THE ISLAND OF KNOWLEDGE

In this in-depth exploration of how we make sense of the universe and of ourselves, renowned physicist and author asks how much can we know of the world? Can we know everything? Or are there fundamental limits to how much science can explain?

What we see of the world is only a tiny portion of what’s “out there.” From the edges of the cosmos to the heart of the quantum and the inner workings of our minds, there is much to reality that is unknowable. Contrary to works that glorify science as all-powerful and all-seeing, in The Island of Knowledge, Marcelo Gleiser argues that our knowledge of the world is necessarily incomplete; and that science needs to be cast in a new role. Gleiser makes it clear that recognizing limits is not a deterrent to progress or a surrendering to the mercies of religion. Rather, it frees us to question the meaning and nature of the universe while affirming the central role of life and ourselves in it. Science can and must go on, but recognizing its limits reveals its true mission: to know the universe is to know ourselves. Marcelo Gleiser is Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College. The author of three previous books, The Dancing Universe, The Prophet and the Astronomer, and A Tear at the Edge of Creation. Gleiser lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.