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The Whole Truth: A Cosmologist’s Reflections on the Search for Objective Reality
From the Nobel Prize–winning physicist, a personal meditation on the quest for objective reality in natural science
A century ago, thoughtful people questioned how reality could agree with physical theories that kept changing, from a mechanical model of the ether to electric and magnetic fields, and from homogeneous matter to electrons and atoms. Today, concepts like dark matter and dark energy further complicate and enrich the search for objective reality. The Whole Truth is a personal reflection on this ongoing quest by one of the world’s most esteemed cosmologists.
What lies at the heart of physical science? What are the foundational ideas that inform and guide the enterprise? Is the concept of objective reality meaningful? If so, do our established physical theories usefully approximate it? P. J. E. Peebles takes on these and other big questions about the nature of science, drawing on a lifetime of experience as a leading physicist and using cosmology as an example. He traces the history of thought about the nature of physical science since Einstein, and succinctly lays out the fundamental working assumptions. Through a careful examination of the general theory of relativity, Einstein’s cosmological principle, and the theory of an expanding universe, Peebles shows the evidence that we are discovering the nature of reality in successive approximations through increasingly rigorous scrutiny.
A landmark work, The Whole Truth is essential reading for anyone interested in the practice of science.
A century ago, thoughtful people questioned how reality could agree with physical theories that kept changing, from a mechanical model of the ether to electric and magnetic fields, and from homogeneous matter to electrons and atoms. Today, concepts like dark matter and dark energy further complicate and enrich the search for objective reality. The Whole Truth is a personal reflection on this ongoing quest by one of the world’s most esteemed cosmologists.
What lies at the heart of physical science? What are the foundational ideas that inform and guide the enterprise? Is the concept of objective reality meaningful? If so, do our established physical theories usefully approximate it? P. J. E. Peebles takes on these and other big questions about the nature of science, drawing on a lifetime of experience as a leading physicist and using cosmology as an example. He traces the history of thought about the nature of physical science since Einstein, and succinctly lays out the fundamental working assumptions. Through a careful examination of the general theory of relativity, Einstein’s cosmological principle, and the theory of an expanding universe, Peebles shows the evidence that we are discovering the nature of reality in successive approximations through increasingly rigorous scrutiny.
A landmark work, The Whole Truth is essential reading for anyone interested in the practice of science.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 2, 2022
About the author
P.J.E. Peebles
9 books15 followersalso Phillip James Edwin Peebles, P. James E. Peebles
Phillip James Edwin Peebles was born in Winnipeg, Canada, Province of Manitoba, on April 25, 1935. Living in the tiny town of St. Vital and graduating in a high school class of 12, his interests in science were not tapped until his college days. Although planning to study engineering at the University of Manitoba, he encountered four inspirational physics professors who sparked a career in physics. He received his BS degree from the University in 1958 and moved next to Princeton University, intending to study particle physics.
Instead he became the only student of his influential mentor, Robert Dicke, to enter into theoretical physics. Under Dicke's influence Peebles gradually moved from studies of gravity to astronomy and from astronomy to cosmology. Dicke also planted the original seed that inspired Peebles to look for the presence of background radiation in the universe. In 1965, as a result of Peebles' post doctoral research, he and Dicke boldly predicted the existence of cosmic background radiation. In 1966 he began work on the theoretical calculations that would make cosmological studies an important topic for physicists. His book Physical Cosmology (1971) established the framework for a series of challenging new theoretical proposals that helped shape the field of cosmological studies. In 1984 Peebles was named Albert Einstein Professor of Science at Princeton University.
Peebles has written many influential and provocative articles in addition to his important books. His contributions have been recognized with honorary degrees from the University of Toronto, University of Chicago, McMaster University, University of Manitoba, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the Université Catholique de Louvain. He has also received important awards, including the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1981) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1998).
Prof. Peebles and his wife, Alison, live in Princeton, New Jersey, where they share an interest in gardening and in exploring nature. Although he plans to retire from his faculty position at Princeton in the near future, he does not plan to discontinue his life long pursuit of understanding the nature of the
Phillip James Edwin Peebles was born in Winnipeg, Canada, Province of Manitoba, on April 25, 1935. Living in the tiny town of St. Vital and graduating in a high school class of 12, his interests in science were not tapped until his college days. Although planning to study engineering at the University of Manitoba, he encountered four inspirational physics professors who sparked a career in physics. He received his BS degree from the University in 1958 and moved next to Princeton University, intending to study particle physics.
Instead he became the only student of his influential mentor, Robert Dicke, to enter into theoretical physics. Under Dicke's influence Peebles gradually moved from studies of gravity to astronomy and from astronomy to cosmology. Dicke also planted the original seed that inspired Peebles to look for the presence of background radiation in the universe. In 1965, as a result of Peebles' post doctoral research, he and Dicke boldly predicted the existence of cosmic background radiation. In 1966 he began work on the theoretical calculations that would make cosmological studies an important topic for physicists. His book Physical Cosmology (1971) established the framework for a series of challenging new theoretical proposals that helped shape the field of cosmological studies. In 1984 Peebles was named Albert Einstein Professor of Science at Princeton University.
Peebles has written many influential and provocative articles in addition to his important books. His contributions have been recognized with honorary degrees from the University of Toronto, University of Chicago, McMaster University, University of Manitoba, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the Université Catholique de Louvain. He has also received important awards, including the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1981) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1998).
Prof. Peebles and his wife, Alison, live in Princeton, New Jersey, where they share an interest in gardening and in exploring nature. Although he plans to retire from his faculty position at Princeton in the near future, he does not plan to discontinue his life long pursuit of understanding the nature of the
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 22, 2025
Interesting book from an amazing cosmologist. Peebles argues that empirical evidence, the multiple separate avenues that have the same conclusion and predictive ability show that current theories represent an objective reality. He uses the history leading to the development of the lambda cdm as evidence that theories are not a social construct. Although he admittedly is not a philosopher or social scientist he does a fair job of portraying the other side of the argument in addition to his own.
I'm not a cosmologist, or even that smart, so some of this was over my head making it a slow read. The pragmatic nature of Peebles is refreshing and in stark contrast to celebrity scientists. Although I am skeptical how close current theories are to an objective reality, I'm also no Pebbles.
I'm not a cosmologist, or even that smart, so some of this was over my head making it a slow read. The pragmatic nature of Peebles is refreshing and in stark contrast to celebrity scientists. Although I am skeptical how close current theories are to an objective reality, I'm also no Pebbles.
Displaying 1 of 1 review