  This is a completely reformulated presentation of a previous paper with the
same title; this time with a much stronger emphasis on conceptual aspects of
string theory and a detailed review of its already more than four decades
lasting history within a broader context, including some little-known details.
Although there have been several books and essays on the sociological impact
and its philosophical implications, there is yet no serious attempt to
scrutinize its claims about particle physics using the powerful conceptual
arsenal of contemporary local quantum physics. I decided to leave the previous
first version on the arXiv because it may be interesting to the reader to
notice the change of viewpoint and the reason behind it. Other reasons for
preventing my first version to go into print and to rewrite it in such a way
that its content complies with my different actual viewpoint can be found at
the end of the article. The central message, contained in sections 5 and 6, is
that string theory is not what string theorists think and claim it is. The
widespread acceptance of a theory whose interpretation has been obtained by
metaphoric reasoning had a corroding influence on the rest of particle physics
theory as will be illustrated in several concrete cases. The work is dedicated
to the memory of Juergen Ehlers with whom I shared many critical ideas, but
their formulation in this essay is fully within my responsibility.
