The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch : Mind bending and far reaching treatise on Science

The Beginning of Infinity is great read. It is supremely ambitious and full of great big ideas on what makes sets humans apart from the rest of the planet.

It is philosophy but it also a great treatise on what makes science work, what makes great art great and what is that makes stories tick. It is about how abstractions are as real as reality itself, how science is not theories but explanations that haven't failed. He talks about how science is about good explanations. He then goes on to talk about how the best stories are the ones that are consistent and that the best fictional worlds have their basis in good explanations. He also talks about how societies prosper, thrive and what causes them to fall by the wayside. There is a chapter in which he explains parallel universes which might get a little weighty for most but the rest of the book should make for some mind bending reading.

That he manages to do this in a style that is clear, concise and lucid, never once talking down to the reader is a feat in itself. Just a brilliant piece of work.

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