The Random Universe
How Models and Probability Help Us Make Sense of the Cosmos
Published on 11. November 2025
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-300-25050-3 (ISBN)
Description
An award-winning astrophysicist looks at how the understanding of uncertainty and randomness has led to breakthroughs in our knowledge of the cosmos
All of us understand the world around us by constructing models, comparing them to observations, and drawing conclusions. Scientists create, test, and replace these models by applying the twinned concepts of probability and randomness. Exploring how this process has refined our knowledge of quantum mechanics and the birth of the universe, Andrew H. Jaffe offers a unique synthesis of the philosophy of epistemology, the mathematics of probability, and the science of cosmology.
As Jaffe puts Enlightenment thinkers like David Hume in conversation with contemporary philosophers such as Karl Popper and Imre Lakatos and engages with scientists ranging from Isaac Newton and Galileo to Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington, he uses Thomas Bayes's seminal studies of statistics and probability to make sense of conflicting currents of thought. This is a deep look into how we have learned to account for uncertainty in our search for knowledge-and a reminder that science is not about facts and data as such but about creating models that correctly account for those facts and data.
All of us understand the world around us by constructing models, comparing them to observations, and drawing conclusions. Scientists create, test, and replace these models by applying the twinned concepts of probability and randomness. Exploring how this process has refined our knowledge of quantum mechanics and the birth of the universe, Andrew H. Jaffe offers a unique synthesis of the philosophy of epistemology, the mathematics of probability, and the science of cosmology.
As Jaffe puts Enlightenment thinkers like David Hume in conversation with contemporary philosophers such as Karl Popper and Imre Lakatos and engages with scientists ranging from Isaac Newton and Galileo to Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington, he uses Thomas Bayes's seminal studies of statistics and probability to make sense of conflicting currents of thought. This is a deep look into how we have learned to account for uncertainty in our search for knowledge-and a reminder that science is not about facts and data as such but about creating models that correctly account for those facts and data.
Reviews / Votes
"We don't live in a clockwork universe; the real world is messy and imperfectly predictable. Andrew Jaffe's delightful book shows us that randomness can be just as beautiful as rigidity."-Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 1: Space, Time, and Motion and The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 2: Quanta and Fields"Andrew Jaffe demystifies the role of probability and uncertainty in the scientific process, guiding readers through the logic that underpins inference and discovery. An essential read for anyone curious about how we come to know what we know in science."-Priyamvada Natarajan, Joseph S. & Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Yale University, and author of Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos
"Andrew Jaffe's fascinating mission here is a profound examination of our fundamental beliefs about how the Universe works. Shockingly, he shows how uncertainty is at the root of every physical law."-Sir Brian May, musician, songwriter, and astrophysicist
"Astrophysics is the science of events that happened long ago and therefore about which we can only learn indirectly and interpret through rigorous theory. Astrophysicist Andrew Jaffe has written a fascinating book about how we know what we know, and how we express our current knowledge of the world."-Andrew Gelman, Columbia University
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
28 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
512 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-25050-3 (9780300250503)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Andrew H. Jaffe is professor of astrophysics and cosmology at Imperial College London and director of the Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology. He lives in London, UK.