What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty | 
 enlarge | Author: John Brockman
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 68195
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0060841818
Dewey Decimal Number: 500
EAN: 9780060841812
ASIN: 0060841818
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
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Product Description
More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proof Scientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith. Some of the most potent beliefs among brilliant minds are based on supposition alone -- yet that is enough to push those minds toward making the theory viable. Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors. Thought-provoking and hugely compelling, this collection of bite-size thought-experiments is a fascinating insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Great question...but same answer. December 19, 2008
Cool book, fast read. For some reason I had an expectation that there would be more 'Sagan-esque where science and spirit meet' (a la Contact) type answers and instead it seemed like a book edited by Madelyn O'Hair...but I really found it very interesting. Lots of the answers were so close though that I would have liked to see them culled but still I'd recommend it.
Sex For The Brain September 15, 2008
I have always enjoyed speculating about what might be possible. When considering the boundless scope of nature I realize that there are so many interesting questions to be asked and ideas to consider, that's why I enjoyed this book so much. Reading what top scientist and other distinguished authors believe but can not prove was such a pleasurable mental experience, it was like sex for the brain.
Good but not great April 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a scientist I approached this book with a lot of expectations. I wanted to know what the greatest minds in science believe but cannot prove. I was expecting a lot of cutting edge topics and revolutionary ideas. Yes, there are some pieces that fulfilled and even exceeded my expectations, but there were also others that I couldn't even get past the first paragraph.
I guess it is always difficult to put together a book with so many contributors and the result is always going to be a mix of, in this case, brilliant ideas and not so surprising monologues.
I believe I like "What is your most dangerous idea" better December 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Some interesting ideas on the concept and philosophy of
"What we believe but Cannot Prove". Essays from top scientists on topics such as Consciousness (is there such a thing, does language bring it about?), quantum mechanics (is the electron composed of any smaller particles?), astronomy (is there more than one universe), time (is everything predetermined) just to name a few from memory. I had gotten this book because i enjoyed "What is your most dangerous idea" so much from the same "edge dot com" group/ editor. I wasn't as into this book I believe because "What is your most dangerous idea" was just more interesting and similar. Some topics overlap. For example this book may have the argument that they believe consciousness does not exist while "dangerous idea" will have the dangerous idea that the soul does not exist. (This book did come out before "what is your most dangerous idea"). Some great ideas in here regardless to ponder.
Interesting and erratic November 9, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A bit disappointing. I thought that this would be a really special book, and I found it quite erratic. Some of the thinkers seem to have taken this very seriously, while others have not spent more than 10 minutes in this (that is not necessarily a bad thing). There are many repetitions, and some answers do not fit well in the book. Anyway, there are some very interesting ideas and clever answers, such as those given by Seth Lloyd, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and others that made the book worth reading.
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