Sometimes the most important step one can take in science is back.
Thus, the goal of The Singular Universe and The Reality of Time is to take a giant philosophical step back and see if a new and more promising direction can be found. For the two thinkers, such a new direction can be spelled out in three bold claims about the world.
Source: Has Physics Gotten Something Really Important Really Wrong? : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR
RE: The Singular Universe and The Reality of Time, by physicist Lee Smolin and philosopher Roberto Unger
Science is corrupted when it abandons the discipline of empirical validation or dis-confirmation. It is also weakened when it mistakes its assumptions for facts and its ready-made philosophy for the way things are.
— physicist Lee Smolin and philosopher Roberto Unger