Einstein, Gertrude Stein, Wittgenstein

Brockman (By the Late John Brockman and Afterwords continues to demonstrate that he is among the most imaginative, informed and witty of today's science writers. His title names the figures he sees as shapers of modern consciousness (he considers the story of Frankenstein to have foreshadowed the current notion of artificial intelligence). The book examines the most profound problems facing contemporary scientists while analyzing the theories they propose from the most advanced perspectives. Brockman's coverage of current astrophysics, with its emphasis on the Big Bang and the ""inflationary scenario,'' leads into admirably focused discussions of quantum theory and the ``biological universe'' opened up by the new molecular physics. Finally he reviews the cream of avant-garde scientific thinking today, 10 chapters filled with startling insights into the ``mathematical universe'' and the cosmic holism of David Bohm, Rupert Sheldrake and others whose ventures into ``meta-physics'' relate to Brockman's view that we are constantly ``re-inventing'' the universe. (March)