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001 16675467
003 ARRUPE
005 20150227123113.0
008 110303s2011 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 _a 2011004120
020 _a9780670022755 (hardback)
020 _a0670022756 (hardback)
035 _a(OCoLC)ocn682892569
040 _aDLC
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042 _apcc
050 0 0 _aQ175.32.E97
_bD48 2011
082 0 0 _a501
_222
084 _aSCI075000
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100 1 _aDeutsch, David,
_d1953-
_913907
245 1 4 _aThe beginning of infinity :
_bexplanations that transform the world /
_cDavid Deutsch.
260 _aNew York :
_bViking,
_c2011.
300 _avii, 487 p. :
_bill. ;
_c24 cm.
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 460-461) and index.
505 0 _aThe reach of explanations -- Closer to reality -- The spark -- Creation -- The reality of abstractions -- The jump to universality -- Artificial creativity -- A window on infinity -- Optimism -- A dream of Socrates -- The multiverse -- A physicist's history of bad philosophy -- Choices -- Why are flowers beautiful? -- The evolution of culture -- The evolution of creativity -- Unsustainable -- The beginning.
520 _a"A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited scope and power to cause change, and the quest to improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science but of all successful human endeavor. This stream of ever improving explanations has infinite reach, according to Deutsch: we are subject only to the laws of physics, and they impose no upper boundary to what we can eventually understand, control, and achieve. In his previous book, The Fabric of Reality, Deutsch describe the four deepest strands of existing knowledge-the theories of evolution, quantum physics, knowledge, and computation-arguing jointly they reveal a unified fabric of reality. In this new book, he applies that worldview to a wide range of issues and unsolved problems, from creativity and free will to the origin and future of the human species. Filled with startling new conclusions about human choice, optimism, scientific explanation, and the evolution of culture, The Beginning of Infinity is a groundbreaking book that will become a classic of its kind"--
650 0 _aExplanation.
_911382
650 0 _aInfinite.
_915420
650 0 _aScience
_xPhilosophy.
_915421
906 _a7
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