|
|
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep, thoughtful - and yet so funny book!, September 11, 2002
Why the universe is just so? The question has been posed by scientists and philosophers for millenia, but only very recently have we accumulated enough physical and astronomical knowledge to be able to discuss these issues in a serious and quantitative manner. And, lo and behold! what modern cosmologists began to explore in earnest is a sort of necessary link between our own existence as intelligent observers evolved from the simplest procaryote lifeforms over billions of years and the properties of universe (and other universes!) at large. This link is technically called an observational selection effect, and if from now on anybody wishes to seriously study these matters, "Anthropic Bias" is without question an excellent place to start.Bostrom's book makes amusing, although at times quite exacting, reading. Early on, he gives a splendid overview of the entire field of anthropic reasoning, much used and abused in the last quarter of century. Then, almost imperceptibly, he passes on to several instances in which the nature of the anthropic selection effect becomes clearer and clearer. From quantum cosmology to annoying traffic jams, from quantum mechanics to Adam and Eve thought experiments, from freak observers created by black holes' evaporation radiation to the (in)famous Doomsday argument of Gott, Carter and Leslie (not to mention future totalitarian world government and paranormal causation), the book reads as an exciting detective novel, as you rapidly change settings following the same thread of evidence to the main culprit: the universal observational selection effect, explained in detail in the Chapter 10, arguably the culmination of the drama. Here, Bostrom develops a theory which promises a unifying treatment of observations, in particular in cosmology, explicating in detail the accompanying Bayesian methodology. The unity of the underlying analysis is emphasized in the final Chapter, where new theory is aplied in several fields of contemporary research. Probably the worst thing one can say about this book is that it is too short. After finishing it, the reader is left with the impression that the very scope of the new theory is such that there is enough material for entirely another book, or at least reconsideration of many issues treated previously. The re-reading potential is thus very strong. The reader will also find some consolation for finishing the book in a detailed and cleverly composed bibliography. In any case, she or he will probably never think about the relationship of man and the universe in the same way as before.
|