335 | Andrew Jaffe on Models, Probability, and the Universe

<p>Science has an incredibly impressive track record of uncovering nonintuitive ideas about the universe that turn out to be surprisingly accurate. It can be tempting to think of scientific discoveries as being carefully constructed atop a rock-solid foundation. In reality, scientific progress is tentative and fallible. Scientists propose models, assign them probabilities, and run tests to see whether they succeed or fail. In cosmologist Andrew Jaffe's new book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300250503/the-random-universe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Random Universe</em></a>, he illustrates how models and probability help us make sense of the cosmos.</p> <p>Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/11/10/335-andrew-jaffe-on-models-probability-and-the-universe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/11/10/335-andrew-jaffe-on-models-probability-and-the-universe/</a></p> <p>S<em>upport Mindscape on </em><a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Patreon</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p>Andrew Jaffe received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. He is currently a professor of astrophysics and cosmology and Director of the Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology at Imperial College, London. His research lies at the intersection of theoretical and observational cosmology, including the Planck Surveyor, Euclid, LISA, and Simons Observatory collaborations.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://andrewjaffe.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Web site</a></li> <li><a href="https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/a.jaffe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Imperial web page</a></li> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g-x0VlsAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Google Scholar publications</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Andrew-H.-Jaffe/author/B0FZVMC2SG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon author page</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p>