IMPOSSIBILITY: THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE AND THE SCIENCE OF LIMITS

By U. JOSIA

CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE ART OF THE IMPOSSIBLE THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING OF FACES AND GAMES THOSE FOR WHOM ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE PARADOX VISUAL PARADOX LINGUISTIC PARADOX LIMITS TO CERTAINTY A COSMIC SPEED LIMIT SUMMARY CHAPTER 2: THE HOPE OF PROGRESS OVER THE RAINBOW THE VOYAGE TO POLYNESIA VIA TELEGRAPH AVENUE PROGRESS AND PREJUDICE THE BIG IDEA OF UNLIMITED KNOWLEDGE NEGATIVISM SOME NINETEENTH-CENTURY IDEAS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE CHAPTER 3: BACK TO THE FUTURE WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE? POSSIBLE FUTURES HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDYOLOGY SELECTIVE AND ABSOLUTE LIMITS WILL WE BE BUILDERS OR SURGEONS? THE FUTURES MARKET HOW MANY DISCOVERIES ARE THERE STILL TO BE MADE? CHAPTER 4: BEING HUMAN WHAT ARE MINDS FOR? COUNTING ON WORDS MODERN ART AND THE DEATH OF A CULTURE COMPLEXITY MATCHING: CLIMBING MOUNT IMPROBABLE INTRACTABILITY THE FRONTIER SPIRIT THE END OF DIVERSITY DOES SCIENCE ALWAYS BRING ABOUT ITS OWN DEMISE? ILL DEATH AND THE DEATH OF SCIENCE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LIMITS CHAPTER 5: TECHNOLOGICAL LIMITS IS THE UNIVERSE ECONOMICALLY VIABLE? WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE SOME CONSEQUENCES OF SIZE THE FORCES OF NATURE MANIPULATING THE UNIVERSE CRITICALITY: THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS DEMONS: COUNTING THE COST TWO TYPES OF FUTURE IS TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS INEVITABLE (OR ALWAYS DESIRABLE)?—A FABLE CHAPTER 6: COSMOLOGICAL LIMITS THE LAST HORIZON INFLATION—STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS CHAOTIC INFLATION IS THE UNIVERSE OPEN OR CLOSED? ETERNAL INFLATION THE NATURAL SELECTION OF UNIVERSES TOPOLOGY DID THE UNIVERSE HAVE A BEGINNING? NAKED SINGULARITIES: THE FINAL FRONTIER DIMENSIONS SYMMETRY-BREAKING CHAPTER 7: DEEP LIMITS PATTERNS IN REALITY PARADOXES CONSISTENCY TIME TRAVEL: IS THE UNIVERSE SAFE FOR HISTORIANS? COMPLETENESS IMPOSSIBLE CONSTRUCTIONS METAPHORICAL IMPOSSIBILITIES CHAPTER 8: IMPOSSIBILITY AND US GÖDEL'S THEOREM AND PHYSICS DOES GÖDEL STYMIE PHYSICS? GÖDEL, LOGIC, AND THE HUMAN MIND THE PROBLEM OF FREE WILL THE REACTION GAME MATHEMATICS THAT COMES ALIVE A STRANGER SORT OF IMPOSSIBILITY THE ARROW IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM CHAPTER 9: IMPOSSIBILITY: TAKING STOCK TELLING WHAT IS FROM WHAT ISN'T NOTES