If it’s not too late to pick my favorite reads from 2012, I offer Jim Holt’s Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story. It’s a wonderful look at some of the big questions about how we came to be, who we are, and what it all means. The book offers a mix of science and philosophy that sets your mind on a quest to answer some of life’s questions and read even more from the many authors whom he interviews and whose work he summarizes. Here’s a description from Barnes and Noble:
“While most of us have been doing our laundry or answering our mail, essayist Jim Holt has been pondering the Ultimate Big Question: Why does the world exist? To track down the most plausible answers, this apparently tireless investigator sought out maverick scientists, eccentric philosophers, Eastern religious sages, and even the venerable John Updike. The possibilities that he discovered are, depending on your temperament, either awe-inspiring or downright frightening: One of his interviewees suggests that God might be a renegade physicist hacker. A cerebrum-stimulating read.”
From Book Beast:
