The word 'universe' is obviously not intended to have a plural, but science has evolved in such a way that we need a plural noun for something similar to what we ordinarily call our universe.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the concept of the universe and how scientific understanding has led to the need for a broader terminology.
Leonard Susskind's quote highlights the evolution of scientific thought and the limitations of traditional language. As science progresses, especially in the realm of cosmology and theoretical physics, our understanding of the universe expands, necessitating the use of a plural term to describe multiple universes or dimensions that might exist beyond the observable universe. This points to the expanding boundaries of knowledge and the challenges of accurately describing complex scientific concepts.
In practice
In a scientific conference discussing the theories of multiverses.
Extra dimensional theories are sometimes considered science fiction with equations. I think that's a wrong attitude. I think extra dimensions are with us, they are with us to stay, and they entered physics a long time ago. They are not going to go away.
A lot of my research time is spent daydreaming - telling an imaginary admiring audience of laymen how to understand some difficult scientific idea.
Man - life in general - seems irrelevant to the workings of the universe: a mere smudge of water, grease, and carbon on a pinpoint planet circling a star of no special consequence.
I was going to engineering school but fell in love with physics.
Why is there space rather than no space? Why is space three-dimensional? Why is space big? We have a lot of room to move around in. How come it's not tiny? We have no consensus about these things. We're still exploring them.
Science reserves the highest reward for those of you who disprove our most cherished beliefs. At any moment someone from any walk of life could come forward and be responsible for a complete revision of our view of everything.
It now appears that the way the universe began can indeed be determined, using imaginary time.
Where ignorance lurks, so too do the frontiers of discovery and imagination
Physics filled me with awe, put me in touch with a sense of original causes. Physics brought me closer to God. That feeling stayed with me throughout my years in science. Whenever one of my students came to me with a scientific project, I asked only one question, 'Will it bring you nearer to God?'
I have come to the conclusion that Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programme.
I hope I have helped to raise the profile of science and to show that physics is not a mystery but can be understood by ordinary people.
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