Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story の感想

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2012 was a great year for books on cosmology. Sean Carroll wrote as a man perfectly bilingual in English and physics-speak ( "The Particle at the End of the Universe" ); Jim Holt is a writer who seems to have a firm grasp of what it is those physicists are up to. A genuine 21C Renaissance Man.
Unfortunate title. The subtitle is a lot more helpful. Imagine Columbo out to solve one of the great philosophical problems of all times. There’s even a heart-warming dog story. Interviews with philosophically oriented scientists and scientifically oriented philosophers alternate with the musings of the author himself. The interviewees make quite a menagerie, ranging from the genius to the crackpot  although Mr Holt is careful not to do any such crude characterizing himself. The portrait of David Deutsch is priceless  worthy of Karl Kraus or Jon Stewart.
Mr Holt is obviously very bright and very widely read  and he wears both lightly and with good humor.