The laws of nature explain very little

The illusory explanatory power of natural laws

Many people view so-called discovery of natural laws as one of the determining factors behind our rapid advancement in understanding the natural world. But can the laws deliver the burden we place upon them, asks Daniel Joachim.

 

For more on the limits of science, join IAI LIVE: Fantasy, Faith and Physics this July 3rd. Sabine Hossenfelder, Max Tegmark, Michio Kaku, Juan Maldacena, Lisa Randall, and Mary-Jane Rubenstein debate the role of fantasy and unproven belief in modern physics. Book now.

 

In “The Grand Design”, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow put forward the ambitious claim that the history of science can be summarized as “the long process of replacing the notion of the reign of gods with the concept of a universe that is governed by laws of nature.” [1]

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