THE COSMIC BLUEPRINT: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability to Order the Universe

by Paul Davies ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1988

The subtitle says it all: Davies (Physics/Univ. of Newcastle-on-Tyne) sees evidence of a guiding hand behind the creation of the universe, the world, and mankind. Thus, he enlarges on themes that he began to develop in Godand the New Physics (1983). In that volume, however, he included much discussion of past philosophical thinking; here he turns a fresh eye to contemporary developments in science and mathematics. For example, he details the findings from the mathematical studies of chaos so well explored in Gleick's Chaos (1987)--the fractal geometries, self-similar figures, strange attractors, and other phenomena emerging from the study of turbulence, population growth, and other non-equlibrium systems. These serve as examples of a complexity that defies the reductionist/mechanistic/Newtonian view the author deplores. Throughout, Davies applies terms like ""global cooperation"" and ""self organization"" to inanimate as well as animate systems, implying that a holistic principle is in operation. When it comes to life itself, he poses important questions of origins, of the rise of complexity, and of morphogenesis (the development of specialized cells and organs from a single cell), deriding molecular theories that invoke chance alone. Davies does not indicate exactly what his holistic principle is, preferring instead to lay out a variety of hypotheses (e.g., Gaia, the anthropic principle, or the theories of David Bohm or Rupert Sheldrake, along with some caveats). He also can be faulted for overkill of reductionism, and, in the end, the skeptical reader may remain unconvinced. But that does not take away from the exhilaration of reading about new fields and scientific discoveries in Davies' fine style.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION