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The Last Unknowns: Deep, Elegant, Profound Unanswered Questions About the Universe, the Mind, the Future of Civilization, and the Meaning of Life Paperback – June 4, 2019
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Discover the universe's last unknowns—here are the unanswered questions that obsess "the world's finest minds" (The Guardian)
Featuring a foreword by DANIEL KAHNEMAN, Nobel Prize-winning author of Thinking, Fast and Slow
This is a little book of profound questions (only questions!)—unknowns that address the secrets of our world, our civilization, the meaning of life. Here are the deepest riddles that have fascinated, obsessed, and haunted the greatest thinkers of our time, including Nobel laureates, cosmologists, philosophers, economists, prize-winning novelists, religious scholars, and more than 250 leading scientists, artists, and theorists. In The Last Unknowns, John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, asks "a mind-blowing gathering of innovative thinkers" (Booklist): "What is ‘The Last Question,’ your last question, the question for which you will be remembered?"
Featuring the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel JARED DIAMOND • Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago economist RICHARD THALER • Harvard psychologistSTEVEN PINKER • religion scholar ELAINE PAGELS • author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics CARLO ROVELLI • Booker Prize–winning novelist IAN McEWAN • neuroscientistSAM HARRIS • philosopher DANIEL C. DENNETT • MIT theorist SHERRY TURKLE • decoder of the human genome J. CRAIG VENTER • The Coddling of the American Mind author JONATHAN HAIDT • Nobel Prize-winning physicist FRANK WILCZEK • UC Berkeley psychologist ALISON GOPNICK • philosopher REBECCA NEWBERGER GOLDSTEIN • New York Times columnist CARL ZIMMER • MIT cosmologist MAX TEGMARK • Whole Earth founder STEWART BRAND • "Marginal Revolution" economist TYLER COWEN • Anatomy of Love author HELEN FISHER • Noble Prize-winning NASA physicist JOHN C. MATHER • psychologist JUDITH RICH HARRIS• Princeton physicist FREEMAN DYSON• musician BRIAN ENO • environmental scientist JENNIFER JACQUET • Duke economist DAN ARIELY • Oxford philosopher A. C. GRAYLING • Harvard cosmologist LISA RANDALL• anthropologist MARY CATHERINE BATESON • Emotional Intelligence author DANIEL GOLEMAN• Harvard genticist GEORGE CHURCH• Blueprint author NICHOLAS A. CHRISTAKIS• Stanford political scientist MARGARET LEVI • economist ALAN S. BLINDER• publisher TIM O'REILLY• theoretical cosmologist JANNA LEVIN • Serpentine Gallery owner HANS ULRICH OBRIST• Wired founding editor KEVIN KELLY • Cambridge astrophysicist MARTIN REES, and more than 200 others.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication dateJune 4, 2019
- Dimensions5 x 0.79 x 7.25 inches
- ISBN-100062897942
- ISBN-13978-0062897947
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Intriguing. … Far-reaching. … Genuinely provocative.” — Publishers Weekly
“A veritable treasure trove.” — Scientific Inquirer
From the Back Cover
This is a little book of profound questions—unknowns that address the secrets of our world, our civilization, the meaning of life. Here are the deepest riddles that have fascinated, obsessed, and haunted the greatest thinkers of our time, including Nobel laureates, cosmologists, philosophers, economists, prize-winning novelists, religious scholars, and more than 250 leading scientists, artists, and theorists. In The Last Unknowns, John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, asks “a mind-blowing gathering of innovative thinkers” (Booklist): “What is ‘The Last Question,’ your last question, the question for which you will be remembered?”
Foreword by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow
Why is the world so beautiful? • Is the actual all that is possible? • Why are there no trees in the ocean? • Will humanity end up with one culture? • Why don’t naked mole rats age or get cancer? • Are humans capable of building a moral economy? • Is love really all you need? • If we discover another intelligent civilization, what should we ask them? • Is immortality desirable? • How diverse is life in the universe?
Featuring the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel JARED DIAMOND • Nobel Prize–winning economist RICHARD H. THALER • Harvard psychologist STEVEN PINKER • religion scholar ELAINE PAGELS • author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics CARLO ROVELLI • Booker Prize–winning novelist IAN McEWAN • neuroscientist SAM HARRIS • philosopher DANIEL C. DENNETT • MIT theorist SHERRY TURKLE • decoder of the human genome J. CRAIG VENTER • Nobel Prize–winning physicist FRANK WILCZEK • MIT cosmologist MAX TEGMARK • Whole Earth Catalog founder STEWART BRAND • economist TYLER COWEN • psychologist JUDITH RICH HARRIS • Princeton physicist FREEMAN DYSON • musician BRIAN ENO • environmental scientist JENNIFER JACQUET • Duke economist DAN ARIELY
About the Author
The publisher of the online science salon Edge.org, John Brockman is the editor of Know This, This Idea Must Die, This Explains Everything, This Will Make You Smarter, and other volumes.
Product details
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks (June 4, 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062897942
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062897947
- Item Weight : 10.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.79 x 7.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #400 in Science Essays & Commentary (Books)
- #1,214 in Nature Writing & Essays
- #3,842 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences
- Customer Reviews:
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But don't expect a lot of information. The book contains exactly zero answers.
Some easy questions:
Jonathan Haidt's question is: Why is it so hard to find the truth? Because we are so biased! Why are we so biased?
NICHOLAS A. CHRISTAKIS: Will some things about life, consciousness, and society necessarily remain unseen? Yes, duh!
STANISLAS DEHAENE: Is our brain fundamentally limited in its ability to understand the external world? Yes. Somethings will only be grasped by metaphor.
ANDY CLARK: Will we soon cease to care whether we are experiencing normal, augmented, or virtual reality? not I!!!
and a trés au courant question:
JERRY A. COYNE If science does in fact confirm that we lack free will, what are the implications for our notions of blame, punishment, reward, and moral responsibility?
(P.S. Science has a hard time proving the negative.)
summary of the issues/problems and a paragraph or two of the directions toward the solutions ... i.e. where are we today in the search for understanding. O well ... an interesting idea for a book maybe, Not my cup o tea for sure ... Caveat Emptor ... REALLY. One commenter gave 5 stars because of all the questions and hopes of stimulating one to seek answers ... I suppose that is a reasonable thing .... I prefer questions, solutions/answers ... and all the possibilities ...
I guess he ran out of good ideas for the last go-round.
If you enjoy reading a book of cosmic queries but NO ANSWERS, this is the book for you. I didn't, and it is a crying shame that the luminaries who posted these questions could not shine a little with the answers that they are eminently qualified to provide. Instead Brockman leaves the reader with nothing but the silence of the Sphinx when it comes to the denouement of 300+ pages of cosmic questions.
Did I get it wrong? Is this a performance piece or series of Zen koans (and just what is the sound of one hand clapping anyway?) hearkening back to Brockman's salad days at Max's Kansas City and the Warhol factory? What I do know is that it isn't good or even passable scientific journalism by virtue of leaving the hapless reader waiting in vain for the punchline.
Brockman can do better if he cares to but even the great ones can get bogged down (Einstein and his unified field theory but at least Einstein was trying "to read the mind of God") in late innings.
John, it's not too late ... how about a sequel volume WITH the answers this time - call it "The Last Knowns ..."
Don't let us down.
Top reviews from other countries

I expected a really interesting book, but it is literally just a collection of questions




Here’s one: what is the point of this book?
Five more words are required.