Non-Fiction Books:

Inventing the Universe

Plato's Timaeus, the Big Bang, and the Problem of Scientific Knowledge
Click to share your rating 0 ratings (0.0/5.0 average) Thanks for your vote!
$101.00
Available from supplier

The item is brand new and in-stock with one of our preferred suppliers. The item will ship from a Mighty Ape warehouse within the timeframe shown.

Usually ships in 2-3 weeks
Free Delivery with Primate
Join Now

Free 14 day free trial, cancel anytime.

Buy Now, Pay Later with:

4 payments of $25.25 with Afterpay Learn more

6 weekly interest-free payments of $16.83 with Laybuy Learn more

Availability

Delivering to:

Estimated arrival:

  • Around 8-20 May using International Courier

Description

A parallel investigation of both Plato's Timaeusand the contemporary standard Big Bang model of the universe shows that any possible scientific knowledge of the universe is ultimately grounded in irreducible and undemonstrable propositions. These are inventions of the human mind. The scientific knowledge of the universe is entirely composed in a series of axioms and rules of inference underlying a formalized system. There is no logical relationship between the sensible perception of a world of becoming and the formalized system of axioms known as a "scientific explanation." The "irrational gap" between perception and explanation can be appraised historically and identified in three stages: Plato's Timaeus furnishes the first example of a scientific theory dealing with a realm of ideality that cannot be derived from immediate sensible perception; the Big Bang model is constituted on the basis of the purely geometrical notion of symmetry; and in the more recent Algorithmic Theory of Information, the analysis of the purely symbolic language expressing physical reality reveals the level of complexity of any given theory formulated in this language. The result is that the probability of the universe actually conforming with simple mathematics is zero. In a formal system, a theorem contains more information than can be found in the set of axioms of this system, and it remains undecidable. In Aristotle' s language, the theorems that can be proved within a theoretical model are already potentially contained in the system of axioms underlying these theorems.

Author Biography:

Luc Brisson is Director of Research at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He has published several books and articles. F. Walter Meyerstein is in the Philosophy Department at the Universitate Autonoma de Barcelona, and is studying the philosophical implications of modern science.
Release date NZ
July 20th, 1995
Audiences
  • Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
  • Professional & Vocational
  • Undergraduate
Illustrations
Total Illustrations: 0
Pages
193
Dimensions
152x229x25
ISBN-13
9780791426920
Product ID
5229140

Customer reviews

Nobody has reviewed this product yet. You could be the first!

Write a Review

Marketplace listings

There are no Marketplace listings available for this product currently.
Already own it? Create a free listing and pay just 9% commission when it sells!

Sell Yours Here

Help & options

Filed under...