Masks of the Universe; Changing Ideas on the Nature of the Cosmos. by HARRISON, Edward (1919-2007) - 2002

Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press, 2002., 2002. 8vo. ix, 331 pp. Figs., index. Black gilt-stamped cloth. Near fine. ISBN: 0521773512 / 0-521-77351-2 Second edition. 'In an age where philosophers and social scientists are trying to outdo one another in imitating physicists, it's refreshing and perhaps fitting that a physicist should remind them that there are important subjects that can't be approached in this way . . . Harrison has done a marvelous piece of historical research, and the book is filled with gems . . . He speaks in the language of science about mankind's age-old need to find meaning and order in a seemingly senseless Universe.' – [book review], James Trefil, New York Times. "To the ancient Greeks the universe consisted of earth, air, fire, and water. To Saint Augustine it was the Word of God. To many modern scientists it is the dance of atoms and waves, and in years to come it may be different again. What then is the real Universe? History shows that in every age each society constructs its own universe, believing it to be the real and final Universe. Yet each universe is only a model or mask of the unknown Universe. Originally published in 2003, this book brings together fundamental scientific, philosophical, and religious issues in cosmology, raising thought-provoking questions. In every age people have pitied the universes of their ancestors, convinced that they have at last discovered the ultimate truth. Does the modern model stand at the threshold of discovering everything, or will it, like all the rest, come to be pitied?" [CUP]. CONTENTS: Preface – Introducing the masks – Part I. Worlds in the Making: – 1. The magic Universe – 2. The mythic Universe – 3. The geometric Universe – 4. The medieval Universe – 5. The infinite Universe – 6. The mechanistic Universe – Part II. The Heart Divine: – 7. Dance of the atoms and waves – 8. Fabric of space and time – 9. Nearer to the heart's desire – 10. The cosmic tide – 11. Do dreams ever come true? – Part III. The Cloud of Unknowing: – 12. The witch universe – 13. The spear of Archytas – 14. All that is made – 15. The cloud of unknowing – 16. Learned ignorance. / The author is a former distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, then the University of Arizona.