At the Edge of Uncertainty: 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise - Hardcover

Brooks, Michael

3.92

780 ratings by Goodreads

9781468310597: At the Edge of Uncertainty: 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1468310593 ISBN 13: 9781468310597

Publisher: Abrams Press, 2015

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The atom. The Big Bang. DNA. Natural selection. All are ideas that have revolutionized science―and all were dismissed out of hand when they first ap�peared. The surprises haven’t stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, bestselling author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery. Brooks takes us to the extreme frontiers of what we understand about the world. He journeys from the observations that might rewrite our story of how the cosmos came to be, through the novel biology behind our will to live, and on to the physi�ological root of consciousness. Along the way, he examines how it’s time to redress the gender im�balance in clinical trials, explores how merging hu�mans with other species might provide a solution to the shortage of organ donors, and finds out whether the universe really is like a computer or if the flow of time is a mere illusion.

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About the Author:

Michael Brooks, who holds a PhD in quantum physics, is the author of Free Radicals and 13 Things that Don’t Make Sense. He is a consultant at New Scientist and has a biweekly column for New Statesman.

Review:

"Brooks details research being conducted on the extreme frontiers of science...in this absorbing piece of reportage...scintillating... the edgy edge of scientific investigation presented with verve." —Kirkus

"Brooks highlights numerous areas of research that give pause to many scientists and throw lay readers into confusion in this challenging and mind-bending work. This confusion follows in no part from Brooks's skills as a writer and explicator of science, but from topics that are difficult to face, whether it be the philosophical morass of human/animal tissue combinations called "chimera" or the startling finding that time as we experience it may well be an illusion. Brooks handily works his way through these thorny problems, highlighting current research and researchers along the way." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Physicist and writer Michael Brooks wants readers to take a new look at things we think we already understand, and he has an engaging way of making his point...His book touches on advanced computing, essential differences between men and women, the power of the will to live, mysteries of the cosmos and more...The book can leave your brain feeling “battered and bruised,” Brooks writes. But he hopes that you, like the ever-questing scientists he applauds, will want to know more." —Washington Post

Praise for Free Radicals:

“An exuberant tour through the world of scientists behaving badly.” —The New York Times

“Fascinating . . . Free Radicals reminds readers that scientific advances sometimes require creativity and vision.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

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