Product Description

Deutsch's pioneering and accessible book integrates recent advances in theoretical physics and computer science to explain and connect many topics at the leading edge of current research and thinking, such as quantum computers, and physics of time travel, and the ultimate fate of the universe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49605 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780140275414
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
"Our best theories are not only truer than common sense, they make more sense than common sense," writes physicist David Deutsch. In The Fabric of Reality, Deutsch traces what he considers the four main strands of scientific explanation: quantum theory, evolution, computation, and the theory of knowledge. "The four of them taken together form a coherent explanatory structure that is so far-reaching, and has come to encompass so much of our understanding of the world, that in my view it may already properly be called the first Theory of Everything." Deutsch covers some difficult material with unusual clarity. Each chapter ends with a summary and definitions of important terms, which makes the work an invaluable sourcebook.

From Library Journal
Common sense and reality diverge and then come together again in this mind-blowing book. Maintaining that the best explanation for certain quantum phenomena is that there are parallel universes, i.e., multiverses, Oxford physicist Deutsch posits and then attempts to unify four basic strands?quantum physics, epistemology, evolution, and the theory of computation. Just one astonishing consequence is that quantum computers can collaborate between universes. Deutsch's ideas are exotic and challenging, but his text is surprisingly accessible, and he supplies a glossary and summary at the end of every chapter. For motivated readers, this book is a feast for the mind. Strongly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.?Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, Fla.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In the library of physics for laypeople, Deutsch's book is unique. Correction: it is multiversal, existing in innumerable universes that Deutsch argues exist alongside the "real" universe that people perceive. Explaining that, and persuading the reader of its scientific truth, makes this work unique. Another of Deutsch's mindbenders is that each person could be resurrected near the Big Crunch (if there is one) by a universal computer with infinite memory, a conclusion discussed (and unfairly dismissed by most scientists, according to Deutsch) in Frank Tipler's The Physics of Immortality (1994). Deutsch, a quantum physicist at Oxford University, builds toward the computerized second coming on the basis of the well-known, reproducible experiment that conclusively establishes the quantum nature of light and of reality. He then discusses three more topics--computation theory, evolution, and epistemology--combining them with quantum theory to construct his Theory of Everything, the grail of all theoretical physicists. Deutsch allows that his is a minority view among his peers, but the confidence with which he presents his views, and the absence of condescension in his style, accesses nonscientists to his seemingly alien world(s). Gilbert Taylor

Customer Reviews

Mind-bending analysis that falls short in places
Deutsch's presentation is fascinating, mind-expanding, challenging, provocative, and--at times--riveting. It is also infuriating, perplexing, reductive, and--at times--vague. (Please note: I am not convinced that the multiverse as Deutsch describes it exists, nor am I threatened by the possibility that it might. As a result, I do not mean to quarrel with--or support--the idea itself. Instead, I am reviewing Deutsch's book from the point of view of a lay reader.)

I do recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a summary of the pursuit of a "theory of everything" and a defense of the science of parallel universes. Deutsch's theory of everything depends on four theories: quantum (as espoused by Everett), epistemology (Popper), evolution (Dawkins), and computation (Turing). Even if one does not ultimately agree with Deutsch's ideas, his book offers some interesting thought experiments (the chapter on "time travel" is especially fun) and a concise overview of several scientific trends. In addition, his book provides a decent defense of why the theory of the multiverse should be considered a reasonable explanation for the interference results obtained the infamous two-slit experiment.

That said, I do think Deutsch's book contains many shortcomings. First, although the multiverse may be a valid explanation for interference phenomenon, Deutsch fails to convince that it is THE explanation. In one short paragraph, he dismisses David Bohm's theory of wave-particle duality. "Working out what Bohm's invisible wave will do requires the same computations as working out what trillions of shadow photons will do." One could easily reverse this sentence as a criticism of Everett and Deutsch: that the trillions of unseen photons requires the same computations as working out what Bohm's single invisible wave will do. Deutsch does not explain (in this book, anyway) why trillions of photons are simpler than one wave, and he does his readers a disservice by pretending that Bohm's work does not deserve a full refutation.

Second, and similarly, Deutsch dismisses with an even shorter paragraph the charge that his "theory of everything" is anthropocentric. (He pretty much admits it is, but tries--unconvincingly, to this reader--to turn it into an argument in his favor.) Third, his discussion of evolution (one of the four "equal" strands of his theory of everything) is a mere 25 pages and, unlike the rest of the book, is at times incomprehensible and seems completely indebted to Dawkins. (Not that there is anything wrong with Dawkins's work; rather, Deutsch just seems in over his head during this part of the book.) Fourth, he rejects Kuhn's belief in the rigidity of scientific paradigms (for example, the inability of thinkers in Galileo's time to accept the full implications of the Copernican system because they were so used to thinking of the world in Ptolemaic and Judeo-Christian terms), but then he describes a modern scientific establishment that refuses to accept the multiverse implications of quantum theory because they are rooted to the concept of a single universe. (Just because modern scientific discourse is more civil does not mean that Kuhn's argument is incorrect. Deutsch's opponents are still mocking him behind his back, in book reviews, and anonymously on this Web site. Or, even more effectively, they are ignoring him altogether.) And, finally, his discussion of Tipler's omega-point theory is hurried and unfortunately nebulous: at one point, Deutsch seems to be saying that knowledge in the universe will become omniscient and omnipresent--which is practically the same as saying that the universe will become itself.

Nevertheless, regardless of what you think of its implications, Deutsch's views deserve serious consideration and, as necessary, rebuttal--not mockery and scorn. In the same way that we read Lucretius even though we know him to be wrong (or, for that matter, Einstein because we believe he is mostly right), we should read Deutsch's work because he challenges the way we look at our world.

Best science book of the decade
There are a lot of books that try to explain science to the layman and forward some new and grandiose worldview at the same time. Most of them do okay at the former, but fail miserably at the latter. This book does both, perhaps better than any book I've ever read (and I read a lot of science books). Deutsch identifies and explains the most important and interesting aspects of both quantum theory (his main topic) and the intimate relationships between it and the sciences of epistemology, computability, and evolution. The explanations are intuitive and easy to follow if you have any technical background at all, and sometimes even if you don't. Better yet, he convincingly synthesizes them into a truly compelling argument for a new (well, okay, not new but not yet widely accepted) view of reality on the deepest and widest possible scale. He steps onto a bit more shaky ground when he tries to bring in a "kitchen sink" of disciplines, some of which he doesn't seem to know nearly as much about as his native discipline (physics). Still, even the less convincing extensions to his basic idea are well considered and thought-provoking. And the basic idea itself--that zillions of not-quite-identical copies of our universe exist and are just as real and tangible as our own--is more than enough to make this book a phenomenal "mind-expanding" experience

It will all be clear in 20 years...
David Deutch's 'Fabric of Reality' marks the triumphant return of Natural Philosophy. The central aim of this book is to present the structure of our best theories (evolution, [Quantum] computer science and epistemology) in a way that clearly relates them to our understanding of reality, and then show how these structures are inextricably intertwined. I believe he is remarkably successful and displays a thorough understanding of the subject matter outside of his 'native' QM as those subjects relate to his 'Theory of Everything'. Speaking of which, he is also the first (that I know of) to come anywhere close to understanding what this TOE really IS (and will become). That is, our TOE is now, and at any point in the future or past, the core intertwining of these theoretical strucures he so elegantly exposes.

In order to appreciate this book, it is neccessary to understand the angle Deutch takes on the undertanding of science and the growth of knowledge. And this requires a bit of historical context.

In the early 20th century, the two infant sciences of quantum mechanics and computation theory had no observed connections. In turn, the counter-intuitive results of the quantum theory (as revealed over the next 100 years) led to a loss of confidence in our ability to understand reality (as expoused by such buzzwords as 'uncertainty'). This intellectual climate led many of our best scientists to ignore the importance of taking our best theories seriously. Instrumentalism and positivism flourished. Explaination and understanding where not considered fundamentally important. Everything was arbitrary and only utility mattered (in the sense that accurate prediction was thought to be the only useful thing to do with a theory). Consequently, it was not understood how knowledge grew, as understanding itself was seen as unimportant!

If any of Deutsch's four theoretical 'strands' could be called the seed of Deutch's synthesis, it would be Popper's epistemology. For it is this explainatory structure that provides the 'structure for the structure' that Deutch then fits the remaining strands into. Essentially, Popperian epistemology says that knowledge grows only through the process of trial and error, conjecture and refutation, not by some inductive process. And the key to formulating a conjecture that will survive the refutation process is understanding the explainatory structures of our best theories as they relate to the problem's domain. The creation of new knowledge requires the human capacities of innovation and creativity, specifically the mysterious weaving process whereby similarities between seemingly disparate phenomenon are spontaneously seen. This is how Deutch weaves an accurate (though tenative) description of reality. More importantly, this is how Deutch's reality says it must be [self consistency]. If Deustch's theory itself is true, then, it constitutes a growth of knowledge. The theory itself describes how this can happen.

I would guess that Deutch had his first glimpse of the woven threads when he figured out that computation theory, once thought to be purely an abstract construct, had to have a physical basis in reality. After all, computers are physical objects, subject to the laws of physics. Alan Turing's classical computation theory had many incompatibilities with classical physics that kept it in the realm of abstractions, but we now know classical phyics is false. This physical basis for computation turned out to have its roots in our newest, most fundamental (reductively speaking) physical theory, quantum mechanics. Combine this with the role of computation in evolution (genes 'rendering' environments), along with the role of our senses in representing our environment to our brains (virtual reality), and the growth of knowledge (rendering ideas) and you can see how computational processes are fundamental to Deutch's reality.

Deutch's contribtions to science and philosophy probably won't be appreciated until we have working, practical quantum computers. Only then, when his theories are what allow us to build our working technology will he be taken seriously. 'Fabric of Reality' provides us then with a prescient glimpse of what will eventually become our world view, describing the first great unification of our best theories.