Cosmosapiens: Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe
Oct 2017 · Abrams
Ebook
705
Pages
About this ebook
"A critical overview of scientific orthodoxy in an attempt to answer the fundamental questions "what are we?" and "why are we here?" ( Kirkus Reviews).
Specialist scientific fields are developing at incredibly swift speeds, but what can they really tell us about how the universe began and how we as humans evolved to play such a dominant role on Earth?
John Hands's extraordinarily ambitious book merges scientific knowledge from multiple disciplines and evaluates without bias or preconception all the theories and evidence about the origin and evolution of matter, consciousness, and mankind. The result, a "pearl of dialectical reasoning" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review), provides the most comprehensive account yet of current ideas such as cosmic inflation, dark energy, the selfish gene, and neurogenetic determinism. In the clearest possible prose, it differentiates the firmly established from the speculative and examines the claims of various fields to approach a unified theory of everything. In doing so it challenges the orthodox consensus in those branches of cosmology, biology, and neuroscience that have ossified into dogma. Its "shocking and invigorating" analysis ( Daily Telegraph, A Best Science Book of 2015) reveals underlying patterns of cooperation, complexification, and convergence that lead to the unique emergence in humans of a self-reflective consciousness that enables us to determine our future evolution. This groundbreaking book is destined to become a classic of scientific thinking.
Praise for Cosmosapiens
"This is a truly exceptional piece of work." —Tim Crane, Knightsbridge Professor of Philosophy, The University of Cambridge
"A game-changer. In the tradition of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lucidly written, penetrating analysis challenges us to rethink many things we take for granted about ourselves, our society, and our universe. It will become a classic." —Peter Dreier, E P Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College
"Hands is an astute observer of recent trends in scientific ideas bold enough to point out what he sees as sense and nonsense and intelligently explain why. Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking." —Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University
Specialist scientific fields are developing at incredibly swift speeds, but what can they really tell us about how the universe began and how we as humans evolved to play such a dominant role on Earth?
John Hands's extraordinarily ambitious book merges scientific knowledge from multiple disciplines and evaluates without bias or preconception all the theories and evidence about the origin and evolution of matter, consciousness, and mankind. The result, a "pearl of dialectical reasoning" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review), provides the most comprehensive account yet of current ideas such as cosmic inflation, dark energy, the selfish gene, and neurogenetic determinism. In the clearest possible prose, it differentiates the firmly established from the speculative and examines the claims of various fields to approach a unified theory of everything. In doing so it challenges the orthodox consensus in those branches of cosmology, biology, and neuroscience that have ossified into dogma. Its "shocking and invigorating" analysis ( Daily Telegraph, A Best Science Book of 2015) reveals underlying patterns of cooperation, complexification, and convergence that lead to the unique emergence in humans of a self-reflective consciousness that enables us to determine our future evolution. This groundbreaking book is destined to become a classic of scientific thinking.
Praise for Cosmosapiens
"This is a truly exceptional piece of work." —Tim Crane, Knightsbridge Professor of Philosophy, The University of Cambridge
"A game-changer. In the tradition of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lucidly written, penetrating analysis challenges us to rethink many things we take for granted about ourselves, our society, and our universe. It will become a classic." —Peter Dreier, E P Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College
"Hands is an astute observer of recent trends in scientific ideas bold enough to point out what he sees as sense and nonsense and intelligently explain why. Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking." —Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University
"A critical overview of scientific orthodoxy in an attempt to answer the fundamental questions "what are we?" and "why are we here?" ( Kirkus Reviews).
Specialist scientific fields are developing at incredibly swift speeds, but what can they really tell us about how the universe began and how we...
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About the author
John Hands devoted more than ten years to evaluating scientific theories about human evolution from the origin of the universe, resulting in the award-winning COSMOSAPIENS, published in the UK, USA, Germany, China, Spain, Korea, and Romania. He graduated in science from the University of London, and then founded the Society for Co-operative Dwellings, published Housing Co-operatives, and scripted, directed, and presented a documentary More Than a Place to Live for BBC2 Television. He was the founding Director of the UK Government's Co-operative Housing Agency. His three critically acclaimed novels, Perestroika Christi, Darkness at Dawn, and Brutal Fantasies were published in the UK and USA, while Perestroika Christi was also published in Germany, Brazil, Russia, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine. He was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at University College London for 5 years. Previously he had taught physics for Britain's Open University for 4 years.
John Hands devoted more than ten years to evaluating scientific theories about human evolution from the origin of the universe, resulting in the award-winning COSMOSAPIENS, published in the UK, USA, Germany, China, Spain, Korea, and Romania. He graduated in science from the University of London, ...
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