In Search of Ultimate Reality: Inside the Cosmologist's Abyss

by H Chris Ransford

Overview

Is there such a thing as a fundamental reality, something which was around before our universe came into existence and which will still remain when all matter, time, and space itself ultimately disappear? Something fundamental which, in turn, can make space and time and matter arise from seemingly nothing? Under most cosmological and physical models, the last known remnants of reality are the disembodied laws of mathematics—beyond which it is extremely difficult to probe further. Using contemporary physics, narrated at popular science level, Chris Ransford shows why full nothingness—a nothingness within which even the disembodied laws of mathematics would not exist—cannot possibly exist, and what most likely underpins and enables reality. This leads the author to a few thoughts as to how such knowledge may be verified, and then deployed to achieve a better alignment with reality. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783838273297
Publisher:	ibidem
Publication date:	09/30/2019
Sold by:	Libreka GmbH
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Physicist and engineer, educated in three different countries and holder of several advanced degrees incl. a “Grande Ecole” degree (Dipl.-Ing., INPG Grenoble.), Chris Ransford was a tutor and Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and at Monash University, and a guest academic at the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) in Germany on a DAAD scholarship. He is author of ‘The Far Horizons of Time: Time and Mind in the Universe’ (de Gruyter Open) and ‘God and the Mathematics of Infinity’ (ibidem).

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 A Question of Ultimate Origins 11

2 Don't Bend Reality 19

The Interpretation Issue 32

3 Which Ultimate Reality? 37

Mathematics? 40

In a Finite Universe 44

Other Contenders 49

Space? 50

Time? 50

Relativity? 51

Life? 53

Mindstuff? 59

Other views 68

4 How Our Reality Got Its Start 71

Whence the Big Bang? 73

5 Mind Over Matter: Glimpses of Different Realities 77

6 In the Abyss 89

7 Experimental Objections 103

8 New Questions 111

Epilogue: Aligning with Reality 123

Index of Cited Names 129

Further Reading 153

Editorial Reviews

In Search of Ultimate Reality is tightly argued. H. Chris Ransford's bridging of mathematics and spirit is quite compelling.

Hal Puthoff

This book contributes to advancing one of the important debates in society today and to resolving issues that have historically divided mankind so much.

Oleg Y. Latyshev-Maysky

I found this book to be a tightly reasoned, very readable, and insightful discussion of "ultimate reality." Books like this—that draw upon mathematics, physics, philosophy, and theology—offer some hope that our civilization might rise to the challenge and perhaps overcome some of the issues that confront us.

Greg Matloff