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

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

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

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

by Michael Brooks

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Overview

“Engaging . . . touches on advanced computing, essential differences between men and women, the power of the will to live, mysteries of the cosmos and more.” —The Washington Post
 
The atom. The Big Bang. DNA. Natural selection. All are ideas that revolutionized science—and all were dismissed out of hand when they first ap­peared. 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 physi­ological root of consciousness. Along the way, he examines the gender im­balance in clinical trials, explores how merging hu­mans 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.
 
“Absorbing . . . scintillating . . . the edgy edge of scientific investigation presented with verve.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Mind-bending . . . Brooks handily works his way through these thorny problems, highlighting current research and researchers along the way.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781468311594
Publisher: ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date: 08/16/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 301
Sales rank: 487,238
File size: 924 KB
Age Range: 18 Years

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 forNew Statesman.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Triumph of the zombie killers 11

The science of consciousness has risen from the grave

2 The crowded pinnacle 33

Human beings are nothing special

3 The chimera era 56

We are ready to make a whole new kind of creature

4 The gene genie 76

There's more to life than DNA

5 Different for girls 100

Men and women all in very different ways

6 Will to live 120

Your mind has power in your body

7 Correlations in creation 143

Biology is putting quantum weirdness to work

8 The reality machine 163

Our universe is a computer, and we are the programmers

9 Complicating the cosmos 186

Our story of creation is far from complete

10 Hypercomputing 209

Alan Turing had another good idea

11 Clocking off 231

Time is an illusion

Epilogue 254

Acknowledgements 261

Notes 262

Index 283

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher


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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