The Beginning of Infinity

‘Science has never had an advocate quite like David Deutsch … A computational physicist on a par with his touchstones Alan Turing and Richard Feynman, and a philosopher in the line of his greatest hero, Karl Popper. His arguments are so clear that to read him is to experience the thrill of the highest level of discourse available on this planet and to understand it’ Peter Forbes, Independent

In our search for truth, how far have we advanced? This uniquely human quest for good explanations has driven amazing improvements in everything from scientific understanding and technology to politics, moral values and human welfare. But will progress end, either in catastrophe or completion – or will it continue infinitely?

In this profound and seminal book, David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding, taking in the Infinity Hotel, supernovae and the nature of optimism, to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved – and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity’s infinite possibility.

‘This is Deutsch at his most ambitious, seeking to understand the implications of our scientific explanations of the world … I enthusiastically recommend this rich, wide-ranging and elegantly written exposition of the unique insights of one of our most original intellectuals’ Michael Berry, Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Bold … profound … provocative and persuasive’ Economist

‘David Deutsch may well go down in history as one of the great scientists of our age’ Scotsman.

Table of Contents

1. The Reach of Explanations

2. Closer to Reality

3. The Spark

4. Creation

5. The Reality of Abstractions

6. The Jump to Universality

7. Artificial Creativity

8. A Window on Infinity

9. Optimism

10. A Dream of Socrates

11. The Multiverse

12. A Physicist’s History of Bad Philosophy

13. Choices

14. Why are Flowers Beautiful?

15. The Evolution of Culture

16. The Evolution of Creativity

17. Unsustainable

18. The Beginning

About the Author

Born in Haifa, Israel, David Deutsch was educated at Cambridge and Oxford universities. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, where he is a member of the Centre for Quantum Computation. His many honors include the Institute of Physics’ Paul Dirac Prize and Medal. The author of The Fabric of Reality, he lives in England.