Six of today's greatest thinkers take on a plethora of issues and unanswered questions of late twentieth-century science, such as the boundaries of scientific inquiry, the possibility of conducting studies of creativity, and other topics.
This indeed…
Heisenberg’s non-technical writings on physics have always been notable for a strong sense of the history of the subject, and for a clear perception of the impact of modern discoveries on time-honoured philosophical disputes. The essays in this…
The surprising truth behind many of the most cherished ""facts"" in science history
Morse invented the telegraph, Bell the telephone, Edison the light bulb, and Marconi the radio . . . right? Well . . . the truth is slightly more complicated. The…
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its…
The scientists in this collection of interviews are explorers. They have changed the rules of the game - altered our perception of reality and the language used to describe it. "There are two kinds of scientists, " says Luc Montagnier, interviewed in…
Where does our fascination with the Apocalypse come from? Is time cyclical or linear? Can society survive without ideology? Can children be philosophers? Four great witnesses of our closing century examine our preoccupations at the end of this…
The physical sciences are not obscure, nor are the phenomena they explain. We see the wonders of nature and the symmetry beneath, but these are often framed in strange symbols and concepts. Roger Newton's account of how physicists understand the…
The very notion of scientific truth is in question. This book aims to offer a constructive response to those who contend that there is no such thing as verifiable objective truth - without which there could be no scientific authority. The reader is…
Physical scientists are problem solvers. They are comfortable "doing" science: they find problems, solve them, and explain their solutions. Roger Newton believes that his fellow physicists might be too comfortable with their roles as solvers of…