What We Believe But Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty

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Editor: John Brockman
Contributors: Alan Kay, Alex Pentland, Alexander Vilenkin, Alison Gopnik, Alun Anderson, Anton Zeilinger, Arnold Trehub, Brian Goodwin, Bruce Sterling, Carlo Rovelli, Carolyn Porco, Charles Simonyi, Chris Anderson, Christine Finn, Clifford Pickover, Daniel Dennett, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel Goleman, David Buss, David G. Myers, David Gelernter, Denis Dutton, Donald D. Hoffman, Donald I. Williamson, Douglas Rushkoff, Elizabeth Spelke, Esther Dyson, Freeman Dyson, Gary Marcus, George Dyson, Gino Segrè, Gregory Benford, Haim Harari, Howard Gardner, Howard Rheingold, Ian Wilmut, Irene Pepperberg, J. Craig Venter, James J. O'Donnell, Janna Levin, Jared Diamond, Jaron Lanier, Jean Paul Schmetz, Jeffrey Epstein, Jesse Bering, John D. Barrow, John H. McWhorter, John Horgan, Jonathan Haidt, Joseph LeDoux, Judith Rich Harris, Kai Krause, Karl Sabbagh, Keith Devlin, Kenneth W. Ford, Kevin Kelly, Lawrence Krauss, Lee Smolin, Leo M. Chalupa, Leon Lederman, Leonard Susskind, Marc D. Hauser, Margaret Wertheim, Maria Spiropulu, Marti Hearst, Martin E. P. Seligman, Martin Nowak, Martin Rees, Michael Shermer, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Ned Block, Neil Gershenfeld, Nicholas Humphrey, Oliver Morton, Pamela McCorduck, Paul Bloom, Paul Davies, Paul J. Steinhardt, Philip W. Anderson, Randolph M. Nesse, Ray Kurzweil, Rebecca Goldstein, Richard Dawkins, Robert M. Sapolsky, Robert R. Provine, Robert Trivers, Rudy Rucker, Sam Harris, Scott Atran, Seth Lloyd, Simon Baron-Cohen, Stanislas Dehaene, Stephen H. Schneider, Stephen Kosslyn, Stephen Petranek, Steven Giddings, Steven Pinker, Stuart A. Kauffman, Susan Blackmore, Terrence Sejnowski, Timothy Taylor, Todd E. Feinberg, Tom Standage, Tor Nørretranders, Verena Huber-Dyson, W. Daniel Hillis, and William H. Calvin
Writer of foreword: Ian McEwan
Language: English
Original language: English
Publisher: Pocket Books
Categories: Anthology and essay
Publication year: 2005
ISBN: 978-1-4165-2261-4
Pages: 266
Has read?: Yes
Debut?: No

Synopsis

This book is a collection of very small essays by a bunch of leading scientists, philosophers, writers, and intellectuals on the title question. The topics range from artificial intelligence to consciousness to epistemology (and a lot in between).

Review

This was an immensely satisfying read. You get a lot of perspective just reading the speculations of these people. I highly recommend this book!