A Theory of Nothing - Softcover

Barlow, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0992415934 ISBN 13: 9780992415938

Publisher: Ivory League Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Duronimus Karlof is a rising star at Harvard. He holds a prestigious professorship, his students idolize him, and he is widely considered one of the most influential scientific minds of his generation. The death of a colleague, however, forces him to reconsider his life’s purpose. Inspired by cutting-edge thinking in the humanities, he begins to question the oppressive nature of reality. Cynically exploiting his position at the university, he assembles a critical mass of experts with the mission to prove that there is some loophole in the scientific conception of the cosmos. What ensues is bigger than the Manhattan Project, the Space Race, the Human Genome Project, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change combined. Philosophical and funny, this highly original novel finds the ridiculous in almost every aspect of contemporary intellectual life, and highlights the challenge of independent thinking when politics takes control of science.

About this title

Review:

"A gifted satirist, Barlow impressively lampoons higher education's obsession with novelty at the expense of rigor and common sense. The dialogue is memorably funny, and the author avoids the most common trap of satire, which is to adopt a sententiously knowing tone. The story intelligently raises provocative questions about the historically stormy relationship between science and public opinion, and it wryly exposes the vanity and ideological blindness of even the most heralded intellectuals. This is a rare book-hilarious, thoughtful, and culturally relevant all at once." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review). "I couldn't put it down, even though it zapped much of what I hold dear." -- Robert P. Crease, Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Stony Brook University. "Barlow's opinion of academia is less than loving - yet his admiration for the true spirit of discovery and the sincerely questioning mind shines through." -- Jay Schalin, The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. "If you are a scientist, you will love the cynical description of a clever person playing the system. And for the non-scientist it provides a hilarious exposé of the way major projects start." -- Cathy Foley, The Conversation. "A quick and clever read ... the novel is a unique specimen of its kind and a remarkably entertaining story." -- Ashton Trumble, Texas Public Policy Foundation.

About the Author:

Thomas Barlow has been a research fellow at Oxford University and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a columnist with the Financial Times in London, and a respected adviser on research strategy to a range of organizations in the USA, Australia, and East Asia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ivory League Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0992415934
• ISBN 13: 9780992415938
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304