The enigma of life: confronting marvels at the edges of science.

Awe and wonder play complex roles in contemporary science, according to physicist Marcelo Gleiser, experimental psychologist Tania Lombrozo, and physician Gavin Francis. The authors analyze how these emotions inform scientists' understanding of phenomena they research, which aspects of science elicit wonder, and whether science redirects innate curiosity toward concrete realities or exacerbates the tension between truth and meaning by revealing the scope of ignorance about ultimate reality. They examine Einstein's claim that the universe's comprehensibility is itself incomprehensible, suggesting scientific explanation alone cannot fully address the human mind's place in the cosmos.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Einstein famously claimed that "the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible." This statement suggests that no amount of scientific explanation will suffice to make sense of the bizarre situation of the human mind within the universe. So what are the actual roles of awe and wonder within the framework of contemporary science? How, for instance, do awe and wonder inform scientists' understanding of the phenomena they are researching? What aspects of contemporary science are more likely to elicit wonder, and why? Is science rechanneling our innate thirst for knowledge and understanding toward more concrete and palpable realities, or is it aggravating the tension between truth and meaning by revealing the scope of our ignorance when it comes to probing the ultimate nature of reality? Physicist Marcelo Gleiser, experimental psychologist Tania Lombrozo, and physician Gavin Francis analyze the impact of awe and wonder on their own work and on the mindsets of their colleagues carrying out leading-edge scientific research.