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`Davies is relatively rare: a mathematician prepared to blow the whistle on the inflated status of mathematics and risk the displeasure of his colleagues who have much of their psychological, disciplinary and social being invested in the subject's status.' Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement `E B Davies takes a down to earth, no-nonsense approach to the philosophy of science and mathematics. The book is, I believe, an important one and should be compared with Hofstadter's 'Godel, Escher, Bach' or Penrose's 'The Emperor's New Mind'.' Professor Michael Redhead, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge `The book is a straightforward and persuasive argument against reductionism, presented in many different contexts. It makes a valuable contribution to this important and much-discussed topic.' Spencer Weart, Director of History Center, American Institute of Physics `The author discusses fundamental issues that are involved in the knowledge we can gain of the external world and of the representation of that knowledge by scientific theories. It is an important subject and there is an academic market for such books to supplement and support the more technical courses in physics and general science.' Sir Alan Cook, FRS, Formerly Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Cambridge

...it is a brilliant work, beautifully written, and brimming with surprising information and stimulating philosophical speculations. Notices of the AMS, December 2005, Volume 52, Number 11. ... the leading mathematician E. Brian Davies is a refreshingly dissident voice ... One of the most impressive aspects of Davies' treatment is its breadth - he covers both the physical and life sciences and touches on philosophy ... those who read the book will find much to set them thinking, especially about the blind worship of mathematics that is often taken for granted in popular science books. The Times Higher Education Supplement ... all professionals are sure to learn something new ... I feel justified in commending this well-written book to the readership of Materials Today ... This will not help the reader to design a spintronic device, improved magnetic memory, or photonic 'crystal', but will reassure that, as a scientist in the 21st century, he or she is heir to an enormously varied and honorable tradition. Looking backwards contentedly leads to looking forward hopefully. materialstoday Science in the Looking Glass is worth reading in your leisure time. It is stimulating even when you disagree with the author. Physics Today Davies writes in an accessible, non-technical style. He favours concrete examples and down-to-earth refutations. He is not interested in engaging in the layers of scholarship and theoretical debates that surround virtually every idea that he examines, preferring instead to carve his own uncluttered path through the issue. This allows him to move swiftly and to cover much terrain ... The result can be fresh and exhilarating. Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement Science in the Looking Glass is an original and superbly intelligent attempt by someone who knows and loves the subject, to challenge the misconceptions and transcendental mysteries that cling so beguilingly to mathematics. Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement The value of this book for a mathematician lies in a number of mathematical examples that one can use to popularize mathematics ... an interesting and fairly exciting reading. Zentralblatt MATH

...it is a brilliant work, beautifully written, and brimming with surprising information and stimulating philosophical speculations. Notices of the AMS, December 2005, Volume 52, Number 11. ... the leading mathematician E. Brian Davies is a refreshingly dissident voice ... One of the most impressive aspects of Davies' treatment is its breadth - he covers both the physical and life sciences and touches on philosophy ... those who read the book will find much to set them thinking, especially about the blind worship of mathematics that is often taken for granted in popular science books. The Times Higher Education Supplement ... all professionals are sure to learn something new ... I feel justified in commending this well-written book to the readership of Materials Today ... This will not help the reader to design a spintronic device, improved magnetic memory, or photonic 'crystal', but will reassure that, as a scientist in the 21st century, he or she is heir to an enormously varied and honorable tradition. Looking backwards contentedly leads to looking forward hopefully. materialstoday Science in the Looking Glass is worth reading in your leisure time. It is stimulating even when you disagree with the author. Physics Today Davies writes in an accessible, non-technical style. He favours concrete examples and down-to-earth refutations. He is not interested in engaging in the layers of scholarship and theoretical debates that surround virtually every idea that he examines, preferring instead to carve his own uncluttered path through the issue. This allows him to move swiftly and to cover much terrain ... The result can be fresh and exhilarating. Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement Science in the Looking Glass is an original and superbly intelligent attempt by someone who knows and loves the subject, to challenge the misconceptions and transcendental mysteries that cling so beguilingly to mathematics. Brian Rotman, Times Literary Supplement The value of this book for a mathematician lies in a number of mathematical examples that one can use to popularize mathematics ... an interesting and fairly exciting reading. Zentralblatt MATH

Author Information

E Brian Davies, Tutorial Fellow at St John's College, Oxford in 1970 and one of two editors for the Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, Oxford. Developed the theory of open quantum systems, writing a monograph on the subject, which became the standard text. Appointed to the Chair of Pure Mathematics at King's College, London in 1981 and researched heat kernels and spectral theory. Subsequently became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1995. His monograph on heat kernels, involving several hundred publications and having applications in many parts of mathematics, is the authoritative text on the subject. Founded the London Mathematical Society Student Text Series in the 1980s, and has recently senior editor for the LMS Monographs. Has previously been a member of the National Advisory Board of the Isaac Newton Institute and sat on the Research Assessment Exercise Panel for Pure Mathematics in 2001. Published over 180 papers.

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