Howard Stein (Chicago): How Does Physics Bear Upon Metaphysics; and Why Did Plato Hold That Philosophy Cannot Be Written Down? Roger Trigg on why science needs metaphysics. Lawrence Krauss on the trouble with theories of everything: There is no known physics theory that is true at every scale — there may never be. Is our universe one of many? Here’s how we can find out. George Dvorsky on the 9 weirdest implications of the many worlds interpretation. Are the laws of physics really universal? Kate Becker investigates. How dark matter may have indirectly paved the way for humanity and killed the dinosaurs: An excerpt from Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe by Lisa Randall. Black hole hunters: Aiming to make the first portrait of the hungry monster at the center of our galaxy, astronomers built “a telescope as big as the world”. “The Universe is slowly dying”, a study shows. Why is physics beautiful? Frank Wilczek wonders.
From Scientific GOD Journal, Contzen Pereira on the metaphysical link between religion and science; and on the metaphysics of the Holy Trinity. Babette Babich (Fordham): Nietzsche’s Antichrist: The Birth of Modern Science out of the Spirit of Religion. Natalja Deng (Cambridge): Religion for Naturalists. James K. A. Smith reviews The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison. Herbert Gintis reviews Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible by Jerry Coyne (and more and more). Is God necessary? Marcelo Gleiser reviews A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet by Nancy Ellen Abrams. Atop a sacred mountain, a skirmish between pure science and religion: Thomas Levenson on how the battle over Mauna Kea in Hawaii stems from the same emotional impulse. Richard Marshall interviews Philip Kitcher, author of Life After Faith: The Case for Secular Humanism. Lawrence Krauss on why all scientists should be militant atheists.
Steven Shapin reviews Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science by Richard Dawkins. Ken Alder reviews Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject by Helene Mialet. Scientist, spy, genius: Freeman Dyson reviews Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy by Frank Close. Leonard Mlodinow’s Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos says a lot of what you know about scientists like Newton and Darwin is wrong. Gopal P. Sarma (Emory): Should We Train Scientific Generalists? These 25 schools are responsible for the greatest advances in science. Remco Heesen (Carnegie Mellon): Three Ways to Become an Academic Superstar; and Communism and the Incentive to Share in Science. Janet Napolitano on why we need more scientists in the public square. Elon Musk’s remarkable career reminds us that individuals matter: Roger Kimball reviews Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.
