I believe to be in the position of explaining the reasons for the creation of the string theory. Also, of giving the gist of it, and of showing how wrong it is.

Most surprisingly, all this is derived from the "problem" of the physical law of inverse squares, with its cleverly deceiving logarithmical "infinite attraction." I will show the wrong way this problem was approached, and how the right interpretation opens a new world of understanding.

The problem facing physicists attempting to figure out the shape of nuclear particles stemmed from their wrong interpretation of the concept of "point." The error actually was born when Euclides defined the line as a succession of points. This is true, if the mind thinks of a line drawn by a person. But 'line' actually should be conceptualized as a Platonic Idea, not as the Aristotelian almost infinite number of possible drawn lines.

Think of a line 4 cm. long, and signal its middle, at 2 cm. Would you mark that distance with a pencil, or would you consider that there is no "point" there, but an intuitive boundary? Could you slice the line in exactly two pieces with the sharpest possible knife? And the center of a perfect sphere: is it possible to mark it, or is it just a conceptual image? Thus, when physicists started to talk of particles not as objects but as "points," they committed the first error.

Then came the law of inverse squares: The degree of electrical attraction between two oppositely charged elements, and also of gravitationally attracted bodies, varies inversely with the square of their distance. If the distance decreases by half, from 8 to 4, the attraction is incresed not by two, but by four. Keep decreasing by halfs, and the attraction keeps increasing by 4, yet never reaching a finite number. Meaning that there will never be a complete approach. This is an example of 'Zeno's paradoxes.' Yet, infinite does not exist in physics, but only in numbers, because numbers are not absolutes, as letters aren't either.

Therefore, in physics, in contrast with simple mathematics, the possibility of keeping the halving of distance forever is inexistent: there is a physical limit to that halving. And that limit has an entirely logical explanation. Zeno's trick was to apply a law valid for mutual attraction, to a situation where Achilles had to overrun the turtoise. Had he been attracted to its center of gravity, then he would have been stuck to its carapace...

Actually, the physicists said that the two mutually attracting bodies would reach a distance of 0, which now made the situation really bad, because whatever formula where 0 is a divisor will result in an horizontally elongated 8, which is "infinite." One could argue, well, intuitively, that when the two objects touch, they have arrived at their maximum possible attraction, which could now be considered as "infinite." But that's not the way mathematics work. Galileo said that mathematics is the language of physics. I differ from him by not being astronomer, physicist, or mathematician, yet as a philosopher I have repeteadly stated that mathematics is not a science but a discipline, and that it is the "core" or "heart" of physics. Therefore, absolute mathematical equations must be taken at their word. In that sense, the two bodies cannot diminish their distance to 0!

Of course, when you think of an apple "falling," you know that it actually is "attracted." Yet it is still far away from the center of the earth, where their mass' attraction converge. Suppose you manage to let the apple continue its voyage to that center. Would it reach it? Of course not, because the distance cannot be 0. This means that the center of the earth, and of all "gravity objects" (celestial bodies) is empty, and so should be all nuclear particles when they become independent objects.

Such empty space is dependent on the mass of the gravitational body, and its inner constitution. The earth's core is made of molten iron and nickel. One could posit that as the iron is nearer to the "center of gravity," it swirls faster, until reaching a limit where it constitutes the boundary with the "central emptiness."
The logic behind all this is that the center of gravity of the apple or ay other matter cannot arrive at the center af gravity of the earth. In a like fashion, the center of gravity of Achilles would never reach the turtle's center of gravity, if that had been Zeno's "paradox"s idea, which was not.

Physicists were lead astray by the idea of points: particles are points, they said, and the infiniteness inherent to the law of inverse squares is a pain in the neck. Came Feynman, and said, they are not points, but elongated structures, yes, that's right, they are strings!" Better if they are looped strings, because then there is a neutralization of forces in the loop's center.
Interesting, I say, because that latter image coincides with my idea of a central emptiness...

It so happens that strings are actually a series of points, and if Feynman had not died prematurely, he would probably be his theory's most ardent opposer. But the inertia of the theory has carried it forward, in an exercise in futility.

Particles are not points, and do not have to be strings: they are very small objects, with a hole in their center, determined by swirling components!

Yesterday, 3 Jan 2000, I traveled to Jerusalem to attended international lectures on String Theory. It was interesting to realize that the experts were not familiar with the name Zeno, nor were they conversant with the "problem of the infinites." I can safely state that only I have solved the 2,600 years-old "paradox" and that I appear to know quite better the reason behind the theory. Otherwise, I did not understand a thing about the lectures.