Physics Philosophy

The message of modern physics is that physical reality has, at its frontiers, all the aspects of a transcendent order. At the foundation of things, elementary particles can exert instantaneous long-distance influences on each other, can be meaningfully said to have mind-like properties, and can exist in states which are, as Heisenberg wrote, "not quite real, but between the idea of a thing and a real thing."

A system can describe what we see (the solar system), operate a computer (Windows 10), or be made on a page (the 14 engineered lines of a sonnet). In this book, Clifford Siskin shows that system is best understood as a genre - a form that works physically in the world to mediate our efforts to understand it. Indeed, many Enlightenment authors published works they called "system" to compete with the essay and the treatise.

In the evolution of science and technology, laws governing exceptional creativity and innovation have yet to be discovered. The historian Thomas Kuhn, in his influential study The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, noted that the final stage in a scientific breakthrough such as Albert Einstein's theory of relativity - that is, the most crucial stage - was "inscrutable". The same is still true half a century later.

A mind-bending exploration of gravity, the universe's greatest mystery. What is gravity? Nobody knows - and just about nobody knows that nobody knows. How something so pervasive can also be so mysterious, and how that mystery can be so wholly unrecognized outside the field of physics, is one of the greatest conundrums in modern science. But as award-winning author Richard Panek shows in this groundbreaking book, gravity is a cold case that we are closer to cracking than ever - and whose very investigation has yielded untold truths about the cosmos and humanity itself.

Does science have all the answers? Can it even deal with abstract reasoning that reaches beyond the world experienced by us? How can we be so sure that the physical world is sufficiently ordered to be intelligible to humans? How is it that mathematics, a product of human minds, can unlock the secrets of the physical universe? Are all such questions to be ruled out as inadmissible if science cannot settle them? Metaphysics has traditionally been understood as reasoning beyond the reach of science, sometimes even claiming realities that are beyond its grasp.

David A. Grandy's book moves from the scientific to the existential, from Einstein to Merleau-Ponty, from light as a phenomenon to light as that which is constitutive of reality. To measure the speed of light is to measure something about the way we are measured or blended into the cosmos, and that universal blending predetermines our measurement of light speed in favor of a universal or constant value.

Most people have heard about quantum physics and its remarkable, well-nigh bizarre claims. And most people would assume that quantum reality describes a world quite different from ours. In this book, David A. Grandy shows that one can find quantum puzzles, or variations thereof, in the backyard of everyday experience.

Written for both the layman and the professional scientist, The Dimensional Structure of Consciousnessopens an astounding world and points out that further progress of science depends upon a transcendence of the material world. Samuels Avery opens a 'Pandora's box'... and presents a 'through the looking glass' glimpse of the structure of consciousness as the basis of our human experience. Written by Samuel Avery, author of The Buddha and the Quantum.

Physics informs our understanding of how the world works - but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to 10 separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives.

Can reindeer fly? Why is Santa Claus fat? Could scientists clone the perfect Christmas tree? Was the Star of Bethlehem really a comet? Why is Rudolph’s nose red? How does Santa manage to deliver presents to an estimated 842 million households in a single night? What could we do to guarantee a...

The Power of Quantum Thinking is an illuminating exploration of the principles of quantum mechanics and their profound implications for human consciousness, creativity, and decision-making. This groundbreaking book, written by renowned author Dr Bhaskar Bora, bridges the gap between complex quantum theories and everyday life, offering a powerful guide to personal transformation and limitless possibilities.

The Superluminal Universe reveals, for the first time in English, the incredible insights of French quantum physicist Professor Regis Dutheil. Thanks to the development of particle accelerators, physicists are now able to propel particles (tachyons) at a speed close to that of light (300,000 km per second). At these extreme speeds, the laws that govern our universe no longer apply. Professor Dutheil's work has shown that the theory of relativity is not incompatible with that of tachyons, provided that we allow for the possibility of a double reality.

In the preface to the 2004 edition, Paul Davies writes, "If the laws of the universe really are a sort of cosmic blueprint, as I suggest, they may also be a blueprint for survival." This critically acclaimed book explains how recent scientific advances are transforming our understanding of the emergence of complexity and organization in the universe. Melding a variety of ideas and disciplines from science and technology, Davies presents his provocative theory on the source of the universe's creative potency.

As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.

This entertaining account, offering a plethora of little known facts and insights from previously classified military projects, shows how the real-world science of the Cold War followed in the footsteps of SF - and how the two together changed our perception of both science and scientists, and paved the way to the world we live in today.

Der Nobelpreisträger Max Planck (1858 bis 1946) war nicht nur einer der bedeutendsten Physiker, sondern auch ein Philosoph, der unablässig nach Antworten auf grundlegende, weit über die Physik hinausgehende philosophische Fragen gesucht hat. In zahlreichen Vorträgen, gern dabei Goethe zitierend, hat er die Ergebnisse seines Nachdenkens über den Glauben, die Wissenschaft und die Willensfreiheit einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht.

Alle Welt redet davon, die Natur zu schützen. Um dies zu können, müssten wir zumindest erfahren können, was Natur ist und sie uns bedeutet. Dieses Gespür ist uns abhandengekommen. Der renommierte Physiker Ulf Danielsson zeigt den blinden Fleck der modernen Naturwissenschaften: Wissenschaftler rechnen und rechnen, aber der Mensch, mit all seinen Sinnen, spielt keine Rolle mehr in den Naturwissenschaften. Doch dabei ist das Universum keinesfalls nur Mathematik. Wir leben in Welt und Weltall, aber nicht in den abstrakten Gleichungen. Wir sind Lebewesen und keine Maschinen.

Will climate change force a massive human migration to the Northern Rim? How does our sense of morality arise from the structure of the brain? What does the latest research in language acquisition tells us about the role of culture in the way we think? What does current neurological research...

Every Prime Minister of independent India has guided, if not personally overseen, one prized portfolio: technology. If, in the early years, Nehru and his scientist-advisors retained an iron grip on it, subsequent governments created a bureaucracy that managed everything from the country's crown...

Exploring the science in George R. R. Martin's fantastical world, from the physics of an ice wall to the genetics of the Targaryens and Lannisters. Game of Thrones is a fantasy that features a lot of made-up science--fabricated climatology (when is winter coming?), astronomy, metallurgy...