Tim Crane
This is a truly exceptional piece of work.”
Booklist
Written with an outsider-like, philosophy-of-science attitude, Hands’ encyclopedic work will most likely appeal to readers interested in how scientists truly know what they claim to know.”
Larry Steinman
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.”
Library Journal
A thoughtful, well-written volume.”
Publishers Weekly
In this audacious, ambitious, and philosophically completist study, Hands leads an interdisciplinary search through all the current human knowledge that may help answer two burning questions: What are we, and where do we come from?…Hands grounds his musings in logic and scientific fact to produce a thoughtful treatise for the eternally curious.”
Peter Dreier
Hands’ book is a game-changer…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.”
AudioFile
Author John Hands’…theories, which vary in complexity, are presented in short snippets by the British-accented Jackson.”
Kirkus Reviews
A compendious work that will intrigue serious readers.”
New York Times bestselling author James Shapiro
A major accomplishment.”
Times Literary Supplement (London)
[A] book of astonishing ambition and scope.”
Open Letters Monthly
Hands wants to create here a grand synthesis of the history of scientific research in such fields as astronomy, physics, and evolutionary biology. He lays out a sharply lucid picture of each of these disciplines and expertly summarizes the latest thinking on each.
Nicholas Blincoe - The Telegraph (UK) Best Science Books of 2015
[A]rgues 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
Jeffrey Schwartz
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.”
Paul Steinhardt
John Hands is an astute observer of recent trends in scientific ideas bold enough to point out what he sees as sense and nonsense and intelligently explain why. Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking.
Professor David Knight
John Hands…came to realise, and makes us realise, how much we don't know. Nevertheless, he is optimistic, and when he comes to human evolution and a schematic view of our history, he is hopeful and sees progress in understanding and co-operation. From his book we get that big picture he sought.
Professor Stuart Kauffman
A fine book...brave, very wide ranging, synoptic.
Derek Shearer
With depth and virtuosity, John Hands explores the Big Questions of human existence: who are we? why are we here? where are we headed? …Hands's voyage of inquiry will not only educate you, it will also surprise.
Professor Steve Jones
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 James Shapiro
A major accomplishment
Professor Francis Heylighen
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.
Dr James Le Fanu
A magisterial, persuasive and thought provoking survey of the horizons of modern science.
TLS (A Best Book of the Year)
[A] Book of astonishing ambition and scope.
From the Publisher
A compendious work that will intrigue serious readers — Kirkus
Hands’s book is 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
This is a truly exceptional piece of work. — Tim Crane, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge
John Hands is an astute observer of recent trends in scientific ideas bold enough to point out what he sees as sense and nonsense and intelligently explain why. Even in cases where one might disagree, the arguments are thought-provoking. — Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Princeton University
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 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 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 major accomplishment — Professor James Shapiro, author of Evolution: A View From The 21st Century
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 Science, Stanford University
With depth and virtuosity, John Hands explores the Big Questions of human existence: who are we? why are we here? where are we headed? …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
John Hands…came to realise, and makes us realise, how much we don't know. Nevertheless, he is optimistic, and when he comes to human evolution and a schematic view of our history, he is hopeful and sees progress in understanding and co-operation. From his book we get that big picture he sought. — Professor David Knight, author of The Making of Modern Science
