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| | Guardian Unlimited | Life | String fellows |
 | | In his role as de facto scientist-in-chief of string theory, Witten, the Charles Simonyi professor of mathematical physics at the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, is undoubtedly the heir to Albert Einstein's title of greatest living physicist. |
 | | Incidentally, the M was left undefined by Witten and string theorists have spent many an idle hour speculating what it could stand for: they have come up with a range of possibilities including matrix, muffin, mystery, murky, membrane, monstrous, mother or magic - some scientists believe it is an upside down W for Witten. |
 | | Witten can indulge even his most esoteric ideas, a freedom afforded, in part, by the IAS, an almost unique research institute based in what looks like a serene stately home in front of an 800-acre forest in Princeton. |
| www.guardian.co.uk /life/feature/story/0,13026,1393722,00.html (2091 words) |
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