The scientific sublime : popular science unravels the mysteries of the universe

Description

"The sublime evokes our awe, our terror, and our wonder. Applied first in ancient Greece to the heights of literary expression, in the 18th-century the sublime was extended to nature and to the sciences, enterprises that viewed the natural world as a manifestation of God's goodness, power, and wisdom. In The Scientific Sublime, Alan Gross reveals the modern-day sublime in popular science. He shows how the great popular scientists of our time--Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, Steven Weinberg, Brian Greene, Lisa Randall, Rachel Carson, Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, and E. O. Wilson--evoke the sublime in response to fundamental questions: How did the universe begin? How did life? How did language?"--  Read more... Chapter 1. Isn't science sublime? -- Part One. The Physicists: Chapter 2. Richard Feynman: the consensual sublime Chapter 3. Steven Weinberg: the conjectural sublime Chapter 4. Lisa Randall: the technological sublime Chapter 5. Brian Greene: the speculative sublime Chapter 6. Stephen Hawking: the scientific sublime embodies -- Part Two. The Biologists: Chapter 7. Rachel Carson: the ethical sublime Chapter 8. Stephen Jay Gould's books: the balanced sublime Chapter 9. Stephen Jay Gould's essays: experiencing the sublime Chapter 10. Steven Pinker: the polymath sublime Chapter 11. Richard Dawkins: the mathematical sublime Chapter 12. E.O. Wilson: the biophilic sublime -- Part Three. Move over, God.