A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Through no fault of our own, and by dint of no cosmic plan or conscious purpose, we have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to such responsibility, but here we are."-Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo's Smile

At the close of the 20th century, what do we know about why we are here, on this planet, in this universe? To address this and other big questions, journalist Wim Kayzer invited a diverse cast of six of today's great scientific thinkers to discuss, debate, and argue their points. The result was the acclaimed public television series, A Glorious Accident, now edited and available in paperback.

Kayzer interviewed Oliver Sacks, Daniel C. Dennett, Stephen Jay Gould, Rupert Sheldrake, Freeman Dyson, and Stephen Toulmin individually before bringing them together for a roundtable discussion to consider a variety of broad questions, including:
* What is the nature of our consciousness?
* What concepts has our consciousness developed about our temporal existence?
* What will we derive most from our consciousness: knowledge or understanding?
* What were the questinos that fascinated you when you were growing up?
* What questions keep you spellbound today?

Stemming from actual conversations, A Glorious Accident is high-spirited and heady, as well as being an important chronicle of what we know and, more important, what we do not.

About the Author

Wim Kayzer is a popular Dutch journalist, specializing in cultural and scientific topics. A Glorious Accident, the series comprising the interviews and discussion in this book, was shown in 1993 on Dutch television and in the United States on WNET TV in 1994.

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company; First Edition edition (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716735644
• ISBN-13: 978-0716735649
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #526,300 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Potpourri of interesting ideas, but solid background needed!, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

"A glorious accident" is not an easy book... Five leading experts talking about some of the most profound subjects available(consciousness, evolution, the Brain...). It takes quite a lot of background to understand everything that is being said. The fact that these are just transcriptions of interviews and a discussion doesn't make it easier: compared to a normal "book", the ideas presented are not as structured and there's no room for background information to introduce readers in complex matters like Witgensteins philosophy or "orthogenesis" and "epistothisandthat". If Descartes, Newton, Heisenberg, Galileo, Montaigne, Darwin, Dirac, Kant, Turing, Aristoteles or Maxwell are completely unknown to you, this is not YOUR kind of book. :-)

In 1991, I saw parts of the original television series. A few years later I read the Dutch printed version for the first time at the age of 20. Now (1999) I've read it again, and there are still quite a few passages where I'm totally lost in space <G>. Now I don't have a degree in philosophy or physics, but still I have a healthy interest in these issues. Not enough to constantly keep in touch with 5 leading experts discussing without holding back..

What is nice about this book, is that you can "grow with it". In around 2005, I'll read it for the 3th time and no doubt I'll conquer some more dark areas.

The "interview" approach also gives quite a good impression of the personalities of these five extraordinary men. Sacks is still like a little child that has preserved his ability to wonder about all and everything. You just CAN'T bore this guy because he always finds an interesting approach! Gould is my absolute favourite. Because his ideas appeal to me, and because he is so totally "no-nonsense". Sheldrake is the rebellion with his heart in the right place. Dyson is the quiet one with the hidden powers. Dennett is so self-confident that it looks almost as if he can force reality to comply to his theories instead of the other way round. Toulmin is a bit too literate for my taste: he always gave me the feeling that I was a few steps behind. Not good for the ego <G>

All in all I would say that the book lacks structure because of the interview approach, but there are still more than enough interesting bits of original ideas and insight to make it worthwile.

Jo Helsen Antwerp, Belgium

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where is the DVD?!, June 24, 2006

By	Lucius (northeast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle (Hardcover)

One of the most interesting shows ever aired on public television (WNET, New York) was Wim Kayzer's interviews with six leading intellectuals who represented both the mainstream academic (Stephen J. Gould, Freeman Dyson and Stephen Toulmin) and more or less, as it were, "eccentric" outside the box groudbreaking intellectuals (Oliver Sacks and Rupert Sheldrake). Kayzer interviews each of them (and philospher Daniel Dennett) individually and then has the entire group sit in a kind of round-table seminar that he moderates and lets the ideas fly.

In mho it is unconscionable that there has never been a DVD release of this unique and amazing historical experiment in intellectual dialogue. And while Kayzer's book pretty much reproduces the dialogues, seeing is believing.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy Brilliant Words of Great Minds!, November 1, 2000

By	Tatsuo Tabata "tttabata" (Sakai, Osaka Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle (Hardcover)

Wim Kayzer interviewed six great thinkers: the psychiatrist and
neurologist Oliver Sacks, the philosopher Daniel C. Dennett, the
paleontologist and evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould, the
physicist Freeman Dyson, the biochemist Rupert Sheldrake, and the
historian and philosopher of science Stephen Toumlin. Then all of them
participated in a round table to discuss the deep and
'unanswerable" questions mainly related to our consciousness. The
content of this book was originally broadcast as a television
series.

In general one expects to get more systematic information
from a book on science or philosophy of science than from a television
program on the same topic, but naturally we cannot have this
expectation for a book produced from a television program. Further,
when an interview or round-table program is put into printed lines,
the discursiveness of spoken words comes to the surface, and the
program is apt to lose some of exciting flavors present in
broadcasting. This book is not an exception of this phenomenon, and
thus is good only for casual enjoyment but not good for obtaining
substantial knowledge. Reading carefully, nevertheless, one can find
some brilliant words of the great minds here and there.