What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty (Edge Question Series)

There are some fun-to-read essays on the nature of consciousnes, cosmos, biology, religion. Time travel and carbon based life excluded. The book is packed with short contributions from neuroscientists, computer scientists and psychologists. The essays on computer-science were a bit complex and hard to follow for non-experts. On page 199 there is an essay concerning the value of future predictions on society. The author holds the opinion that social science disciplines and humaniora contribute little of value to our understanding of the world or even their own research fields. And further below: A history professor is no more of a scholar than a cabdriver is. No example is given to substantiate these claims, except illfounded predictions on how the stock market will look next year. I think we all can agree that social science is not fortune telling, nor is it ment to be, at least when we're dealing with serious research. I find it strange that none of the other reviews have made this point. Stranger still is the inclusion of a somewhat ill-informed and insulting text-piece in a book concerning the edge of knowledge. "Brilliant thinkers" are not only restricted to experimental science.

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.

Publishers Weekly

The title's question was posed on Edge.org (an online intellectual clearing house), challenging more than 100 intellectuals of every stripe-from Richard Dawkins to Ian McEwan-to confess the personal theories they cannot demonstrate with certainty. The results, gathered by literary agent and editor Brockman, is a stimulating collection of micro-essays (mainly by scientists) divulging many of today's big unanswered questions reaching across the plane of human existence. Susan Blackmore, a lecturer on evolutionary theory, believes "it is possible to live happily and morally without believing in free will," and Daniel Goleman believes children today are "unintended victims of economic and technological progress." Other beliefs are more mundane and one is highly mathematically specific. Many contributors open with their discomfort at being asked to discuss unproven beliefs, which itself is an interesting reflection of the state of science. The similarity in form and tone of the responses makes this collection most enjoyable in small doses, which allow the answers to spark new questions and ideas in the reader's mind. It's unfortunate that the tone of most contributions isn't livelier and that there aren't explanations of some of the more esoteric concepts discussed; those limitations will keep these adroit musings from finding a wider audience. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"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, 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." "This collection of bite-size thought-experiments is an insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today." "Here is Ian McEwan on absence of an afterlife; Richard Dawkins on the relationship between design and evolution; and Jared Diamond on when humans first reached the Americas. Other contributions from luminaries like Steven Pinker, Daniel C. Bennett, John Horgan, and Sir Martin Rees span the whole range of scientific endeavor and human experience, from the future of computing to the origins of intelligence, from insights into childhood behavior to cutting edge cosmology."--BOOK JACKET "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 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. Here is Ian McEwan on the absence of an afterlife; Richard Dawkins on the relationship between design and evolution; and Jared Diamond on when humans first reached the Americas. Other contributions from luminaries like Steven Pinker, Daniel C. Dennett, John Horgan, and Sir Martin Rees span the whole range of scientific endeavor and human experience, from the future of computing to the origins of intelligence, from insights into childhood behavior to cutting-edge cosmology"--Page 4 of cover I believe that intelligent life may presently be unique to our Earth but has the potential to spread throughout the galaxy and beyond it-indeed, the emergence of complexity could be near its beginning.