THE BIG THINK INTERVIEW
The 3 ancient demons that bend and break the laws of nature
Darwin, Descartes, and Maxwell all believed in these science ‘demons.’

7 min

Jimena Canales

WHO'S IN THE VIDEO

Jimena Canales is an expert in 19th and 20th century history of the physical sciences, working for a better understanding of science and technology in relation to the arts 

If one opens any dictionary and you go to the entry of demon, one of the entries refers to the scientific demons. Descartes’ demons, Laplace’s demon, Maxwell’s demon, they’re not considered to be real when they’re first mentioned, they’re considered to be possibly real.

 
They’re trying to find a hole in theories. What they are, in the most literal sense, are little creatures that are concocted by scientists. When they’re confronted with something that they don’t really understand, these creatures that we have always thought of as little entities that can bend or break the laws of nature continue to be very useful and very common ways of thinking in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the natural world.

These demons share similar characteristics to those other demons in the past, like Beelzebub and Lucifer. They can break the laws of nature, they’re not necessarily evil, but they create power imbalances. They can be helpful or they can be mischievous to science.