E. Brian Davies

Mathematician Davies briefly weighs in on certain aspects of the philosophy of science and math. I was okay with his arguing that people should use different worldviews (not just the worldview derived from physics) in different contexts, but not with his countenancing of theology as a big part of the discussion. He is no fan of "wacky" speculations in fundamental science and futurology, or of Platonism in mathematics; in the latter context, pluralism is his preferred alternative. I skipped the last quarter of the book because it is permeated with theo-talk.… (more)

Books this dense intended for the general public ought to be printed in a larger typeface. Actually, I never did figure out how the author pictured his public. He started each subject at a grade school level, and moved quickly to graduate school. Generally there was an area between the 'I've heard this many times, and you aren't saying anything new about it' and the 'you've left me far behind area', where the subject was actually interesting. There were a few really interesting tidbits here and there, but I never flet that he knew where he wanted the book to go.… (more)