... an ambitious but sober reminder of the deep philosophical questions revolving around the ideas of individuality, identity and distinguishability.
Levy-Leblond
Physics World
An enchanting analysis of individuality and identity that should delight laypersons, humanists, and scientists alike. Peter Pesic recounts how some of the deepest thinkers from Homer and Aristotle to Leibniz and Einstein wrestled with the 'genuine questions' about identity, each adding an unforeseen dimension and changing their scope in the process. As Dr. Pesic guides us through the evolution of thought, we cannot but marvel at nature's uncanny ability to reveal, time and again, that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Abhay Ashtekar, Director, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, and Eberly Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Identity and individuality have been constant subjects of study and speculation among intellectuals from time immemorial, but almost everyone approaches them from narrow disciplinary points of view. Peter Pesic's Seeing Double is a successful challenge to this approach, for it successfully mixes physics, literature, and philosophy in an account that is both suggestive and enlightening. Written in a clear and elegant style, this is a logical starting point for anyone who wants to delve into these topics.
Jorge J. E. Gracia, Samuel P. Capen Chair and SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo
Reaching from Homer's Iliad and ancient Greek philosophy to modern chemistry and current physics, Pesic's new tour de force is a fitting sequel to his Labyrinth, this time concentrating on age-old philosophic puzzles on identity and their re-emergence in the transition from nineteenth-century physics to quantum field theory to illuminate the conceptual structure of science.
George E. Smith, Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Department of Philosophy, Tufts University
In what consists your identity? With the potential of cloning on the horizon, what defines individuality? Drawing on philosophy, literature, and physics in accessible prose, Peter Pesic illuminates the meaning of unique personhood. A challenging and civilizing tour-de-force.
Gerald Holton, Harvard University
... offers a rare insight into the bizarre quantum realm and its implications for our sense of self.
PD Smith
The Guardian
In what consists your identity? With the potential of cloning on the horizon, what defines individuality? Drawing on philosophy, literature, and physics in accessible prose, Peter Pesic illuminates the meaning of unique personhood. A challenging and civilizing tour-de-force.
Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of History of Science, Emeritus, Harvard University
Pesic suavely creates a masterpiece by saying much in little space.
Ray Olson
Booklist
