"A carrot is a carrot, and nothing more is known." These words, from a dying Chekhov, are quoted by Bryan Appleyard in this pop-science book which aims to uncover the hidden link between robots, the 2008 financial crash, Cheryl Cole and almost everything else. The Russian writer was talking about the futility of pondering the meaning of life, and Appleyard uses the quote to say that breaking so…