Overview

Cosmosapiens takes us on a quest to ascertain what science can reliably tell us about how and why we evolved from the origin of the universe and whether what we are makes us different from all other animals. John Hands's extraordinarily ambitious quest is to bring together this scientific knowledge and evaluate without bias or preconception all the theories and evidence about the origin and evolution of matter, life, consciousness, and humankind. From examining theories such as the Big Bang, Darwin's theory of evolution, dark matter and the selfish gene, John Hands challenges what we think we know, asking: are some theories of scientific dogma actually correct? This groundbreaking book is destined to become a classic of scientific thinking.

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9780715651216

Table of Contents

Reviews

'An audacious tour of all that science can teach us about the origin and evolution of humanity in the universe, start to finish. It's encyclopedic sweep can be read straight through or browsed in parts of special interest.' * Edward O. Wilson * A substantial, sceptical survey of the current state of scientific knowledge of about the most basic questions... An invaluable, encyclopedic achievement * A.N. Wilson, Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * Lucid and intelligible to the non-specialists... a book of astonishing ambition and scope * Tim Crane, Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * Audacious, ambitious, and philosophically completist study... a thoughtful treatise for the eternally curious * Starred review, Publishers Weekly * From dark energy to the selfish gene, Hands looks at how we know what we know - and what we don't. An overview of current thought on this ever fascinating subject * The Observer * This is a truly exceptional piece of work * Tim Crane, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge * A magisterial, persuasive and thought provoking survey of the horizons of modern science * Dr James Le Fanu, author of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine * Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking * Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University * John Hands has done a remarkable job of disentangling the many topics that are long overdue for reinterpretation. The enormous effort he has made to cover so many evolutionary questions is heroic... A major accomplishment * Professor James Shapiro, author of Evolution: A View From The 21st Century * A game-changer. In the tradition of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lucidly written, penetrating analysis challenges us to rethink many things we take for granted about ourselves, our society, and our universe. It will become a classic * Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College * A work as bold, broad, and challenging as this will no doubt tweak the bias any one of us may have regarding a particular event, but, then, so did Darwin's On the Origin of Species * Jeffrey Schwartz, Professor of Physical Anthropology and of The History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh * This book is an intellectual tour-de-force...highly recommended for anyone wishing to get a deeper insight into the fundamental but typically arcane theories that purport to explain where we and the universe that surrounds us are coming from * Professor Francis Heylighen, Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Group, Free University of Brussels * Any conventional Darwinist (and I am one of them) will find a lot to take exception to: but disagreement is the fuel of progress and if you enjoy an argument this is the book for you * Professor Steve Jones, author of The Language of the Genes * An audacious and admirable book... written with engaging style, and the strongest scientific ideas across a swathe of fields in physics and biology are presented lucidly * Larry Steinman, Professor of Neurological Sciences, Stanford University * Hands's voyage of inquiry will not only educate you, it will also surprise * Derek Shearer, Director, McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, Los Angeles * A fine book... brave, very wide ranging, synoptic * Professor Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe * [Hands] makes us realise how much we don't know. From his book we get that big picture he sought * Professor David Knight, author of The Making of Modern Science *

A substantial, sceptical survey of the current state of scientific knowledge of about the most basic questions... An invaluable, encyclopedic achievement -- A.N. Wilson * Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * Lucid and intelligible to the non-specialists... a book of astonishing ambition and scope -- Tim Crane * Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * Audacious, ambitious, and philosophically completist study... a thoughtful treatise for the eternally curious * Starred review, Publishers Weekly * From dark energy to the selfish gene, Hands looks at how we know what we know - and what we don't. An overview of current thought on this ever fascinating subject * The Observer * This is a truly exceptional piece of work -- Tim Crane, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge A magisterial, persuasive and thought provoking survey of the horizons of modern science -- Dr James Le Fanu, author of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking -- Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University John Hands has done a remarkable job of disentangling the many topics that are long overdue for reinterpretation. The enormous effort he has made to cover so many evolutionary questions is heroic... A major accomplishment -- Professor James Shapiro, author of Evolution: A View From The 21st Century A game-changer. In the tradition of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lucidly written, penetrating analysis challenges us to rethink many things we take for granted about ourselves, our society, and our universe. It will become a classic -- Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College A work as bold, broad, and challenging as this will no doubt tweak the bias any one of us may have regarding a particular event, but, then, so did Darwin's On the Origin of Species -- Jeffrey Schwartz, Professor of Physical Anthropology and of The History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh This book is an intellectual tour-de-force...highly recommended for anyone wishing to get a deeper insight into the fundamental but typically arcane theories that purport to explain where we and the universe that surrounds us are coming from -- Professor Francis Heylighen, Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Group, Free University of Brussels Any conventional Darwinist (and I am one of them) will find a lot to take exception to: but disagreement is the fuel of progress and if you enjoy an argument this is the book for you -- Professor Steve Jones, author of The Language of the Genes An audacious and admirable book... written with engaging style, and the strongest scientific ideas across a swathe of fields in physics and biology are presented lucidly -- Larry Steinman, Professor of Neurological Sciences, Stanford University Hands's voyage of inquiry will not only educate you, it will also surprise -- Derek Shearer, Director, McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, Los Angeles A fine book... brave, very wide ranging, synoptic -- Professor Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe [Hands] makes us realise how much we don't know. From his book we get that big picture he sought -- Professor David Knight, author of The Making of Modern Science

[Hands] makes us realise how much we don't know. From his book we get that big picture he sought -- Professor David Knight, author of The Making of Modern Science A fine book... brave, very wide ranging, synoptic -- Professor Stuart Kauffman, author of At Home in the Universe Hands's voyage of inquiry will not only educate you, it will also surprise -- Derek Shearer, Director, McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, Los Angeles An audacious and admirable book... written with engaging style, and the strongest scientific ideas across a swathe of fields in physics and biology are presented lucidly -- Larry Steinman, Professor of Neurological Sciences, Stanford University Any conventional Darwinist (and I am one of them) will find a lot to take exception to: but disagreement is the fuel of progress and if you enjoy an argument this is the book for you -- Professor Steve Jones, author of The Language of the Genes This book is an intellectual tour-de-force...highly recommended for anyone wishing to get a deeper insight into the fundamental but typically arcane theories that purport to explain where we and the universe that surrounds us are coming from -- Professor Francis Heylighen, Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Group, Free University of Brussels A work as bold, broad, and challenging as this will no doubt tweak the bias any one of us may have regarding a particular event, but, then, so did Darwin's On the Origin of Species -- Jeffrey Schwartz, Professor of Physical Anthropology and of The History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh A game-changer. In the tradition of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this lucidly written, penetrating analysis challenges us to rethink many things we take for granted about ourselves, our society, and our universe. It will become a classic -- Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College John Hands has done a remarkable job of disentangling the many topics that are long overdue for reinterpretation. The enormous effort he has made to cover so many evolutionary questions is heroic... A major accomplishment -- Professor James Shapiro, author of Evolution: A View From The 21st Century Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking -- Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University A magisterial, persuasive and thought provoking survey of the horizons of modern science -- Dr James Le Fanu, author of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine This is a truly exceptional piece of work -- Tim Crane, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge From dark energy to the selfish gene, Hands looks at how we know what we know - and what we don't. An overview of current thought on this ever fascinating subject * The Observer * Audacious, ambitious, and philosophically completist study... a thoughtful treatise for the eternally curious * Starred review, Publishers Weekly * Lucid and intelligible to the non-specialists... a book of astonishing ambition and scope -- Tim Crane * Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * A substantial, sceptical survey of the current state of scientific knowledge of about the most basic questions... An invaluable, encyclopedic achievement -- A.N. Wilson * Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year * 'An audacious tour of all that science can teach us about the origin and evolution of humanity in the universe, start to finish. It's encyclopedic sweep can be read straight through or browsed in parts of special interest.' -- Edward O. Wilson

'Lucid and intelligible to the non-specialists... This is a book of astonishing ambition and scope.' The Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 'An invaluable, encyclopedic achievement.' A N Wilson, The Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 'John Hands... argues that mind and matter evolved in unison and, one day, human consciousness and the star-filled universe will be revealed as part of the same cosmic whole. Such ideas were lapped up by the 19th-century followers of Hegel and it is both shocking and invigorating to hear them stated again...in the context of a quantum universe.' Nicholas Blincoe, The Telegraph Best Science Books of 2015 'Ever-fascinating subject.' Observer Tech Monthly

Author Information

John Hands devoted more than ten years of his life to evaluating scientific theories about human evolution from the origin of the universe. He graduated in Chemistry from the University of London and tutored in both Physics and Management Studies for the Open University and was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at University College London. He lives in London.

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