A COLLECTION of essays by big thinkers answering big questions may never be a page-turner, but should still be deeply satisfying. And This Explains Everything delivers.
Its editor, John Brockman, is the man behind the Edge website, which has been inviting scientists, philosophers, artists and science journalists to tackle a big question annually since 1998.
The 2012 question comes from neuroscientist Steven Pinker: "What is your favourite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?" It draws thoughtful responses, collected here, from a diverse band that includes Nobel prizewinning physicist Frank Wilczek, philosopher Gloria Origgi and Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray ith.
Charles Darwin's evolution by natural selection earns many nominations, but other answers range widely. For example, psychologists Stephen Kosslyn and Robin Rosenberg celebrate classical conditioning, discovered by Ivan (salivating dogs) Pavlov, and computer scientist Jon Kleinberg uses your family tree to illustrate the pigeonhole principle in mathematics, his choice.
Alan Alda, best known as Hawkeye in the 1970s TV show Mash, quotes Hamlet's famous line: "There are more things in heaven and earth... than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Though far from science, Hamlet captures an essential truth, Alda argues: "With every door into nature we nudge open, 100 new doors become visible."
