"Origins" reveals the human being within the scientist in a study of the philosophical, personal, and social factors that enter into the scientific process. Twenty-seven active cosmologists--including Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, Steven Weinberg, Vera Rubin, Allan Sandage, Margaret Geller, and Alan Guth--talk candidly about their childhoods and early influences, their motivations, prejudices, and worldviews. The book's lucid introduction traces the explosion of new ideas that has recently shaken cosmological thinking. "Origins" explores not just the origin of the universe but also the origins of scientific thought.
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Review:
It's the very messiness of life in the trenches of cosmology that makes "Origins" so useful. Forced to face the limits of science, many of [the authors'] interview subjects speak revealingly about the prejudices, the beliefs, and the aesthetic preferences that help shape their views of the universe...When asked: What kind of universe would you design, if you could have any kind at all? Most of the cosmologists suddenly sparkle. -- James Gleick "The Atlantic"
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- ISBN 10 0674184831
- ISBN 13 9780674184831
- BindingHardcover
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Rating