Math major, here. I agree with you 100%. It isn’t only physics that has driven mathematical advancements over the centuries. Even a careful reader could get that impression from this article.
But mathematicians have done pretty well on their own, no? Physics has been important, no doubt about that. But more important than math has been to physics? No. Definitely not.
I’d say it’s about even: Each has greatly benefitted the other.
There was a second question I wanted to run by you.
I’m not in the least a STEM major. Rather from reading the article, I took the intuitive leap to say that about the time that mathematicians create unified quantum field theory—physicists will have the tools they need to make warp drive.
I have a more modest question for you.
Would creating a unified quantum field theory enable physicist to better understand how to make a warp drive?
Sounds crazy but I’ve seen early work on this already.