Anaximander: And the Nature of Science

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The bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics tells the thrilling story of one of the greatest intellectual leaps of all time Over two millennia ago, a Greek philosopher had a number of wondrous insights that paved the way to cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology and biology, setting in motion a new way of seeing the world. Anaximander's legacy includes the revolutionary idea that the earth floats in a void, that the world can be understood in natural rather than supernatural terms, that animals evolved, and that universal laws govern all phenomena. He introduced a new mode of rational thinking with an openness to uncertainty and to the progress of knowledge. In this elegant work, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli brings to light the importance of Anaximander's overlooked legacy to modern science. He examines Anaximander as a scientist interested in shedding light on the deep nature of scientific thinking, which Rovelli locates in his rebellious ability to reimagine the world again and again. Anaximander celebrates the radical lack of certainty that defines the scientific quest for knowledge.

Reviews

Bestselling physicist Carlo Rovelli argues in this enjoyable and provocative little book that a little-known Greek philosopher invented the idea of the cosmos -- Tim Adams * Observer *
Carlo Rovellis Anaximander is a knockout: theres nobody like Rovelli for bridging the Two Cultures, and I was enlarged by his lucid, optimistic account, full of fascinating historical nuggets, of what scientists do and why its exciting -- Sam Leith * TLS , Best Books of the Year *
Rovelli is a very good scientist and a very good writer. He explains some of the most conceptually difficult and densest areas of physics lightly and breezily. Here, he tells the story of an ancient thinker who had a revolutionary idea about the Earth's place in the cosmos -- Tom Whipple * The Times *
Anaximander is a delight and so is this book -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *
As Rovelli's fans will expect, this book is excellent. It is never less than engaging, and enviably compendious -- Tim Smith-Laing * The Telegraph *
A celebration of the scientific spirit of inquiry and the remarkable achievements of one man more than 2,500 years ago -- John Sellars * TLS *
A bold and persuasive case that this ancient Greek philosopher scientist was the founder of critical thinking -- Adam Rutherford * Start the Week, BBC Radio 4 *
This is seriously astounding. So lucid, so imaginative, so subtle, and so large in scope. It's like the best primer you can imagine for the non-scientist on why what you think you know about Ptolemy and Copernicus, or Popper and Kuhn, is not quite right -- Sam Leith * Twitter *

Author Bio

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique theorique in Marseille, France. His books Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Helgoland, Reality Is Not What It Seems and The Order of Time are international bestsellers which have been translated into forty-three languages.