What We Cannot Know: Explorations at the Edge of Knowledge

Britain’s most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to show us what we cannot know. Is the universe infinite? Do we know what happened before the Big Bang? Where is human consciousness located in the brain? And are there more undiscovered particles out there, beyond the Higgs boson? In the modern world, science is king: weekly headlines proclaim the latest scientific breakthroughs and numerous mathematical problems, once indecipherable, have now been solved. But are there limits to what we can discover about our physical universe? In this very personal journey to the edges of knowledge, Marcus du Sautoy investigates how leading experts in fields from quantum physics and cosmology, to sensory perception and neuroscience, have articulated the current lie of the land. In doing so, he travels to the very boundaries of understanding, questioning contradictory stories and consulting cutting edge data. Is it possible that we will one day know everything? Or are there fields of research that will always lie beyond the bounds of human comprehension? And if so, how do we cope with living in a universe where there are things that will forever transcend our understanding? In What We Cannot Know, Marcus du Sautoy leads us on a thought-provoking expedition to the furthest reaches of modern science. Prepare to be taken to the edge of knowledge to find out if there’s anything we truly cannot know. In What We Cannot Know, the best of scientific and mathematical thought is brought to bear on the most profound questions of existence. Marcus du Sautoy, a top mathematician, guides us through this complex terrain with clarity and insight. For fans of Steven H. Strogatz (Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos), Edward Frenkel (Representation Theory, Mathematical Physics, and Integrable Systems), Jordan Ellenberg (Shape), Anil Ananthaswamy (Through Two Doors at Once), and Terrence P. Murphy (Complex Analysis).