500 Pure Science
Barrow, John D. Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits. (Illus.) NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. xiii+279pp. $27.50. 97-35202. ISBN 0-198-51890-0. Index; C.I.P.
YA–T, GA ++
As we near the end of the 20th century, there has been a revival of fin-de-siècle concerns that we are reaching the "end of science"—that scientific research is approaching some sort of limit. John Barrow's book Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits is a timely and erudite survey of this issue. Barrow is an astronomer at the University of Sussex and also a prolific writer of popular science books; he is clearly a voracious reader himself. Reading his book is like having an excellent conversation with a well-read and chatty friend over a cup of coffee or glass of wine. While the central focus is clear, the volume exhibits a willingness to take delightful detours on side issues as they come up. The talk ranges knowledgeably over a wide variety of topics, including, for example, the sociology of the scientific research enterprise and the impact of Godel's incompleteness theorem on physics. The book's main issue itself is not trivial or "merely" philosophical by any means: Our understanding of the limits of science will determine the level of funding for scientific research, for example. Barrow convincingly shows that impossibility is a deep and subtle issue. In particular, pushing towards and understanding the limits of possibility is inherent to science. He also shows that it is possible to have an intelligent framing of the question of "impossibility" in the future. However, the answer to whether we will reach the limits of science is as you might expect from a conversation with an intelligent friend: Only the future can reveal that answer, and it may not.—Arjendu K. Pattanayak, Rice University, Houston, TX
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