Scientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith. Some of the most potent beliefs among brilliant minds are based on supposition alone - yet that is enough to push those minds toward making the theory viable.<BR>Eminent cultural impresario, editor, and publisher, John Brockman asked a group of leading scientists and thinkers to answer the question: What do you believe to be true even though you cannot prove it? This book brings together the very best answers from the most distinguished contributors.<BR>This collection of bite-size thought-experiments is an insight into the instinctive beliefs of some of the most brilliant minds today.<BR>Here is Ian McEwan on absence of an afterlife; Richard Dawkins on the relationship between design and evolution; and Jared Diamond on when humans first reached the Americas. Other contributions from luminaries like Steven Pinker, Daniel C. Bennett, John Horgan, and Sir Martin Rees span the whole range of scientific endeavor and human experience, from the future of computing to the origins of intelligence, from insights into childhood behavior to cutting edge cosmology.