A Tear at the Edge of Creation: a Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe
Language: English
Published by Free Press, 2010
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 5.22
Quantity: 2 available
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The search for universal truth, the underlying oneness connecting all things, has been the abiding obsession of philosophers and alchemists, prophets and string theorists. We would cross a bridge from Occam's razor to quantum theory on a path of symmetry and elegance toward a grand, unifying Theory of Everything--a place, just over the horizon, where the physical laws governing very large bodies (Einstein's theory of relativity) and those governing tiny ones (quantum mechanics) unite in a single, orderly framework. Yet somehow, despite the strivings of some of history's best minds, it turns out that the universe is probably not elegant. It is most likely gloriously messy. In A Tear at the Edge of Creation, the award-winning physicist Marcelo Gleiser argues that the quest for a Theory of Everything is fundamentally misguided: imbalance, asymmetry, and imperfection--not order--are the engines of creation. In this lucid, down-to-earth narrative, which has been translated into twelve languages, Gleiser walks us through the basic and cutting-edge science that fueled his own transformation from unifier to doubter: a fascinating scientific quest that leads him--and us--to a new understanding of what it is to be human.…
Seller Inventory # CIN1439108323VG
- Title
- A Tear at the Edge of Creation: a Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe
- Author
- Marcelo Gleiser
- Publisher
- Free Press
- Publication year
- 2010
- Condition
- Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1439108323
- ISBN 13
- 9781439108321
Overturning more than twenty-five centuries of scientific thought, award-winning physicist Marcelo Gleiser argues that this quest for a Theory of Everything is fundamentally misguided, and he explains the volcanic implications this ideological shift has for humankind. All the evidence points to a scenario in which everything emerges from fundamental imperfections, primordial asymmetries in matter and time, cataclysmic accidents in Earths early life, and duplication errors in the genetic code. Imbalance spurs creation. Without asymmetries and imperfections, the universe would be filled with nothing but smooth radiation.
A Tear at the Edge of Creation calls for nothing less than a new "humancentrism" to reflect our position in the universal order. All life, but intelligent life in particular, is a rare and precious accident. Our presence here has no meaning outside of itself, but it does have meaning. The unplanned complexity of humankind is all the more beautiful for its improbability. Its time for science to let go of the old aesthetic that labels perfection beautiful and holds that "beauty is truth." Its time to look at the evidence without centuries of monotheistic baggage. In this lucid, down-to-earth narrative, Gleiser walks us through the basic and cutting-edge science that fueled his own transformation from unifier to doubtera fascinating scientific quest that led him to a new understanding of what it is to be human.
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World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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