The World Within the World

by John D. Barrow

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Until recently "popular science" has produced neither rigorously scientific works nor especially popular ones. Only in the last three or four years have scientists begun to realize the field's full potential with books aimed at the intelligent non-scientist presenting more challenging subjects previously reserved for scholars. Still, none of these studies fully addresses the question of whether laws of Nature really exist and are just waiting to be discovered; or how the notion of laws of show more Nature arose and how they can be so well described by mathematics; or even how our own existence limits what we can learn about the Universe. John D. Barrow, renowned scientist and philosopher of science, fills the gap by responding to these and myriad other questions in this remarkably wide-ranging interdisciplinary study of the evolving concept of laws of Nature. Tackling the philosophical and theological problems raised by modern physics and mathematics, he goes well beyond the familiar ground of relativity and quantum theory. From the magical notions of primitive cultures to the latest ideas about chaos, black holes, inflation, and superstrings, he traces the gradual development of our understanding of what laws of Nature mean and how we have come to know them. Written in a serious but non-technical style, The World Within the World will fascinate scientists, philosophers, and general readers alike. show less

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38+ Works 6,151 Members
John D. Barrow is a scientist who writes accessibly about astrophysics and cosmology for both the general reader and the expert. Born in 1952, in London, England, Barrow earned a B.S. degree with first-class honors from the University of Durham in 1974. Three years later he received his doctorate from Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a junior show more research lecturer in astrophysics at Oxford University from 1977 to 1980 and became a lecturer in astronomy at the University of Sussex in Brighton in 1981. With coauthor Joseph Silk, Barrow published The Left Hand of Creation: The Origin and Evolution of the Expanding Universe in 1983. The book, which explains particle physics and its application to the creation and evolution of the universe, quickly won praise for its lucid style. Barrow delved further into this topic in 1994 with The Origin of the Universe. In this work he explored such questions as the possibility of extra dimensions to space, the beginning of time, and how human existence is part and parcel of the origin and composition of the universe. Barrow's other books include Pi and the Sky; Theories of Everything; and The World Within the World. He has also contributed many articles to such professional journals as New Scientist, Scientific American, and Nature. (Bowker Author Biography) John D. Barrow is research professor of mathematical sciences at Cambridge University. His previous books include "Between Inner & Outer Space", "The Universe That Discovered Itself", & "The Origin of the Universe". He lives in England. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
The World Within the World
Original publication date
1988
Epigraph
All these have never yet been seen--
But scientists who ought to know,
Assure us that they must be so . . .
Oh! let us never, never doubt
What nobody is sure about!

Hilaire Belloc


Art is a lie that lets us
recognize the truth.

Pablo Picasso


The art of writing is the art of applying
the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.

Mary Heaton Vorse
Dedication
To Lois and Louise
First words
Behind our ever-changing experiences of the world lies a changeless world of order and certainty, impartial to our actions and desires; a world of which we are a part, but upon which we can exert no discernible influence; a w... (show all)orld that cares not one whit whether its abstruse operations are intelligible to us, yet without which there would be no Cosmos and no life.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Whereof we cannot speak thereof we must be silent: this is the final sentence of the laws of Nature.

Classifications

Genres
Science & Nature, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Philosophy
DDC/MDS
500.2Natural sciences & mathematicsScienceNatural sciences and mathematicsPhysical sciences
LCC
QC24.5 .B37SciencePhysicsPhysicsGeneral
BISAC

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Languages
5 — English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
8