minds jiggle their behinds. Three other equally cryptic verses pay whimsical tribute to Juan Maldacena, a young Harvard professor from Argentina whose insights recently sent new waves of excitement through the cerebral group. It was a light interlude in the heavy week of the Strings '98 Conference, an annual gathering of scientists like Maldacena who work on the frontier of physics known as string theory. The international conference was in Amsterdam last year and will be held next in Germany. Even the participants in the conference will tell you that string theory, like much of the new science, is not an easy one to get a grip on.