The Fabric of Reality (1997)

Written on September 24th, 2023 by James

Author: David Deutsch

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synthesis of four critical strands of understanding: quantum theory, the theory of evolution, the theory of computation, and the theory of knowledge. Deutsch argues that, taken together, these offer a unified, coherent explanatory framework that can address many of the profound questions about the nature of reality.

Deutsch’s central claim is that the universe is inherently comprehensible and that through science and reason, we can come to understand its fundamental nature. Among the book’s many intriguing ideas, he delves into the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics, suggesting that our universe is just one among a vast and potentially infinite ensemble of parallel universes.

Throughout, he champions the idea of “good explanations” – those that are hard to vary while still accounting for what they purport to explain – as central to progress in science and understanding.