THE WORLD ITSELF

At the junctures of science and philosophy, the real world takes shape.

Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly discovered that the world is much larger and more diverse than previously thought. Danielsson, a professor at Sweden’s Uppsala University with specialties in string theory and cosmology, believes this is no less the case today and that we have only begun to grasp the nature of our own world and the larger universe(s). For all its scientific detail and speculation, this engrossing book is a closely reasoned critique of competing philosophies on the nature of consciousness, free will, and physical reality. Danielsson brings an unusually broad grasp of science and philosophy to bear in evaluating—and, in many cases, dispensing with—erroneous ideas about the world, and he is never less than evenhanded in addressing those theories—some enshrined in the cultural imagination—that are demonstrably untrue. A lucid introduction by Carlos Fiolhais, professor of physics at the University of Coimbra, sets the stage for Danielsson’s persuasive argument, which uses as its starting point the view that physics is the “mother” science that strives to explicate and define the real world. In this framework, it is about observation and testing as opposed to the incorporeal or spiritual mysteries that even some distinguished colleagues propound, dualistic notions on reality that are little different from religious belief. Danielsson’s message is clear: Do not mistake our evolving descriptions of the world, which are simply attempts to represent it, with the world itself. Mathematical models, however useful, are not the same as the real world. Computers do not think. Free will and determinism are both illusions. There is no consciousness separate from the body. Danielsson’s clarity of thought and expression and his use of illuminating literary and historical references are equal to the quality of his writing.

Science “popularizing” doesn’t get much more comprehensible, or provocative, than this.