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

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.

"The title's question was posed on Edge.org (an online intellectual clearing house), challenging more than 100 intellectuals of every stripe — from Richard Dawkins to Ian McEwan — to confess the personal theories they cannot demonstrate with certainty. The results, gathered by literary agent and editor Brockman, is a stimulating collection of micro-essays (mainly by scientists) divulging many of today's big unanswered questions reaching across the plane of human existence. Susan Blackmore, a lecturer on evolutionary theory, believes 'it is possible to live happily and morally without believing in free will,' and Daniel Goleman believes children today are 'unintended victims of economic and technological progress.' Other beliefs are more mundane and one is highly mathematically specific. Many contributors open with their discomfort at being asked to discuss unproven beliefs, which itself is an interesting reflection of the state of science. The similarity in form and tone of the responses makes this collection most enjoyable in small doses, which allow the answers to spark new questions and ideas in the reader's mind. It's unfortunate that the tone of most contributions isn't livelier and that there aren't explanations of some of the more esoteric concepts discussed; those limitations will keep these adroit musings from finding a wider audience." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[An] informative and often surprising book....[T]he majority [of responses] are thoughtful, honest, and revelatory....And the book certainly gets us thinking about our own deeply held, if entirely unprovable, beliefs." Booklist

"For the most part, it reads like a bunch of blog entries — sound bites as short as a sentence that either state the obvious or cut off just as things get interesting, random bursts of intellectualizing designed for compulsive channel surfers." Los Angeles Times

More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proof.

Thought-provoking and hugely compelling, this collection of bite-size though-experiments is a fascinating insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.

John Brockman is a writer, agent, and publisher of Edge, the "Third Culture" website (www.edge.org), the forum for leading scientists and thinkers to share their research with the general public. He is the author of By The Late John Brockman and The Third Culture and has edited several previous anthologies including The Next Fifty Years, Curious Minds, and My Einstein." He lives in New York City.