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The End of Science Paperback – 1998

by John Horgan (Author)

74 customer reviews

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As a writer for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, John Horgan has an unsurpassed window on contemporary science, routinely interviewing the scientific geniuses of our times, scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Murray Gell-Mann, Stephen Hawking, Karl Popper and Noam Chomsky. In THE END OF SCIENCE, Horgan displays his genius for getting these larger-than-life figures to be human, whilst also encouraging them to confront the very limits of knowledge. Have the big questions all been answered? Has all the knowledge worth pursuing become known? Will there be a final 'theory of everything' that signals the end? Horgan extracts surprisingly candid answers to these and other delicate questions as he discusses God, Star Trek, superstrings, quarks, consciousness and numerous other topics. In a time where scientific rationality is under fire from every quarter, THE END OF SCIENCE is a witty, thoughtful, profound and entertaining narrative which serves as both a critique of and a homage to modern science.

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Editorial Reviews

Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Abacus (1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0349109265
ISBN-13: 978-0349109268
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 74 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,905,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #27691 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy
- #209674 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy

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limelight

Don't Let the Title Fool You

December 20, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

While most reviewers focus on the argument of whether science may be coming to an end, which is suggested by the title of this book, the actual content of the book is not so much about this. Instead, Mr. Horgan spends his time searching through various different scientific endeavors on a quest for some kind of spiritual fulfillment and the search for "The Answer", which he defines as "a truth so potent that it quenches our curiosity once and for all time".

Once past the book's introduction, interestingly entitled "Searching for The Answer", the author begins to present his argument that science may continue in the sense of further advancements in technology, but that it holds no more prospect for providing us with any grand, revolutionary ideals. While not spelled out explicitly, Mr. Horgan implies that this means some kind of knowledge that will deepen our understanding of the universe in the sense of bringing us closer to knowing the meaning of life or existence.

The most bizarre, and perhaps revealing, part of the book is the epilogue. Here, Mr. Horgan describes his experience of "lying spread-eagled on a suburban lawn" while experiencing some kind of psychotic episode where he hurtled through "a dark limbo toward what I was sure was the ultimate secret of life" and perceiving himself to be the only consciousness in the universe who imagined all things into existence.

The abrupt way that he launches into this story, with no explanation whatsoever of how he came to be lying in the middle of someone's yard, is strange and the whole thing seems eerily suggestive of an LSD induced trip. For what it's worth, Horgan previously comments about asking Frank Tipler if he had ever used LSD during their conversation about "the Omega Point" and whether machines may one day transform the universe into a single, giant information-processing device.

After relating this strange incident, Horgan then explains that it led him to believe that he had discovered the secret of existence, namely that God's own fear of death causes him to create other beings (people, etc.) as some kind of distraction from his mortality and singularity of being, which he dubs the "terror-of-God" idea. Just to reiterate: Horgan's idea is that God is terrified by the thought that he alone is the single consciousness of the universe and that, if he were to die, all consciousness and hence all things would cease to exist and that God therefore orchestrates other things as a distraction from his fear. Furthermore, all of this stems from some kind of psychedelic event in which Mr. Horgan experienced these feelings during a hallucination while lying in the middle of someone's yard.

This edition of the book includes an addendum that the author wrote in 1997 to reflect on the book's reception and to tie up loose ends. He concludes by writing, "Let me be completely frank here. My real purpose in writing The End of Science was to found a new religion, `The Church of the Holy Horror'". While I generally regard this to be some attempt at deadpan humor, it is not immediately evident that Mr. Horgan is in fact joking.

Overall, I would say the book is worth reading due to the interesting conversations with various scientists that comprise the bulk of it. However, one should be aware of the ultimate point that Mr. Horgan is getting at, which can be lost in the details of his argument.

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Book_Reader

It is even more interesting to read now

December 15, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I cannot agree with some judgements. Author is not a scientist so, at times his critic of science goes down to senator's level but in most cases it is well reasoned. The book is actually classic. I suspect it is even more interesting to read now - several decades after this book was written.

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Amazon Customer

Excellent book. Finally some closure.

June 3, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a great book. I do believe Mr. Horgan hit the nail right on the head with this one. If you are as fed up as I am with hearing people talk about "in the future" we will do this, have this, know this, and be able to do this (insert any ridiculous idea, like scan ourselves into a computer and live in virtual reality worlds forever) all because of advances in science, then this is the book for you.

Science has limits. There is no "The Answer" to any of it. Science cannot help us see smaller things or look further into space than what we have now. And even if we could, it would change nothing.

Thank you Mr. Horgan for writing a wonderful book and saying what needed to be said.

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March 8, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Received item in excellent condition.

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A general reader

Reading the final chapter puts the book in context

January 19, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Given some of the rave reviews and the so-called "interviews" in this book, I thought this might be an interesting read.

I think enough has been said about the style of the book - if you care about the color of shirts of any particular scientist, this might be an interesting read. But content-wise, it is empty. For example, the chapter on evolutionary biology is meaningless - it's entitled "the end of evolutionary biology" but there is no evidence to suggest that this is so. The same with "the end of sociobiology".

In the final chapter, the author describes a mystical experience he has had which seemed to have shaped his thinking profoundly, and in that chapter, the word "God" appears probably around 100 times. Fair enough, but it would have given me an idea where the author is coming from if I had known this before. A couple of examples from the last chapter:

"Our plight is God's plight."

"The world is a riddle that God has created in order to shield himself from his terrible solitude and fear of death".

"One glances at an astrology column now and then, or wonders if maybe there really is something to all those reports about people having sex with alien."

I'm not interested in ad hominem attacks in general. But it seems to me that the author is not neutrally reporting on the subject, as I wish he had, but is rather trying to justify his own world view. Unfortunately, this was a complete waste of time for me.

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Stefan Topolski

true state of our ignorance

November 27, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

it relates our current state of knowledge in the sciences - accurate and timely - limited only by some name dropping and a bit of rambling in the stories... a little more editing never hurt any of us aspiring writers.

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August 27, 2015

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excellent!

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L August Rockwell.

as they say in the wormhole we are all just an illusion

November 16, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

the reviews I read about this book are worth getting the book you have to be one that likes future and is positivebecause it changes the way you look at life

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