New theories of everything: the quest for ultimate explanation

"In New Theories of Everything, John D. Barrow examines the ideas and controversies surrounding the ultimate explanation, and what the necessary ingredients of the theory might be. Developing his earlier work Theories of Everything, he tells of the concepts and predictions emerging at the cutting edge of theoretical physics, from the search for a final string theory to the idea of a multiverse and dark energy, as we strive to understand the development of complexity in the universe." "But this is not solely a book about modern ideas in physics, for Barrow also considers and reflects on the philosophical and cultural consequences of a Theory of Everything, its implications for our own existence in the world, and its limits too - for it cannot encompass what lies beyond the mathematical laws, a world not only of physical constants, but of emotions and judgements, of music and art. Yet, Barrow argues, we should not give up in bewilderment: he shows how many insights and questions arise from the pursuit of a Theory of Everything, and what these may mean for our understanding of the cosmos and our own place in it."--Jacket.