Deep thinkers list science's 'most beautiful theories'

NEW YORK -- From Darwinian evolution to the idea that personality is largely shaped by chance, the favorite theories of the world's most eminent thinkers are as eclectic as science itself.

Every January, John Brockman, the impresario and literary agent who presides over the online salon Edge.org, asks his circle of scientists, digerati and humanities scholars to tackle one question.
 
In previous years, they have included "How is the Internet changing the way you think?" and "What is the most important invention in the last 2,000 years?"
 
This year, he posed the open-ended question "What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?"

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