Boundaries and Barriers
On the Limits of Scientific Knowledge
Perseus Books (Publisher)
Published on 15. September 1996
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-201-55570-7 (ISBN)
Description
Are there scientific problems that cannot be solved? Mathematics is riddled with such problems, but can we pose analogous questions outside of mathematics? Does nature itself impose fundamental limits on our knowledge of the universe? Despite the work of some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, no one really knows. In May 1995 this profound and far-reaching concern brought together a small but select group of scientists in a remote scientific outpost in Abisko, Sweden, a village far north of the Arctic Circle. Boundaries and Barriers captures the spiritand the contentof the talks given at the meeting. }Are there scientific problems that cannot be solved? Mathematics is riddled with such problems, but can we pose analogous questions outside of mathematics? Does nature itself impose fundamental limits on our knowledge of the universe? Despite the work of some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, no one really knows. In May 1995 this profound and far-reaching concern brought together a small but select group of scientists in a remote scientific outpost in Abisko, Sweden, a village far north of the Arctic Circle.
Boundaries and Barriers captures the spiritand the contentof the talks given at the meeting. Included are contributions by John Barrow on the limits of science, John Casti on the search for the unknowable in science, James Hartle on quantum cosmology, Harold Morowitz on complexity and epistemology, and six more fascinating chapters that illuminate the possible limits to what we can know by using the tools of science. The issues discussed here challenge the very foundations of science, but the conclusions are optimistic. When the dust clears, science remains standing-our best bet for understanding the way the world works. }
Boundaries and Barriers captures the spiritand the contentof the talks given at the meeting. Included are contributions by John Barrow on the limits of science, John Casti on the search for the unknowable in science, James Hartle on quantum cosmology, Harold Morowitz on complexity and epistemology, and six more fascinating chapters that illuminate the possible limits to what we can know by using the tools of science. The issues discussed here challenge the very foundations of science, but the conclusions are optimistic. When the dust clears, science remains standing-our best bet for understanding the way the world works. }
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boulder
United States
Publishing group
INGRAM PUBLISHER SERVICES US
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
1000 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-201-55570-7 (9780201555707)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Introduction (John L. Casti and Anders Karlqvist); Limits of Science (John D. Barrow); The Outer Limits: In Search of the Unknowable in Science (John L. Casti); Variations on an Original Theme (N.C.A. da Costa and F. A. Doria); The Barriers of Objects: From Dynamical Systems to Bounded Organizations (Walter Fontana and Leo W. Buss); Scientific Knowledge from the Perspective of Quantum Cosmology (James B. Hartle); Structuring Reality: The Role of Limits (Piet Hut); Complexity and Epistemology (Harold J. Morowitz); On the Limitations of Scientific Knowledge (Robert Rosen); Undecidability Everywhere? (Karl Svozil); On Reality and Models (Joseph F. Traub).