Lawless Universe : Science and the Hunt for Reality

by Rosen, Joe

• ISBN13: 9780801895814
• ISBN10: 0801895812
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-21
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

Can science fully comprehend the whole of the material universe? Not according to Joe Rosen.There is no question that advancements in science -- especially in physics -- have radically changed our concept of nature, revolutionizing our view of the universe, even of reality itself. Rosen argues, though, that the material universe in its entirety lies beyond science. Anyone who claims otherwise, who proposes a scientific Theory of Everything to explain all aspects and phenomena of nature, only misleads and misinforms.Taking science -- and the scientific method -- down a peg, Rosen asserts that any understanding of the whole universe, if it is to be found at all, can come only from outside science, from nonscientific modes of comprehension and insight. He believes that popularizers of science -- think Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins -- are mistaken when they declare that science is on the verge of unlocking all the secrets of the universe. Perhaps without realizing it, they have crossed into the realm of metaphysics in an attempt to explain the unexplainable.In Lawless Universe Rosen explores just how far science can go in comprehending nature. He considers the separate -- but entangled -- domains of science and metaphysics and examines the all-too-often ignored boundary between the objective and the subjective.Thought-provoking and controversial, Lawless Universe is a complement to, even an antidote for, books that create the misimpression that science can explain everything.

Author Biography

Joe Rosen was, until retirement, a professor of physics at Tel Aviv University and the University of Central Arkansas. Currently, he is an adjunct professor in the Department of Physics at The George Washington University. His many books include Symmetry Discovered, A Symmetry Primer for Scientists, Symmetry in Science, and Symmetry Rules.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Objective or Subjective: That Is the Question	p. 1
Objective and Subjective	p. 1
The Objective Outer World: Reality	p. 4
Our Subjective Inner Worlds: Fantasies	p. 10
Objective or Subjective?	p. 13
Objective Truth	p. 15
Subjective Truth	p. 15
Logical Truth	p. 20
Dealing with the Subjective	p. 21
Dealing with the Objective	p. 24
The Science of Nature and the Nature of Science	p. 27
Preliminaries	p. 27
Science	p. 30
Nature	p. 31
Reproducibility	p. 32
Predictability	p. 36
Law	p. 39
Theory: Explanation, Not Speculation	p. 45
Theory	p. 45
Logical Implication and Objective Truth	p. 46
Generality and Fundamentality	p. 47
Naturality	p. 48
Causation	p. 50
Simplicity and Unification	p. 51
Beauty	p. 52
Falsifiability	p. 54
An Archetypal Example	p. 55
Is Science the Whole Story?	p. 59
Science and Metaphysics	p. 59
Transcendence and Nontranscendence	p. 61
Our Unique Universe	p. 69
The Lawless Universe	p. 69
Cosmology	p. 75
Nature's Laws	p. 85
Realism and Idealism	p. 85
Reductionism and Holism	p. 91
Observer and Observed	p. 94
Quasi-Isolated System and Surroundings	p. 97
Initial State and Law of Evolution	p. 102
Extended Mach Principle	p. 106
Whence Order?	p. 111
Facing the Universe	p. 121
Human Science	p. 121
Anthropic Principle	p. 122
Whence Order? (Again)	p. 132
Space and Time	p. 134
The Hunt for Reality	p. 140
Metaphysical Positions	p. 140
Objective Reality	p. 143
Perceived Reality	p. 145
Partially Hidden Reality	p. 148
Transcendent Reality	p. 150
Coda	p. 154
Glossary	p. 161
Combined Bibliography	p. 171
Index	p. 177
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