Alan Lightman might be the only writer who can dance through not just one but seven universes in a book not much larger than a human hand.
The Columbus Dispatch
In The Accidental Universe, physicist and novelist Alan Lightman explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in science, focusing most intently on the human condition and the needs of humankind.
Here, in a collection of exhilarating essays, Lightman shows us our own universe from a series of fascinating and diverse perspectives. He takes on the difficult dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has divorced us from enjoying a direct experience of the world; and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws alone.
With his customary passion, precision, lyricism and imagination, in The Accidental Universe Alan Lightman leaves us with the suggestion - heady and humbling - that what we see and understand of the world and ourselves is only a tiny piece of the extraordinary, perhaps unfathomable whole.
Praise for Alan Lightman:
'...a gem of a novel that is strange witty erudite and alive with Lightman's playful genius.' Junot Diaz.
'It would not seem possible for Alan Lightman to match his earlier tour de force, Einstein's Dreams, but in Mr g he has done so - with wit, imagination, and transcendent beauty.' Anita Desai.
Praise for Alan Lightman:
‘Lightman is an artist who paints with the notion of time.’ Los Angeles Times
‘Captivating, enchanting, delightful.’ New York Times
‘It would not seem possible for Alan Lightman to match his earlier tour de force, Einstein’s Dreams, but in Mr g he has done so – with wit, imagination, and transcendent beauty.’ Anita Desai
‘Just as he did with his incomparable Einstein’s Dreams, Alan Lightman again surprises us with a work that is utterly original in both form and content. Mr g is a philosophical fable which is at turns hilarious and moving, rendered with a literary hand so deft that the weightiest metaphysical topics levitate into pure delight.’ Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
[Barcode: 9781472109187]
Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman explores the unexpected ways in which recent scientific findings have shaped our understanding of ourselves and our place in the cosmos.
Here, in a collection of exhilarating essays, Lightman shows us our own universe from a series of fascinating and diverse perspectives. He takes on the difficult dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has divorced us from enjoying a direct experience of the world; and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws alone.
With his customary passion, precision, lyricism and imagination, Alan Lightman’s The Accidental Universe is a beautiful and profound meditation on what we see and understand of the world – and ourselves.
£9.99