<The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the
Twilight of the Scientific Age> Helix Books, Addison-Wesley 1996
by the SciAm staff writer John Horgan. On the cover, there is a
quote from E.O. Wilson: "A hugely entertaining book, certain to
create controversy". I haven't finished reading it yet but so
far I wholeheartedly agree with both assessments, entertaining
and very controversial.
The theme of the book is well stated by the subtitle. It is divided
into ten chapters dealing with various scientific disciplines.
Also included are chapters on philosophy, mathematics and even
"scientific theology". There is also an epilogue entitled "The
Terror of God".
But what really makes the book interesting and entertaining is Horgan's
approach of treating each topic by way of candid interviews with
various scientists. From the jacket flap: "Horgan displays his genius
for getting these larger-than-life figures to be simply human ..."
Each of the chapters is divided into several sections with each section
dealing primarily with one individual. The section on Dawkins, entitled
"Richard Dawkins, Darwin's Greyhound" was interesting. Horgan gave some
quotes from a question/answer period following one of Dawkin's lectures
which paints Dawkins as cold, harsh and condescending. What really
convinced me to buy the book, despite being put on a book budget by
my wife ;-), was the title for the section on Gould: "Stephen J.
Gould's view of life: shit happens" ;-).
One of the first sections I read was one dealing with "limitology"
and the work of Gregory Chaitin. The setting was a seminar held
at the Santa Fe Institute dealing with the limits of science.
Here are a few interesting quotes:
"I can't define my wife, but I can recognize her."
-- E. Atlee Jackson, regarding the problems with defining things
"To be is to classify is to act, all of which means throwing
away information. So just the act of knowing requires
ignorance" -- Stuart Kauffman ;
about which Horgan wrote: "His audience looked simultaneously
impressed and annoyed" ;-)
"Physicists know that every equation is a lie" -- Gregory Chaitin
to which someone from the crowd replied "Art is a lie that
helps us see the truth" -- Picasso
"This, I thought, is the major problem of philosophy: no one
really _wants_ to see philosophical problems solved, because
then they will have nothing to talk about" -- John Horgan
"I think what Ralph is saying is that it is easier to create
the future than to predict it." -- Joseph Traub
=== From a subsequent interview with Chaitin:
"I think we know very little, and I hope we know very little,
because then it will be much more fun" -- Gregory Chaitin
"If everybody starts taking heroin and gets depressed and
watches TV all the time, you know we're not going to get
very far." -- Gregory Chaitin
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Brian Harper | "I can't take my guesses back
Associate Professor | That I based on almost facts
Applied Mechanics | That ain't necessarily so"
Ohio State University | -- Willie Nelson
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