I read the new book by Hawking and Mlodinow with interest but with surprise at some facile ex cathedra statements including not only the one about "philosophy is dead" but also some statements about physics that seemed to come out of nowhere, stated with far more assurance than seemed warranted. A quick check at Amazon of reader comments shows that I'm not alone in thinking that there's less here than meets the eye.
On the other hand, I can recommend highly the popular science book "The Dance of the Photons" by Anton Zeilinger, the Austrian experimental physicist who has been a major contributor to the new understandings of quantum mechanics that have emerged in the last few decades, made possible by highly sophisticated experimental techniques (e.g. single photon experiments, delayed choice experiments, etc.). At one point in the book he appropriately celebrates measurements that quantitatively address certain aspects of reality that have long been major issues in philosophy (and physics). These recent measurements actually rule out some plausible philosophical stances with respect to reality. It's intriguing that a physical measurement could do that. Bruce ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
