Tony Rothman

Doubt and Certainty is a book on science--physics, mostly--and philosophy by two academic physicists: Tony Rothman and George Sudarshan. The back cover credits Sudarshan with discovering the first theory of the weak nuclear force; Rothman also appears to be an active researcher. The book is a whimsical report of an imaginary gathering in which some of history's greatest thinkers (along with some lesser lights) meet to argue about time, entropy, creation, matter, cosmology, mathematics, etc. As a non- specialist in most of these areas, I found the descriptions of the scientific thought to be fascinating. As one who feels that the scientific community often gets too big for its britches, I took guilty pleasure in the candid portrayal of the disagreements that have existed and continue to exist among scientists on seemingly basic questions.

I dock this book one star because, after a while, the lighthearted nature of the writing begins to grate a little.… (altro)