Abstract

This book is a rarity in the currently popular "physics-for-poets" genre insofar as it has a legitimate claim to the interests of metaphysicians and philosophers of science. The author is a veteran scholar who has achieved the unusual combination of professional respectability and commercial success. Although the nonscientific reader may at first be intimidated by the book's clutter of technical jargon, and although readers from all backgrounds may be annoyed by Comfort's compressed style and faddish language, colloquialisms, and mixed metaphors, the text is still quite readable, both since Comfort has provided a useful glossary of technical terms and since his presentation, while difficult in both form and content, is often witty and provocative--and never dull. But one who likes this book could also reasonably be expected to like Finnegan's Wake.