We humans are collectively driven by a powerful - yet not fully explained - instinct to understand. We would like to see everything established, proven, laid bare. The more important an issue, the more we desire to see it clarified, stripped of all secrets, all shades of gray. What could be more important thanto understand the Universe and ourselves as a part of it? To find a window onto our origin and our destiny? This book examines how far our modern cosmological theories - with their sometimes audacious models, such as inflation, cyclic histories, quantum creation, parallel universes - can take us towards answering these questions. Can such theories lead us to ultimate truths, leaving nothing unexplained? Last, but not least, Heller addresses the thorny problem of why and whether we should expect to find theories with all-encompassing explicative power. Grapples with the biggest of the big questions Asks 'how far can science take us?' Postulates a true interface between science and religion INDICE: Ultimate explanations.- PART I - MODELS.- The problem with an eternal universe.- The cyclical Universe.- The entangled Cosmos.- Continuous creation versus beginning.- Something out of (almost) nothing.- Quantum creation ofthe Universe.- PART II - ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLES AND OTHER UNIVERSES.- Anthropicprinciples.- Natural selection of universes.- Anthopic principles and theories of everything.- The metaphysics of anthropic principles.- Tegmark’s embarrassment.- PART III - CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE.- The urge to understand.- Metaphysics and theology of creation.- Creation versus the perpetual Universe.- Disputing God’s omnipotence.- Newton’s world.- Leibniz’ world.- The initial singularity and the creation of the Universe.- Creation and evolution.- Leibniz’ question.
- ISBN: 978-3-642-02102-2
- Editorial: Springer
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 240
- Fecha Publicación: 20/09/2009
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés