What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race [Paperback]

 

 

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Probably written originally for the 'fin de siecle' market, I suspect this book will have a much longer shelf life. John Maddox has a finely honed sense of what constitutes good science, which is not surprising for the long time editor of the prestigious journal 'Nature'. He writes with authority on a vast array of subjects, and seems comfortable with the complexities of all of them. As a result, he is well qualified to distinguish between what is good science and what is metaphysics.
Why is this important? Many science writers have written books on string theory, evolution, black holes, dark matter, quintessence etc. and have done so as though writing about real entities. It is as if media departments, under pressure from funding agencies for results, have pushed them into proclaiming the reality of their theories, and then sold them onto an unsuspecting public in impressive looking books (often heralded by the supposed cognoscenti who should know better) as the latest discovery. John Maddox makes it his business to pour very cold water on most of them and argues, for instance, that 'putative' or 'tentative' or 'candidate' black holes are not quite the same thing as experimentally established, tried and tested ideas that we normally associate with good science and science practice. This is therefore an extremely timely book, for it is the writers of science that have foisted metaphysics on us as a fait accompli, half suggesting that theories of everything are within our grasp in a short while. In contrast, John Maddox points out that for all our knowledge, we know hardly anything at all about many traditional areas of enquiry such as cell division, and that most of our efforts seem to be spent on the 'naming of parts'. The genome project is a good example, but while that is a huge achievement, knowing how all the parts are put together is an undertaking that will tax our understanding for very many years yet.
What is left to discover is therefore breathtaking, and it is his healthy scepticism that reveals this. The quantum gravity problem, for instance, will not be resolved by the accumulation of data, and points at serious conceptual difficulties of a qualititative rather than quantitative form. Yet if string theory is likely to solve this, it will not be in this century that it will be testable, and at the moment stands as a lone contender that is no better than an educated guess.
But there is a darker side to John Maddox. As editor of Nature, he played a crucial role in the Bienveniste fiasco, in which a magician was employed to discredit homoeopathic experiments which suggested that water could hold a memory of what had been in it, and which had been removed. At such times, healthy scepticism turns into prejudice, and yet still appears to retain its own character. I doubt whether a magician was used to discover the errors of calculation that caused CERN scientists to proclaim prematurely the discovery of the Higgs boson. The irony is that this particle is said to have a nature not dissimilar to that of a homoeopathic remedy, having an effect more by memory than presence. Yet despite such errors, such 'exotic' ideas receive major funding, and are not discredited. When advances in ideas in such areas as homoeopathy are announced, they are the spur to renunciation at any cost, and its absence even of mention is to be noted in this book. Gene structure is based on memory, and we also experience an effect of memory when something or someone is removed from our presence; it is called grief, or sadness. Perhaps such cross-categorial references are distasteful to us, but that is no reason to pillory ideas that are striving for advancement. Such ideas may appear to threaten basic scientific assumptions, but it may well be these that are preventing progress in so many areas. Scepticism is necessary for this to happen, but it so easily disguises itself as something else entirely.
Notwithstanding, this book goes a long way in correcting the focus created by other books concerning science which claim far too much for themselves and for this one fact alone, this is a book well worth the effort of reading.

John Maddox was long-time editor "Nature". Magazine. All in professional scientific research know "Science" and "Nature" are the two preeminent journals where technical papers are first published. Some of the great discoveries such as the electron, DNA and quantum theory have been published in these journals.

It is a great fortune that John Maddox, the retired editor of "Nature" took the time write this book and at the turn of the century, turn of the Millennium. It is a gift of great learning that Mr. Maddox has given to the world at the turn of the millennium.

Some writers have commented this book is hard reading, hard to follow and dense technical writing. Friends, this is not "People" or "Time" magazine. This is not supposed to be light reading; this is a discussion of what science has discovered and what science may discover in the future. Many commentators and professional scientists have long awaited this book.

Mr. Maddox breaks the book into three parts. 1. Matter 2. Life 3. Our World. This alone is noteworthy breakdown of our present knowledge of the world. Of note, Mr. Maddox writes that all scientific explanation of anything must include a "physical or materialistic" explanation.

The physical explanation or rather Physics has triumphed over virtually all other sciences. Indeed, physics is the foundation of all the sciences. We all know the chief problem of physics is the unity of theory of relativity with the quantum theory. Indeed as writer Michio Kaku said, our sum total knowledge of the universe is in the theory of relativity and of the quantum.

Mr. Maddox was a Physics professor before and his knowledge of physics allows him to delve into great details about the unification of the two great theories of the 20th. Century.

The second and third part of the book on "Life" "Our World". This discussion is a bit murky. We all know biology is not an exact science and any discussion of "Our World" is bound to be of a subjective nature.

Mr. Maddox discusses the computer, mathematics, and a family tree of man, avoidance of asteroids. Needless, one 400 page book is not going cover this in detail nor with precision or clarity.

The book can be read in one or two days. It not a textbook per se but a general discussion now, past and the future of science. It provides a sense of "time" and "place" of science for the lay reader and the professional scientists. It is great for practicing scientists and for individuals who aspire to be scientists. It may even offer general roadmap of where we want to be headed in science. This book is a must buy.

This book presupposes some scientific background. If you want to feel comfortable with every chapter you read, you need to have broad (but not deep) understanding of the sciences. I am a social scientist, but found almost all of this book highly readable. Maddox, who was knighted for his contribution to science, presents the known mysteries that are yet to be solved. Among these are the workings of the brain, the exact origin of the universe and its exact nature (e.g. what is dark matter and where is it?), and the origin of life. These are important questions to which we do not have (completely) satisfactory answers. This goes against the "end of science" thesis postulated a few years before by John Horgan and others. Of course, Maddox can only deal at length with those things which we know are unanwwered, but these mysteries may not be the only ones there are. Perhaps new deep mysteries will arise, and perhaps some are so deep that even the relevant questions that have to be asked about them are forever beyond merely human intelligence. Maddox gives a vast overview, and it makes you awestruck at the sight of this grand world and the sheer power of science and technology that continue to probe ever deeper into its mysteries.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Something for Everyone
John Maddox has written a readable account of possible future discoveries and the directions science will take in this future. Read more

Published on Feb 6 2001 by Ricky Hunter

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy Lifting.
Though I am not schooled in any of the sciences and my only motivation to read the book was my endless curiosity, I got quite a bit of information and enjoyment out of What... Read more

Published on Nov 24 2000 by Christopher B. Jonnes

3.0 out of 5 stars Its already dated a bit
Its a brief summary of what we know and what in 1997 we were looking at. Nothing very deep but readable. Some of the issues have already been solved such as Fermat last theorem.

Published on July 12 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip and Thud
I would skip this one. It is comprehensive, but far from scintillating. It is not a page turner (except to the extent that the reader is repeatedly compelled to turn to the end... Read more

Published on Feb 17 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding Read
This is a surprisingly good book. It's quite well written (by a longtime science editor, after all), and for the most part accessible to the layperson. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2000 by Arthur W. Adelberg

5.0 out of 5 stars Plenty remains to be discovered, apparently.
Periodically, some hack makes the preposterous claim that science is almost 'done,' and that all of nature's major mysteries have been, or are about to be discovered... Read more

Published on Dec 21 1999 by Aguagado

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
This is one of the best books I have read all year. It differs from the standard "cool things in science" tract in that it focusses on what we don't know - where the... Read more

Published on Dec 2 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one
I hold a doctorate in a highly technical field and even I had a tough time following the extremely scientific writing. This is not a good choice for the layperson. Read more

Published on Sep 21 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Can we know everything?
Excellent, challenging and insightful book. John Maddox makes it very clear that there remains a lot te be discovered. Read more

Published on Aug 26 1999 by m.vermeulen@bie.vnu.com

2.0 out of 5 stars Maddox missed his target audience by more than a few degrees
Heaven help the reader who tries to decipher this book without a B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., M.Ed., and Ph.D. Read more

Published on Aug 14 1999

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