  This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory
and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical
review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six
decades of failed attempts at an autonomous S-matrix approach to particle
theory. The central message, contained in sections 5 and 6, is that string
theory is not what its name suggests, namely a theory of of objects in
spacetime whose localization is string- instead of point-like. Contrary to
popular opinion the oscillators corresponding to the Fourier models of a
quantum mechanical string do not cause a stringlike spatial extension of the
object under discussion and neither does the "range space" of a chiral
conformal QFT acquire the interpretation of string-like localized quantum
matter. Rather the superstring represents a solution of a problem which enjoyed
some popularity in the 60s: the construction of infinite component wave
function with a (realistic) mass/spin spectrum. The mass/spin tower "sits" over
one point and does not arise from a string in spacetime. The widespread
acceptance of a theory whose interpretation has been based on metaphoric
reasoning had a corroding influence on particle theory, a point which will be
illustrated in the last section with some remarks of a more sociological
nature.

Physics and Society;High Energy Physics - Theory