World Famous Comics: What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty
What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty
By: John Brockman Publisher: Harper Perennial Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Harper Perennial Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 272 Publication Date: March 01, 2006 Release Date: February 28, 2006
More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proof
Scientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith. Some of the most potent beliefs among brilliant minds are based on supposition alone -- yet that is enough to push those minds toward making the theory viable.
Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors.
Thought-provoking and hugely compelling, this collection of bite-size thought-experiments is a fascinating insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.
Bright Spots One of the things I like best about this book is the title. It is a reminder for those of us who put great faith in the achievements of science that, fundamentally, there are things that we believe about our work that we cannot prove. That should be a wake-up call to certain people that there are elements of faith in all endeavors. Perhaps that would make us more compassionate towards people who do not believe as we do.
That aside, as a book, this one has its pleasures and problems. The main pleasure is to hear emminent scientists speculate about things in their field--some humbly, some more brashly, but all with a great respect for what they do. It is always wonderful to hear people talk about things they really love, whether you agree with them or not. It is also interesting to see that great minds often differ in their feelings about where science will ultimately lead us. Again, it reminds us that science, self-correcting as it is, knowledge-widening as it is, by no means generates universal agreement, even among its practitioners. Most of the articles are quite brief, being at most a few pages, so a reader rarely gets overwhelmed or bogged down, even if one is not familiar with the ideas being discussed.
On the other hand, there are some themes hit upon repeatedly by the writers here that the repitition gets somewhat boring. I almost put the book down after the first 50 pages because reading about whether or not God exists or if there is life (intelligent or otherwise) somewhere else in the universe are old questions covered better elsewhere. However, things got better as the book went on (except for a brief digression into the mind/body problem), and some of the writers here addressed some questions I found very interesting, some outrageous and some that got me thinking, which is the highest compliment I can give.
Overall, it may not be a great book, but it's easy to read and has enough bright spots to make it worthwhile.
Great question...but same answer. Cool book, fast read. For some reason I had an expectation that there would be more 'Sagan-esque where science and spirit meet' (a la Contact) type answers and instead it seemed like a book edited by Madelyn O'Hair...but I really found it very interesting. Lots of the answers were so close though that I would have liked to see them culled but still I'd recommend it.
Sex For The Brain I have always enjoyed speculating about what might be possible. When considering the boundless scope of nature I realize that there are so many interesting questions to be asked and ideas to consider, that's why I enjoyed this book so much. Reading what top scientist and other distinguished authors believe but can not prove was such a pleasurable mental experience, it was like sex for the brain.
Good but not great As a scientist I approached this book with a lot of expectations. I wanted to know what the greatest minds in science believe but cannot prove. I was expecting a lot of cutting edge topics and revolutionary ideas. Yes, there are some pieces that fulfilled and even exceeded my expectations, but there were also others that I couldn't even get past the first paragraph. I guess it is always difficult to put together a book with so many contributors and the result is always going to be a mix of, in this case, brilliant ideas and not so surprising monologues.
I believe I like "What is your most dangerous idea" better Some interesting ideas on the concept and philosophy of "What we believe but Cannot Prove". Essays from top scientists on topics such as Consciousness (is there such a thing, does language bring it about?), quantum mechanics (is the electron composed of any smaller particles?), astronomy (is there more than one universe), time (is everything predetermined) just to name a few from memory. I had gotten this book because i enjoyed "What is your most dangerous idea" so much from the same "edge dot com" group/ editor. I wasn't as into this book I believe because "What is your most dangerous idea" was just more interesting and similar. Some topics overlap. For example this book may have the argument that they believe consciousness does not exist while "dangerous idea" will have the dangerous idea that the soul does not exist. (This book did come out before "what is your most dangerous idea"). Some great ideas in here regardless to ponder.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
