Impossibility : the limits of science and the science of limits
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Impossibility : the limits of science and the science of limits
Oxford University Press, 1998
- : hbk
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780195130829
Description
In Impossibility, John D. Barrow--one of our most elegant and accomplished science writers--argues convincingly that there are limits to human discovery, that there are things that are ultimately unknowable, undoable, or unreachable. Barrow first examines the limits of the human mind: our brain evolved to meet the demands of our immediate environment, and much that lies outside this small circle may also lie outside our understanding. He investigates practical impossibilities, such as those imposed by complexity, uncomputability, or the finiteness of time, space, and resources. Is the universe finite or infinite? Can information be transmitted faster than the speed of light? The book also examines deeper theoretical restrictions on our ability to know, including Godel's theorem, which proved that there were things that could not be proved. Finally, having explored the limits imposed on us from without, Barrow considers whether there are limits we should impose upon ourselves. Weaving together this intriguing tapestry, Barrow illuminates some of the most profound questions of science, from the possibility of time travel to the very structure of the universe.
- Volume
-
: hbk ISBN 9780198518907
Description
What can we never do? The end of each century leads to a stocktaking of human achievement and our expectations about the future. This work looks at what limits there might be to human discovery and what we might find, ultimately, to be unknowable, undoable, or unthinkable. Science is a big success story, but where will it end? And indeed, will it end? Weaving together a tapestry of surprises, Barrow explores the frontiers of knowledge. We find that the notion of "impossibility" has played a striking role in our thinking. Surrealism, impossible figures, time travel, paradoxes of logic and perspective, theological speculations about Beings for whom nothing is impossible - all stimulate us to contemplate something more than what is. Why should we find anything impossible? We explore the limits that may be imposed upon a full understanding of the physical Universe by limits of technology, computers, cost, and complexity. We ask why it is that the process of biological evolution should have equipped us to understand the deep structure of the Universe. We see how the Universe's structure prevents us from answering the deepest questions about its beginning, its structure, and its future.
And finally, we delve into the deep limits imposed by the nature of knowledge itself. These deep limits have profound implications for any quest for complete knowledge. They take us into the debates over the problems of free will and consciousness. Godel's famous theorem about our inability to capture the truths of mathematics by rules and axioms is explored to see if it has any implications for science. Using simple explanations, the text demonstrates that impossibility is a deep and powerful notion; that any Universe complex enough to contain conscious beings will contain limits on what those beings can know about their Universe; that what we cannot know defines reality as surely as what we can know. Impossibility is a two-edged sword: it threatens the completeness of the scientific enterprise yet without it there would be no laws of Nature, no science, and no scientists.
Table of Contents
- The art of the impossible
- the hope of progress
- back to the future
- being human
- techological limits
- cosmological limits
- deep limits
- impossibility and us
- impossibility - taking stock.
by "Nielsen BookData"
