Showing titles in Physics

Are you curious about the quantum world but overwhelmed by tough words and complex equations? Make this your first book on quantum—your guide to understanding the universe’s most mysterious topics, from waves and light to space, nature, and even consciousness!

For most of human history, we have led not just an earthly existence but a cosmic one. Celestial cycles drove every aspect of our daily lives. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are - our religious beliefs, power structures, scientific advances and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. And that disconnect comes at a cost. In The Human Cosmos, Jo Marchant takes us on a tour through the history of humanity's relationship with the heavens.

There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld. Just six numbers, imprinted in the "Big Bang", determine the essential features of our entire physical world. Moreover, cosmic evolution is astonishingly sensitive to the values of these numbers. If any one of them were "untuned", there could be no stars and no life. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our universe, our place in it, and the nature of physical laws. 

The field of mind-body medicine is plagued by wild claims that mislead patients and instil false hope. But as scientists in a range of fields uncover solid evidence that our minds influence our bodies quite profoundly, there is now great promise, too. Jo Marchant attempts to use scientific research to find out if alternative medicines work; if our thoughts, beliefs and emotions influence our physical health; and if we can train our brains to heal our bodies.

In a book that will recalibrate our view of this defining feature of our planet, physicist Helen Czerski dives deep to illuminate the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. From the ancient Polynesians who navigated the Pacific by reading the waves to permanent residents of the deep such as the Greenland shark that can live for hundreds of years, she explains the vast currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that all have their place in the ocean's complex system.

A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe.

Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.

Are you curious about the future of computing but confused about where to start? Are you fascinated by the quantum buzz but intimidated by dense academic jargon? I'm here to guide you through the fascinating universe of quantum tech, in the simplest way possible. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, software developer, eager student, or an innovator at heart, this book is tailored for minds like yours. I've translated qubits, quantum gates, and superposition in a refreshingly easy way, so you don't need a PhD to come along for the ride.

The universe, in all its boundless complexity, is a riddle that has captivated human curiosity for millennia. We gaze into the night sky not just to admire the stars, but to ask the questions that seem to echo back at us from the void: What is everything made of? How did we get here? And why does the universe behave the way it does?

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* America's favorite astrophysicist has written the most entertaining and universally appealing book of his stellar career: a practical guide for dealing with Alien visitors, an exploration of how it might happen, and a cultural history of our fascination with...

The Man Who Mastered Gravity is an intimate profile of Thomas Townsend Brown, a little-known scientist whose unorthodox ideas about electricity and gravity have made him the subject of decades of speculation and intrigue. Brown developed his novel concepts while serving in the U.S. Navy through the 1930s. In the first months of World War II he was abruptly discharged–despite his expertise in radio, radar, and mine sweeping.

First proposed more than 200 years ago, Schopenhauer's extraordinarily prescient metaphysics - if understood along the lines thoroughly elucidated and substantiated in this volume - offer powerful answers not only to the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, but also to modern philosophical dilemmas such as the hard problem of consciousness - which plagues mainstream physicalism - and the subject combination problem - which plagues constitutive panpsychism 

In the course of our enduring quest for knowledge about ourselves and our universe, we haven't found answers to one of our most fundamental questions: Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Ten years and billions of dollars in the making, the Mars rover Curiosity is poised toanswer this all-important question.

All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial five per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That ’something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets.

From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power 

In a field known for startling ideas, the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics may take the prize. It holds that parallel to our own world are a large number of other universes, almost identical to ours but with small variations. Copies of each of us inhabit a myriad of these worlds. But they are not us exactly; they share our past history, but they are different people who have unique futures. Although these realms are invisible and can’t communicate with each other, prominent physicists are convinced they must exist.

From one of the most exciting and accessible voices in physics, an eye-opening look into the strange and wonderful world of quantum physics and how it is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. What is the universe made of, and how do we know? For decades, physicists have studied this...

Twelve light-years from Earth, a star burns quietly in the constellation of the Whale. It is the nearest solitary star that resembles our Sun—a little older, a little cooler, a little poorer in the heavy elements from which planets are made. For sixty years, astronomers have trained the world’s finest instruments on Tau Ceti, searching for planets, for signals, for signs of life. What they have found is something more unexpected and more instructive: a masterclass in the limits of human knowledge.

"Vandets stille hvisken" er Tine Eibys fængslende fortælling om os mennesker: Om hvem vi er, og hvor vi kommer fra. Med stor fortællekunst tager Tine Eiby os på en dannelsesrejse med vandet som rejsefører fra de allerførste dryp på jorden og havstrømmenes store baner til de mikroskopiske...

Våra kroppar är uppbyggda av biljoner mikroskopiska celler, och i cellernas innersta värld gäller kvantfysikens lagar. Kvantfysiken beskriver hur fåglarna hittar hem över tusentals kilometer och hur en ödla kan hänga upp och ner i taket. Kvantfysiken förklarar också fotosyntesen som...