Addresses essential questions about the reach and power of science in describing and understanding the world

An interdisciplinary adventure, combining the approaches of physics, philosophy and biology

According to reviews of the German edition "A book no library should be without!"

Author is an internationally renown physicist and philosopher of science

Autorentext

Bernd-Olaf Küppers, born in 1944, is an internationally renowned physicist and philosopher of science. For many years he was engaged in research at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen). Thereafter, he was professor of natural philosophy at the university of Jena. His main research field is the origin and evolution of genetic information. He is author and editor of numerous books, including the monographs Molecular Theory of Evolution and Information and the Origin of Life. He has been recognized with, among other things, memberships of the German National Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea (London).

Zusammenfassung

In this thought-provoking book Küppers, an internationally renowned physicist, philosopher and theoretical biologist, addresses a number of science's deepest questions: Can physics advance to the origin of all things and explain the unique phenomena of life, time and history? Are there unsolvable enigmas of the world? How did life originate? Is language a general phenomenon of Nature? What is time? Is it possible to express the history of the world in formulae? Where is science leading us? These and other provocative questions essential for a deeper understanding of the world are treated here in a refreshing and stimulating manner.

Inhalt

Is an absolute knowledge of the world possible?.- Are there unsolvable world enigmas?.- How could life have originated?.- What is information?.- Is language a general principle of nature?.- Can the beauty of Nature be objectified?.- What is time?.- Can history be condensed into formulae?.- Where is science going?