Hervé P. Zwirn
The Limits of Knowledge Publication date : October 1, 2000
In Les Limites de la Connaissance, Hervé Zwirn presents, analyses and interprets the paradoxes that twentieth-century science has led us to. These include the logical-mathematical paradoxes of set theory, which resulted in Gödels famous theorem, and the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, of which the most famous, known as EPR, was discovered by Einstein and recently resolved by Alain Aspect.
Both the form and content of this book are original. The content is innovative as this is the first time that both types of paradoxes are presented side by side. Other books have been published that examine either logical-mathematical paradoxes or the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, but never before have the two been presented together. The form innovates in its three-level presentation of scientific information: the first level offers a brief, elementary explanation which should nonetheless give the curious reader an accurate idea of the subject; the second delves deeper and in greater detail, but should require no more than concentration on the part of the interested reader; and the third, technical level is aimed at specialised readers.
Les Limites de la Connaissance is more than a work of popular science. In it the author has developed a philosophical thesis on the limits of knowledge, related to the controversial issues raised by the Sokal case.
Hervé Zwirn studied at the Ecole Polytechnique and holds a doctorate in theoretical physics. A researcher at the Institut dHistoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, he is also the director general of Eurobios, a company that seeks to apply complex scientific models to issues raised by the new economy.
Both the form and content of this book are original. The content is innovative as this is the first time that both types of paradoxes are presented side by side. Other books have been published that examine either logical-mathematical paradoxes or the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, but never before have the two been presented together. The form innovates in its three-level presentation of scientific information: the first level offers a brief, elementary explanation which should nonetheless give the curious reader an accurate idea of the subject; the second delves deeper and in greater detail, but should require no more than concentration on the part of the interested reader; and the third, technical level is aimed at specialised readers.
Les Limites de la Connaissance is more than a work of popular science. In it the author has developed a philosophical thesis on the limits of knowledge, related to the controversial issues raised by the Sokal case.
Hervé Zwirn studied at the Ecole Polytechnique and holds a doctorate in theoretical physics. A researcher at the Institut dHistoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, he is also the director general of Eurobios, a company that seeks to apply complex scientific models to issues raised by the new economy.