Science in the Looking Glass: What Do Scientists Really Know?

Davies (King's College, London), the developer of the theory of open quantum systems, argues—surprisingly for a mathematician —that math is a human creation that Nature is not governed by; subjective consciousness may be unexplainable; the most credible scientific theories often are the least mathematical; and philosophical issues are important in science. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

E Brian Davies, Tutorial Fellow at St John's College, Oxford in 1970 and one of two editors for the Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, Oxford. Developed the theory of open quantum systems, writing a monograph on the subject, which became the standard text. Appointed to the Chair of Pure Mathematics at King's College, London in 1981 and researched heat kernels and spectral theory. Subsequently became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1995. His monograph on heat kernels, involving several hundred publications and having applications in many parts of mathematics, is the authoritative text on the subject. Founded the London Mathematical Society Student Text Series in the 1980s, and has recently become Senior Editor for the LMS Monographs. Has previously been a member of the National Advisory Board of the Isaac Newton Institute and sat on the Research Assessment Exercise Panel for Pure Mathematics in 2001. Published over 180 papers.