Why Beliefs Matter ─ Reflections on the Nature of Science

In the follow-up to his acclaimed Science in the Looking Glass, Brian Davies discusses deep problems about our place in the world, using a minimum of technical jargon. The book argues that `absolutist' ideas of the objectivity of science, dating back to Plato, continue to mislead generations of both theoretical physicists and theologians. It explains that the multi-layered nature of our present descriptions of the world is unavoidable, not because of anything about the world, but because of our own human natures. It tries to rescue mathematics from the singular and exceptional status that it has been assigned, as much by those who understand it as by those who do not. Working throughout from direct quotations from many of the important contributors to its subject, it concludes with a penetrating criticism of many of the recent contributions to the often acrimonious debates about science and religions.

`It is a brilliant work, beautifully written, and brimming with surprising information and stimulating philosophical speculations.' Notices of teh American Mathematical Society

`. 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

`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.' The Times Literacy Supplement

Educated at the University of Oxford, Brian Davies is Professor of Mathematics at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He developed the theory of open quantum systems, writing a monograph on the subject which became the standard text. He has published over 200 articles and six books on subjects ranging from quantum theory to pure mathematics, and is currently working in both computational analysis and the philosophy of science. He has held visiting positions at a number of leading universities in Europe and the USA. He was awarded the Senior Berwick Prize by the London Mathematical Society in 1998, and was President of the London Mathematical Society 2008-2009