The Beginning of Infinity
The Beginning of Infinity is a work by the physicist David Deutsch, a pioneer of quantum computing. The book argues that the human capacity to create good explanations is the source of nearly unlimited progress. Deutsch contends that knowledge, once we learn to seek explanations that are hard to vary, can grow without inherent limit, shaping our understanding of physics, biology, philosophy, politics, and the future. He covers topics including the nature of scientific explanation, quantum theory and the multiverse, the philosophy of mathematics, the failures of empiricism, and the prospects for humanity reaching beyond Earth. Drawing on Karl Popper's view of knowledge as conjecture and criticism, Deutsch presents an optimistic case that problems are soluble and that there is no fundamental boundary to what people can come to understand and achieve.
What you might want to know about The Beginning of Infinity
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A physicist argues that the growth of human knowledge through good explanations has unlimited potential.
Deutsch argues that the creation of good explanations gives human knowledge unlimited potential for growth and progress.
He is a British physicist at Oxford and a pioneer of quantum computing, also known for the earlier book The Fabric of Reality.
The Beginning of Infinity was written by David Deutsch, published in 2008 by Viking Adult.
The Beginning of Infinity is 487 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Beginning of Infinity takes most readers 7 to 11 hours to finish.
The Beginning of Infinity is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.