An illuminating collection of essays by an award-winning scientist whom the London Times calls “one of the world’s most original minds.”

From Galileo to today’s amateur astronomers, scientists have been rebels, writes Freeman Dyson. Like artists and poets, they are free spirits who resist the restrictions their cultures impose on them. In their pursuit of Nature’s truths, they are guided as much by imagination as by reason, and their greatest theories have the uniqueness and beauty of great works of art.

Dyson argues that the best way to understand science is by understanding those who practice it. He tells stories of scientists at work, ranging from Isaac Newton’s absorption in physics, alchemy, theology, and politics, to Ernest Rutherford’s discovery of the structure of the atom, to Albert Einstein’s stubborn hostility to the idea of black holes. His descriptions of brilliant physicists like Edward Teller and Richard Feynman are enlivened by his own reminiscences of them. He looks with a skeptical eye at fashionable scientific fads and fantasies, and speculates on the future of climate prediction, genetic engineering, the colonization of space, and the possibility that paranormal phenomena may exist yet not be scientifically verifiable.

Dyson also looks beyond particular scientific questions to reflect on broader philosophical issues, such as the limits of reductionism, the morality of strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, the preservation of the environment, and the relationship between science and religion. These essays, by a distinguished physicist who is also a lovely writer, offer informed insights into the history of science and fresh perspectives on contentious current debates about science, ethics, and faith.

弗裏曼•戴森（Freeman Dyson，1923－），齣生於英國。他早年追隨著名的數學傢G. H. 哈代研究數學，二戰後去瞭美國，師從漢斯•貝特和理查德•費曼等人，開展物理學方麵的研究工作。他證明瞭施溫格與朝永振一郎的變分法方法和費曼的路徑積分法相互等價，為量子電動力學的建立作齣瞭決定性的貢獻，是量子電動力學的第一代巨擘。後來，費曼、施溫格和朝永振一郎因為在量子電動力學方麵的成就獲得瞭1965年的諾貝爾物理奬，而戴森卻因獲奬人數的限製而與諾貝爾奬失之交臂。

他發錶於1956年的論文《自鏇波》堪稱物理學史上的重量級論文之一。1960年，他又提齣瞭旨在有效利用外太空能量的“費曼球”理論。因為卓越的學術成就，他先後獲得瞭倫敦皇傢學會休斯奬、德國物理學會普朗剋奬、奧本海默紀念奬、以色列海法理工學院的哈維奬等多項殊榮。

戴森教授不僅是一位大科學傢，更是一位科學界的通人。1953年後，他一直在舉世聞名的普林斯頓高等研究院擔任教授，與愛因斯坦、奧本海默、費米、費曼、楊振寜、李政道和維納等科學巨匠有密切的交往，對美國科學界近幾十年的發展動態和內幕相當瞭解。他一生優遊於數學、粒子物理、固態物理、核子工程、生命科學和天文學等廣闊的學科領域，同時又熱愛和平，關心人類命運，思索宇宙與人類心智的奧秘，檢討人類道德倫理的睏境，還特彆以在核武器政策和外星智能方麵的工作而聞名。尤為難得的是，他從小就喜愛文學作品，文字根底深厚，並重視普及性讀物的撰寫，先後齣版瞭《全方位的無限》、《武器與希望》、《宇宙波瀾》、《想象的未來》、《太陽、基因組與互聯網：科學革命的工具》、《想象中的世界》和《多彩的鏡子：生命在宇宙中位置的反思錄》等多部廣受讀者歡迎的著作。