Sabine Karin Doris Hossenfelder (born 18 September 1976) is a German theoretical physicist, author of popular-science books, and host of a YouTube channel.[7]
Hossenfelder was born in Frankfurt and earned a mathematics diploma from Goethe University Frankfurt in 1997.[1] She stayed on to complete a doctorate in theoretical physics in 2003; her dissertation, supervised by Horst Stöcker, studied microscopic black-hole production in models with large extra dimensions.[8]
Hossenfelder has written the popular-science blog Backreaction since 2006 and has contributed articles to Nature, New Scientist and Quanta Magazine.[7] Her first trade book, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray (Basic Books, 2018), argues that an aesthetic preference for mathematically "beautiful" theories has hindered progress in fundamental physics.[10] Her follow-up, Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions, was published by Viking in 2022.[11]
On YouTube, her channel reached 1.72 million subscribers and 293 million total views by April 2025.[6][12]
Hossenfelder's more recent content has received criticism for her attacks on academic research.[13][9] She has written op-eds in The Guardian and TheNew York Times critiquing particle physics and the search for hypothesized particles using colliders. She also rejects string theory.[14][15] In her videos, she attacks aspects of theoretical physics research and accuses her colleagues of misleading the public or lacking academic integrity. Critics contend that her presentation of these topics may encourage conspiratorial thinking and undermine both the perceived legitimacy of physics as a discipline and public trust in science more broadly.[13][12]
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