This intriguing volume offers a series of portraits and anecdotes about the members of the Royal Society and the Royal Society Club in the early nineteenth century. The author's lively style and deep knowledge of the personalities involved make for a fascinating read.
In the Art Universe, Barrow examines the intricate connections between our aesthetic appreciation and the fundamental nature of the Universe, challenging the notion that our sense of beauty is entirely unrestrained. He posits that the laws of the Universe, its environments, and its astronomical features subtly influence our thoughts and actions. This leads to questions about our preferences in art and music, the challenges we find in games and puzzles, the common elements in myths and legends, and the origins of the constellations in the night sky. Through an eclectic and engaging exploration, Barrow addresses how the Universe's landscape has shaped philosophy and mythology, alongside millions of years of evolutionary history that have honed our attraction to specific patterns of sound and color. He illuminates human creativity and thought by considering diverse topics such as our instinct for language, the origins of color in Nature, our divisions of time, and the appreciation of landscape painting. Additionally, Barrow questions the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, suggesting that the implications of discovering life on other worlds may differ from our expectations. Ultimately, he reveals that certain properties of the Universe crucial for life also significantly influence our psychological and religious responses to the Cosmos.
This book explores the formative period when Scotland acquired the characteristics that enabled it to enter fully into the comity of medieval Christendom. schovat popis
The book is a facsimile reprint, which means it reproduces the original text, but may include imperfections like marks, notations, and marginalia. Readers should be aware that some pages might be flawed, adding a layer of authenticity and historical context to the reading experience.
The book explores the profound impact of visual imagery on our understanding of the world, from Robert Hooke's microscopic discoveries to iconic images like the Earth from space and Mercator's map. It highlights how these visuals have shaped scientific knowledge and cultural consciousness, such as environmental awareness and the symbolism of nuclear explosions. Accompanied by engaging essays, the collection not only showcases remarkable images but also delves into their historical significance and the evolution of scientific thought.
John D. Barrow guides us through the latest concepts emerging in theoretical physics that together form the ingredients of a Theory of Everything, from the M-theory of superstrings, and speculations about the world as a computer program, to novel ideas of self-organisation and new forms of complexity
What can we never do? Barrow looks at what limits there might be to human discovery, and what we might find, ultimately, to be unknowable, undoable, or unthinkable. Science is a big success story, but where will it end? And, indeed, will it end? Weaving together a tapestry of surprises, Barrow explores the frontiers of knowledge. We find that the notion of 'impossibility' has played a striking role in our thinking. Surrealism, impossible figures, time travel, paradoxes of logic and perspectives - all stimulate us to contemplate something more than what is. Using simple explanations, it shows the reader that impossibility is a deep and powerful notion; that any Universe complex enough to contain conscious beings will contain limits on what those beings can know about their Universe; that what we cannot know defines reality as surely as what we can know.
Is the Universe infinite? Throughout history, the infinite has been a dangerous concept. The Infinite Book will take you on a tour of these dangerous questions and the strange answers that scientists, mathematicians, philosophers and theologians have come up with to deal with its threats to our sanity.
How can sprinter Usain Bolt break his world record without running any faster? Barrow shows how maths can give us surprising and enlivening insights into the world of sports - essential reading for competitors, armchair enthusiasts and maths-lovers alike.
This is a book about universes. It tells a story that revolves around a single extraordinary fact: that Albert Einstein's famous theory of relativity describes a series of entire universes. Some describe universes that expand in size, while others contract.