Cosmic Impressions: Traces of God in the Laws of Nature

Reflecting on a lifetime of work in theoretical physics, Thirring tempers scientific progress with humility as he describes a universe where "[w]e're able to explain a lot of things that previously appeared incomprehensible, but only by introducing new, strange, and wondrous explanations." From the conditions of the Big Bang to the life cycle of stars, planetary dynamics to the foundations of chemistry, Thirring observes that "at a crossroads... the turn has always been taken that would ultimately allow the creation of human existence." Do all these coincidences suggest a Creator? Thirring believes so, even as he resists any suggestion that science can "prove the existence of God." The interplay between random processes and exquisitely finely tuned natural laws is simply too marvelous to attribute to chance. At turns brilliant, difficult, enthusiastic and quirky, the text breathes with Thirring's passion for solving scientific and mathematical puzzles. In spite of efforts to make the material more accessible to nonspecialists (such as relocating some calculations to appendixes), the text remains highly technical at points. Vignettes of the author's encounters with 20th-century physics greats like Einstein, Pauli, Heisenberg and Schrödinger provide a respite from the equations and illustrate the very human face of scientific discovery. (June)