Rules for Eternity

There is No Beginning; There is No End

You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Dec 05 2024 | Archive Date Feb 09 2025

Talking about this book? Use #RulesforEternity #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

The desire to seek answers to the really big questions is not restricted to Philosophers, Scientists, Poets, or Dreamers. The prospect of never answering many of these questions does not detract from the joy of the journey while researching the possibilities. In Rules for Eternity, we are not searching for, or offering, ultimate answers. The aim is to identify a common thread running through all aspects of the natural Universe, and to reflect on how this knowledge might have practical application to human civilisation.

Science and Philosophy record Humankind´s imaginative interaction with its environment in the broadest terms. As history is written, our ideas and beliefs are subject to revision and verification. Wherever we happen to be sitting on the evolutionary time-line, we are always at the boundary between the known and the unknown. The future provides increasingly fertile ground for theoretical physicists to explore, but the demands they place on engineering for proof are becoming prohibitive. Eventually Science will reach the limits of verification at both the sub-atomic and outer cosmic level, where none of the competing theories can be deemed more acceptable than the rest.

The last several hundred years have presented the perfect environment for individuals of incredible intellect to create watershed moments in science. There was a time when the Law-of-Gravity could be postulated because of an apple that fell on the head of a great mathematician. It now seems as though the ´easy´ science has been done. To take our understanding to the next level requires an incredible investment in time, money, manpower, and cooperation. A perfect example of this is the Large Hadron Collider, which has so far yielded intriguing extensions to what was previously a simple concept involving gravitational-attraction between bodies with mass.

Rules for Eternity attempts to marry the science of the day with the unanswerable questions. Without wishing to spoil the plot, this book hopes to provide a convincing argument for what is stated on the front cover – "There is no beginning; There is no end". This presents a daunting challenge given our predisposition to think in terms of beginnings and endings, even when musing about Eternity.

The desire to seek answers to the really big questions is not restricted to Philosophers, Scientists, Poets, or Dreamers. The prospect of never answering many of these questions does not detract from...


Advance Praise

5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

John Hunter’s Rules for Eternity (self-published, 2024) comes as a refreshing addition to the philosophical quest for finding answers to some unanswered questions that matter on a celestial scale. The book, dedicated to the author’s loving parents, launches a philosophical inquiry into the nature, origin, and boundaries of rules that determine the behavior of matter and energy in various forms on earth and beyond.

In his introduction to the book, Hunter distinguishes between two main types of rules that apply to the existence of the universe and the life in it: transient rules and immutable rules. He then dives deep into the sea of philosophical quest for the facts and logic that relate these rules to observation, behavior, and operations of nature as well as life on our planet. In his venture, Hunter assesses many possible answers to such questions so as to show readers how sound they stand – scientifically and logically.

Among others, Rules for Eternity looks into the much-debated questions of intelligent design (the teleological argument), determinism vs free will, instinct vs learning, and many more. Each chapter takes up new questions and moves the discussion forward by incorporating the assertions and conclusions from the previous chapters. Hunter offers great examples and analogies on many topics and presents interesting hypothetical scenarios. The chapters on futuristic technology and science fiction have a more popular appeal while others have a more reflective mood.

With some really good quotes and thematic images to start each chapter, Hunter makes a great presentation to excite the reader’s imagination and thinking. And the book has an epic ending line! Rules for Eternity is the perfect pick for both science and philosophy lovers.

https://www.bookcorner.us/rules-for-eternity/


5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

John Hunter’s Rules for Eternity (self-published, 2024) comes as a refreshing addition to the philosophical quest for finding answers to some unanswered questions that matter...


Available Editions

ISBN 9780994262066
PRICE $4.40 (USD)
PAGES 207

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)
Download (PDF)