Okay so this is one thing that boils me about quanta magazine. The authors obviously have enough background in mathematics to know the nature of the field, yet they do these very long winded, vague intros, which serve to mystify the subject and build it up. That is a major disservice to the knowledge itself. Sure you can't drop the mathematical definitions in the front, but your thesis paragraph can say least say the names of the major branches you're unifying without having to read half the article. Holy moley, everything is written to waste our attention on suspense and it's driving me wild. Where's the dry but laymen-approachable math and physics publication at? Oh yeah that doesn't sell time in the face of ads.