Marcelo Gleiser

Marcelo Gleiser

Marcelo Gleiser was born on March 19th, 1959 and is currently 66 years old. Marcelo Gleiser was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gleiser attended Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro where he received a Master of Science degree and King's College London where he received a Ph.D.

Marcelo Gleiser is a Brazilian-American author of science, philosophy, and religion books. He is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and professor of astronomy and physics at Dartmouth College. He wrote a weekly column for the Brazilian Folha de S. Paulo newspaper and currently writes for BigThink.

His book’s title The Island of Knowledge is a direct analogy of the nature of knowledge. According to Gleiser, the human understanding of the world around us can only be compared to an isolated island in the middle of an ever-expansive sea. The more we make discovery of the things around our world, the more that isolated island grows and the more the island grows, the more we get to understand the expansiveness of the ocean.

According to Gleiser, the sea is quite expansive and so is our knowledge of the world which will never be complete. As we learn and discover more about the natural world, the more we come to learn how much little knowledge we have compared to the size of the world around us and answering one question only triggers ten more.

Gleiser starts his investigation into the limits of science by giving us a short history of science with an emphasis on physics. He traces the development of physics from the ancient world to the modern world with hopes to expose the several ways in which scientists have developed intricate theories about the universe. He does this in three main sections of the book.

The first part deals with cosmology and traces the advancement of cosmological models of the universe from Aristotle’s to modern string theory and multiverse universe models. Along the way, Gleiser introduces us to ideas of Newton, Copernicus, Einstein and more. Part two explores the world of quantum mechanics. The author takes us from the Atomists of the ancient world to the role of alchemy before chemistry and finally the strange realm of quantum mechanics.

He spends most of his time in this section discussing the weirdness of the quantum world such as the unpredictable nature of electrons and photons. Finally, in the third and final section, Gleiser explores the implications of the quantum theory for other branches such as neurology, computer science, and theories of the mind. Here, he contemplates the use of quantum theory for artificial intelligence, computer science, and simulation theory applications.

Gleiser connects everything to the rest of the story through connected links between science and philosophy. In the end, The Island of Knowledge is a detailed account of the history of science and an exploration of our understanding of the quantum mechanics. It’s a perfect starting point for anyone interested in physics, cosmology as well as quantum mechanics.

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Fans of Marcelo Gleiser also enjoy these authors:

1. Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
2. Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander Series.
3. Jane Austen, author of: Pride and Prejudice.
4. Terry Pratchett, author of: Good Omens.
5. Bill Bryson, author of the Bill Bryson Travel Books.

Marcelo Gleiser: F.A.Q