Compiling twenty articles on the nature of life and on the objective of thenatural sciences this remarkable book complements Robert Rosensgroundbreaking Life It... » 

Compiling twenty articles on the nature of life and on the objective of thenatural sciences this remarkable book complements Robert Rosensgroundbreaking Life Itself a work that influenced a wide range ofphilosophers biologists linguists and social scientists. Breaking free fromthe constraints of reductionist reasoning which maintains that simpleempirical mechanisms are the basis of all life the renowned biophysicisttackles a remarkable range of subjects that will stimulate similarly farreaching audiences.In Essays on Life Itself Rosen takes to task the central objective of thenatural sciences calling into question the attempt to create objectivity in asubjective world. The book opens with an exploration of the interaction betweenbiology and physics unpacking Schrdingers famous text What Is Life? andrevealing the shortcomings of the notion that artificial intelligence cantruly replicate life. Rosen also challenges the paradox of the brain asorganism and the receptacle of scientific reasoning. Elegantly rounding out hisargument the author reflects on the quandary of side effects moments whenscience confronts unpredicted outgrowths of a process thought to be reduced toa system.An intriguing enigma links all of the essays How can science explain theunpredictable? As a century defined by extraordinary scientific progress drawsto a close Essays on Life Itself is a critical work that asks readers toreconsider what we have learned and where science can lead us in the years tocome. «