A tear at the edge of creation
Subtitle: searching for the meaning of life in an imperfect cosmos
By: Marcelo Gleiser.
Edition: 1st Free Press hardcover ed.
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 285
ISBN-13: 9781439108321
Subjects: Cosmology; Life (Biology)
Description: From the Introduction...

The cornerstone of any unification theory is the notion that a more profound description of Nature possesses a higher level of mathematical symmetry. Echoing the teachings of Pythagoras and Plato, this idea carries with it an implicit aesthetic judgment that such theories are more beautiful, and, as the poet John Keats wrote in 1819, that “beauty is truth.” And yet, as we investigate the experimental evidence for unification, or even for how such ideas can be experimentally verified, we find very little hard data supporting them. Of course, symmetry remains an essential tool in the physical sciences. But during the past fifty years, discoveries in experimental physics have shown time and again that our expectations of higher symmetry are more expectations than realities.

Although at first very distressing at a personal level, this realization eventually led my work in a new direction. I began to recognize that it is not symmetry but the presence of asymmetry that best represents some of the most basic aspects of Nature. Symmetry may have its appeal, but it is inherently stale: some kind of imbalance is behind every transformation. As I explain in this book, from the origin of matter to the origin of life, the emergence of structure depends fundamentally on the existence of asymmetries.

Slowly, my thoughts converged into an aesthetic based on imperfection rather than perfection. I found that asymmetry is beautiful precisely for being imperfect just as Marilyn Monroe's mole is beautiful. The revolution in modern art and music started more than a century ago is, to a large extent, an expression of this aesthetic. Now, it's time for science to let go of the old aesthetic that espouses perfection as beauty and beauty as truth.

This new take on science has far-reaching implications. If we are here because Nature is imperfect, how common is life in the universe? Can we guarantee that, given similar conditions, life will emerge elsewhere? What about intelligent life? Are there other thinking beings in the cosmos? Quite unexpectedly, my scientific quest led me to a new understanding of being human: science turned existential.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: label: Introduction; label: PART I
title: ONENESS; label: 1
title: Burst!; label: 2
title: Fear of Darkness; label: 3
title: Transition; label: 4
title: Belief; label: 5
title: Oneness: Beginnings; label: 6
title: The Pythagorean Myth; label: 7
title: Living the Platonic Dream; label: 8
title: God, the sun; label: 9
title: To Hold the Key to the Cosmos in Your Mind…; label: 10
title: Kepler's Mistake; label: PART II
title: THE ASYMMETRY OF TIME; label: 11
title: The Big Bang Confirmed; label: 12
title: The World in a Grain of Sand; label: 13
title: Light Acts in Mysterious Ways; label: 14
title: The Imperfection of Electromagnetism; label: 15
title: The Birth of Atoms; label: 16
title: From Creation Myths to the Quantum: A Brief History; label: 17
title: Leap of Faith; label: 18
title: The Jitterbug Cosmos; label: 19
title: The Universe That We See; label: 20
title: The Faltering Big Bang Model; label: 21
title: Back to the Beginning; label: 22
title: Exotic Primordial Matter; label: 23
title: A Small Patch of Weirdness; label: 24
title: Darkness Falls; label: 25
title: Darkness Rules; label: PART III
title: THE ASYMMETRY OF MATTER; label: 26
title: Symmetry and Beauty; label: 27
title: A More Intimate Look at Symmetry; label: 28
title: Energy Flows, Matter Dances; label: 29
title: Violation of a Beautiful Symmetry; label: 30
title: The Material World; label: 31
title: Science of the Gaps; label: 32
title: Symmetries and Asymmetries of Matter; label: 33
title: The Origin of Matter in the Universe; label: 34
title: A Universe in Transition; label: 35
title: Unification: A Critique; label: PART IV
title: THE ASYMMETRY OF LIFE; label: 36
title: Life!; label: 37
title: The spark of Life; label: 38
title: Life from No Life: First Steps; label: 39
title: First Life: The “When” Question; label: 40
title: First Life: The “Where” Question; label: 41
title: First Life: The “How” Question; label: 42
title: First Life: The Building Blocks; label: 43
title: The Man Who Killed the Life Force; label: 44
title: L'Univers Est Dissymétrique!; label: 45
title: The Chirality of Life; label: 46
title: From So Asymmetric a Beginning…; label: 47
title: We Are All Mutants; label: PART V
title: THE ASYMMETRY OF EXISTENCE; label: 48
title: Fear of Darkness II; label: 49
title: Is the Universe Conscious?; label: 50
title: Meaning and Awe; label: 51
title: Beyond Symmetry and Unification; label: 52
title: Marilyn Monroe's Mole and the Fallacy of a Cosmos “Just Right” for Life; label: 53
title: Rare Earth, Rare Life?; label: 54
title: Us and Them; label: 55
title: Cosmic Loneliness; label: 56
title: A New Directive for Humanity; label: Epilogue
title: Garden of Delights; label: Notes; label: Bibliography; label: Acknowledgments; label: Index