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books tagged “popular science”
books tagged “popular science”
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The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolutionby Richard Dawkins, Yan WongISBN 061861916X (0-618-61916-X)
Softcover, Mariner Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution'Book summary:Just as we trace our personal family trees from parents to grandparents and so on back in time, so in The Ancestor's Tale Richard Dawkins traces the ancestry of life. As he is at pains to point out, this is very much our human tale, our ancestry. Surprisingly, it is one that many otherwise literate people are largely unaware of. Hopefully Dawkins's name and well deserved reputation as a best selling writer will introduce them to this wonderful saga.
The Ancestor's Tale takes us from our immediate human ancestors back through what he calls concestors, those shared with the apes, monkeys and other mammals and other vertebrates and beyond to the dim and distant microbial beginnings of life some 4 billion years ago. It is a remarkable story which is still very much in the process of being uncovered. And, of course from a scientist of Dawkins stature and reputation we get an insider's knowledge of the most up-to-date science and many of those involved in the research. And, as we have come to expect of Dawkins, it is told with a passionate commitment to scientific veracity and a nose for a good story. Dawkins's knowledge of the vast and wonderful sweep of life's diversity is admirable. Not only does it encompass the most interesting living representatives of so many groups of organisms but also the important and informative fossil ones, many of which have only been found in recent years.
Dawkins sees his journey with its reverse chronology as cast in the form of an epic pilgrimage from the present to the past [and] all roads lead to the origin of life. It is, to my mind, a sensible and perfectly acceptable approach although some might complain about going against the grain of evolution. The great benefit for the general reader is that it begins with the more familiar present and the animals nearest and dearest to usour immediate human ancestors. And then it delves back into the more remote and less familiar past with its droves of lesser known and extinct fossil forms. The whole pilgrimage is divided into 40 tales, each based around a group of organisms and discusses their role in the overall story. Genetic, morphological and fossil evidence is all taken into account and illustrated with a wealth of photos and drawings of living and fossils forms, evolutionary and distributional charts and maps through time, providing a visual compliment and complement to the text. The design also allows Dawkins to make numerous running comments and characteristic asides. There are also numerous references and a good index.-- Douglas Palmer [via]
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Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universeby Simon SinghISBN 0007162219 (0-00-716221-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe'Book summary:A baffling array of science books claim to reveal how the mysteries of the universe have been discovered, but Simon Singh's Big Bang actually delivers on that promise. General readers will find it to be among the very best books dealing with cosmology, because Singh follows the same plan he used in his brilliant Code Book: he puts people--not equations--first in the story. By linking the progression of the Big Bang theory with the scientists who built it up bit by bit, Singh also uncovers an important truth about how such ideas grow.
Death is an essential element in the progress of science, since it takes care of conservative scientists of a previous generation reluctant to let go of an old, fallacious theory and embrace a new and accurate one.
As harsh as this statement seems, even Einstein defended an outmoded idea about the universe when an unknown interloper published equations challenging the great man. Einstein didn't have to die for cosmology to move forward (he reluctantly apologized for being wrong), but stories like this one show how difficult it can sometimes be for new theories to take root. Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "big bang" as a way to ridicule the idea of a universe expanding from some tiny origin point, strongly believed that the cosmos was in a steady state. But Singh shows how Hoyle's research, meant to prove the contrary, added evidence to the expansion model. Big Bang is also a history of astronomical observation, describing the development of new telescopes that were crucial to the development of cosmology. Handwritten summary notes at the end of each long chapter add a charming, classroom feel to this revealing and very readable book. --Therese Littleton [via]More editions of Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universe:
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The Blind Watchmakerby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393022161 (0-393-02216-1)
Hardcover, Norton
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Blind Watchmaker'Book summary:Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist in the witty British style:
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. You can check Dawkins's results on your own Mac or PC. [via]
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Blind Watchmaker 1.2: An Evolution Simulation/Mac Versionby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393993418 (0-393-99341-8)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Designby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393315703 (0-393-31570-3)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design'Book summary:Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist in the witty British style:
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. You can check Dawkins's results on your own Mac or PC. [via]
More editions of Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design:
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Brief History of Timeby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 0553380168 (0-553-38016-8)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Brief History of Time'Book summary:Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we're looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton [via]
More editions of Brief History of Time:
- Brief History of Time: ISBN 0553109537 (0-553-10953-7)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group - Brief History of Time: ISBN 0613074041 (0-613-07404-1)
Hardcover, Bt Bound - Brief History of Time: ISBN 0553052438 (0-553-05243-8)
Hardcover, Bantam Books - Brief History of Time: ISBN 0553380168 (0-553-38016-8)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
- Brief History of Time: ISBN 0553109537 (0-553-10953-7)
Brief History of Timeby Ron Miller, Carl Sagan, Stephen W. HawkingISBN 0816147736 (0-8161-4773-6)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holesby Carl Sagan, Stephen W. Hawking, Ron MillerISBN 055305340X (0-553-05340-X)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes'Book summary:Stephen Hawking has earned a reputation as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein. In this landmark volume, Professor Hawking shares his blazing intellect with nonscientists everywhere, guiding us expertly to confront the supreme questions of the nature of time and the universe. Was there a beginning of time? Will there be an end? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? From Galileo and Newton to modern astrophysics, from the breathtakingly cast to the extraordinarily tiny, Professor Hawking leads us on an exhilarating journey to distant galaxies, black holes, alternate dimensions--as close as man has ever ventured to the mind of God. From the vantage point of the wheelchair from which he has spent more than twenty years trapped by Lou Gehrig's disease, Stephen Hawking has transformed our view of the universe. Cogently explained, passionately revealed, A Brief History of Time is the story of the ultimate quest for knowledge: the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space. [via]
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A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holesby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 0553346148 (0-553-34614-8)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes'Book summary:Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we're looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton [via]
More editions of A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes:
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Brief History of Time/International Edby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 0553173251 (0-553-17325-1)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Brief History of Time/International Ed'Book summary:Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we're looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton [via]
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Chaosby James GleickISBN 0140092501 (0-14-009250-1)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Chaos'Book summary:Few writers distinguish themselves by their ability to write about complicated, even obscure topics clearly and engagingly. James Gleick, a former science writer for the New York Times, resides in this exclusive category. In Chaos, he takes on the job of depicting the first years of the study of chaos--the seemingly random patterns that characterize many natural phenomena.
This is not a purely technical book. Instead, it focuses as much on the scientists studying chaos as on the chaos itself. In the pages of Gleick's book, the reader meets dozens of extraordinary and eccentric people. For instance, Mitchell Feigenbaum, who constructed and regulated his life by a 26-hour clock and watched his waking hours come in and out of phase with those of his coworkers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
As for chaos itself, Gleick does an outstanding job of explaining the thought processes and investigative techniques that researchers bring to bear on chaos problems. Rather than attempt to explain Julia sets, Lorenz attractors, and the Mandelbrot Set with gigantically complicated equations, Chaos relies on sketches, photographs, and Gleick's wonderful descriptive prose. [via]
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The Code Book for Young Peopleby Simon SinghISBN 0385730624 (0-385-73062-4)
Softcover, Random House Children's Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Code Book for Young People'Book summary:Calling upon accounts of political intrigue and tales of life and death, author Simon Singh tells history's most fascinating story of deception and cunning: the science of cryptography--the encoding and decoding of private information. Based on The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, this version has been abridged and slightly simplified for a younger audience. None of the appeal for curious problem-solving minds has been lost, though. From Julius Caesar to the 10th-century Arabs; from Mary Queen of Scots to "Alice and Bob"; from the Germans' Enigma machine to the Navajo code talkers in World War II, Singh traces the use of code to protect--and betray--secrecy. Moving right into the present, he describes how the Information Age has provided a whole new set of challenges for cryptographers. How private are your e-mail communications? How secure is sending your credit card information over the Internet? And how much secrecy will the government tolerate? Complex but highly accessible, The Code Book will make readers see the past--and the future--in a whole new light. (Ages 14 and older) [via]
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The Code Book : The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptographyby Simon SinghISBN 0385495315 (0-385-49531-5)
Hardcover, Doubleday Publishing
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Code Book : The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography'Book summary:People love secrets, and ever since the first word was written, humans have written coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to either side's success.
Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.
In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection. The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. Can't get enough crypto? Try solving the Cipher Challenge in the back of the book--$15,000 goes to the first person to crack the code! --Therese Littleton [via]
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The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptographyby Simon SinghISBN 0385495323 (0-385-49532-3)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography'Book summary:People love secrets. Ever since the first word was written, humans have sent coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to both sides' success.
Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.
In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection.
The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. --Therese Littleton [via]
More editions of The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography:
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Cosmosby Carl SaganISBN 0345331354 (0-345-33135-4)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cosmos'Book summary:Cosmos was the first science TV blockbuster, and Carl Sagan was its (human) star. By the time of Sagan's death in 1997, the series had been seen by half a billion people; Sagan was perhaps the best-known scientist on the planet. Explaining how the series came about, Sagan recalled:
I was positive from my own experience that an enormous global interest exists in the exploration of the planets and in many kindred scientific topics--the origin of life, the Earth, and the Cosmos, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, our connection with the universe. And I was certain that this interest could be excited through that most powerful communications medium, television.
Sagan's own interest and enthusiasm for the universe were so vivid and infectious, his screen presence so engaging, that viewers and readers couldn't help but be caught up in his vision. From stars in their "billions and billions" to the amino acids in the primordial ocean, Sagan communicated a feeling for science as a process of discovery. Inevitably, some of the science in Cosmos has been outdated in the years since 1980--but Sagan's sense of wonder is ageless. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
More editions of Cosmos:
- Cosmos: ISBN 0394715969 (0-394-71596-9)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group - Cosmos: ISBN 0375508325 (0-375-50832-5)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group - Cosmos: ISBN 051712355X (0-517-12355-X)
Hardcover, Random House Value Publishing - Cosmos: ISBN 084466698X (0-8446-6698-X)
Hardcover, Peter Smith Pub Inc - Cosmos: ISBN 8432036269 (84-320-3626-9)
Softcover, Planeta Pub Corp - Cosmos: ISBN 0345331354 (0-345-33135-4)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
- Cosmos: ISBN 0394715969 (0-394-71596-9)
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Cosmos: International Affairs in the Modern Ageby Carl SaganISBN 0394502949 (0-394-50294-9)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cosmos: International Affairs in the Modern Age'Book summary:Cosmos was the first science TV blockbuster, and Carl Sagan was its (human) star. By the time of Sagan's death in 1997, the series had been seen by half a billion people; Sagan was perhaps the best-known scientist on the planet. Explaining how the series came about, Sagan recalled:
I was positive from my own experience that an enormous global interest exists in the exploration of the planets and in many kindred scientific topics--the origin of life, the Earth, and the Cosmos, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, our connection with the universe. And I was certain that this interest could be excited through that most powerful communications medium, television.
Sagan's own interest and enthusiasm for the universe were so vivid and infectious, his screen presence so engaging, that viewers and readers couldn't help but be caught up in his vision. From stars in their "billions and billions" to the amino acids in the primordial ocean, Sagan communicated a feeling for science as a process of discovery. Inevitably, some of the science in Cosmos has been outdated in the years since 1980--but Sagan's sense of wonder is ageless. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
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Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Unsettling, Witty Answers to Questions You Never Thought You Wanted to Askby New ScientistISBN 0743297261 (0-7432-9726-1)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theoryby B. GreeneISBN 0375708111 (0-375-70811-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory'Book summary:There is an ill-concealed skeleton in the closet of physics: "As they are currently formulated, general relativity and quantum mechanics cannot both be right." Each is exceedingly accurate in its field: general relativity explains the behavior of the universe at large scales, while quantum mechanics describes the behavior of subatomic particles. Yet the theories collide horribly under extreme conditions such as black holes or times close to the big bang. Brian Greene, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the two pillars of physics can be reconciled in superstring theory, a theory of everything.
Superstring theory has been called "a part of 21st-century physics that fell by chance into the 20th century." In other words, it isn't all worked out yet. Despite the uncertainties--"string theorists work to find approximate solutions to approximate equations"--Greene gives a tour of string theory solid enough to satisfy the scientifically literate.
Though Ed Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study is in many ways the human hero of The Elegant Universe, it is not a human-side-of-physics story. Greene's focus throughout is the science, and he gives the nonspecialist at least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the road to knowledge. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
More editions of Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory:
- The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0393058581 (0-393-05858-1)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0613250028 (0-613-25002-8)
Hardcover, Bt Bound - Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0224052993 (0-224-05299-3)
Hardcover, Jonathan Cape - Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0393046885 (0-393-04688-5)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0606252657 (0-606-25265-7)
Hardcover, Demco Media - Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0375708111 (0-375-70811-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc
- The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: ISBN 0393058581 (0-393-05858-1)
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The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physicsby Roger Penrose, Martin GardnerISBN 0192861980 (0-19-286198-0)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics'Book summary:Some love it, some hate it, but The Emperor's New Mind, physicist Roger Penrose's 1989 treatise attacking the foundations of strong artificial intelligence, is crucial for anyone interested in the history of thinking about AI and consciousness. Part survey of modern physics, part exploration of the philosophy of mind, the book is not for casual readers--though it's not overly technical, it rarely pauses to let the reader catch a breath. The overview of relativity and quantum theory, written by a master, is priceless and uncontroversial. The exploration of consciousness and AI, though, is generally considered as resting on shakier ground.
Penrose claims that there is an intimate, perhaps unknowable relation between quantum effects and our thinking, and ultimately derives his anti-AI stance from his proposition that some, if not all, of our thinking is non-algorithmic. Of course, these days we believe that there are other avenues to AI than traditional algorithmic programming; while he has been accused of setting up straw robots to knock down, this accusation is unfair. Little was then known about the power of neural networks and behavior-based robotics to simulate (and, some would say, produce) intelligent problem-solving behavior. Whether these tools will lead to strong AI is ultimately a question of belief, not proof, and The Emperor's New Mind offers powerful arguments useful to believer and nonbeliever alike. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics:
- The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics: ISBN 0140145346 (0-14-014534-6)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA - The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics: ISBN 0198519737 (0-19-851973-7)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics: ISBN 0192861980 (0-19-286198-0)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics: ISBN 0140145346 (0-14-014534-6)
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The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Realityby Brian GreeneISBN 0375727205 (0-375-72720-5)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality'Book summary:As a boy, Brian Greene read Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus and was transformed. Camus, in Greene's paraphrase, insisted that the hero triumphs "by relinquishing everything beyond immediate experience." After wrestling with this idea, however, Greene rejected Camus and realized that his true idols were physicists; scientists who struggled "to assess life and to experience the universe at all possible levels, not just those that happened to be accessible to our frail human senses." His driving question in The Fabric of the Cosmos, then, is fundamental: "What is reality?" Over sixteen chapters, he traces the evolving human understanding of the substrate of the universe, from classical physics to ten-dimensional M-Theory.
Assuming an audience of non-specialists, Greene has set himself a daunting task: to explain non-intuitive, mathematical concepts like String Theory, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Inflationary Cosmology with analogies drawn from common experience. For the most part, he succeeds. His language reflects a deep passion for science and a gift for translating concepts into poetic images. When explaining, for example, the inability to see the higher dimensions inherent in string theory, Greene writes: "We don't see them because of the way we see&like an ant walking along a lily pad&we could be floating within a grand, expansive, higher-dimensional space."
For Greene, Rhodes Scholar and professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, speculative science is not always as thorough and successful. His discussion of teleportation, for example, introduces and then quickly tables a valuable philosophical probing of identity. The paradoxes of time travel, however, are treated with greater depth, and his vision of life in a three-brane universe is compelling and--to use his description for quantum reality--"weird."
In the final pages Greene turns from science fiction back to the fringes of science fact, and he returns with rigor to frame discoveries likely to be made in the coming decades. "We are, most definitely, still wandering in the jungle," he concludes. Thanks to Greene, though, some of the underbrush has been cleared. --Patrick O'Kelley [via]
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Fermat's Enigmaby Simon SinghISBN 0385493622 (0-385-49362-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fermat's Enigma'Book summary:When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993 it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste for the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians. [via]
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Fermat's Enigma: The Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problemby Simon SinghISBN 0802713319 (0-8027-1331-9)
Hardcover, Walker & Company
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fermat's Enigma: The Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem'Book summary:When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993 it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste for the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians. [via]
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Fermat's Last Theorem: The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Yearsby Simon SinghISBN 1857026691 (1-85702-669-1)
Hardcover, Fourth Estate
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fermat's Last Theorem: The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years'Book summary:In 1963, a schoolboy browsing in his local library stumbled across a great mathematical problem: Fermat's Last Theorem, a puzzle that every child can now understand, but which has baffled mathematicians for over 300 years. Aged just ten, Andrew Wiles dreamed he would crack it. Many people had tried before Wiles and failed, including an 18th-century philanderer who was killed in a duel. An 18th-century Frenchwoman made a major breakthrough in solving the riddle, but she had to attend maths lectures at the Ecole Polytechnique disguised as a man. This is the story of the puzzle that has confounded mathematicians since the 17th century. The solution of the Theorem is one of the most important mathematical developments of the 20th century. [via]
More editions of Fermat's Last Theorem: The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years:
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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everythingby Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. LevittISBN 0061245135 (0-06-124513-5)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'Book summary:Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences. The annual Nobel Prize winner in that field never receives as much publicity as his or her compatriots in peace, literature, or physics. But if such slights are based on the notion that economics is dull, or that economists are concerned only with finance itself, Steven D. Levitt will change some minds. In Freakonomics (written with Stephen J. Dubner), Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of everyday life don't need to be so mysterious: They could be illuminated and made even more fascinating by asking the right questions and drawing connections. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence of some people who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing data gathered from innercity Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate structure much like McDonald's, where the top bosses make great money while scores of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a section that may alarm or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don't really matter much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun. These enlightening chapters are separated by effusive passages from Dubner's 2003 profile of Levitt in The New York Times Magazine, which led to the book being written. In a book filled with bold logic, such back-patting veers Freakonomics, however briefly, away from what Levitt actually has to say. Although maybe there's a good economic reason for that too, and we're just not getting it yet. --John Moe
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner Answer The Amazon.com Significant Seven
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, author and co-author of this season's bestselling quirky hit, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, graciously answered the Amazon.com Significant Seven questions that we like to run by every author.
Levitt and Dubner answer the Amazon.com Significant Seven questionsMore editions of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything:
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chaptersby Matt RidleyISBN 0060894083 (0-06-089408-3)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters'Book summary:Science writer Matt Ridley has found a way to tell someone else's story without being accused of plagiarism. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters delves deep within your body (and, to be fair, Ridley's too) looking for dirt dug up by the Human Genome Project. Each chapter pries one gene out of its chromosome and focuses on its role in our development and adult life, but also goes further, exploring the implications of genetic research and our quickly changing social attitudes toward this information. Genome shies away from the "tedious biochemical middle managers" that only a nerd could love and instead goes for the A-material: genes associated with cancer, intelligence, sex (of course), and more.
Readers unfamiliar with the jargon of genetic research needn't fear; Ridley provides a quick, clear guide to the few words and concepts he must use to translate hard science into English. His writing is informal, relaxed, and playful, guiding the reader so effortlessly through our 23 chromosomes that by the end we wish we had more. He believes that the Human Genome Project will be as world-changing as the splitting of the atom; if so, he is helping us prepare for exciting times--the hope of a cure for cancer contrasts starkly with the horrors of newly empowered eugenicists. Anyone interested in the future of the body should get a head start with the clever, engrossing Genome. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters:
- Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters: ISBN 0060194979 (0-06-019497-9)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited - Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters: ISBN 0060932902 (0-06-093290-2)
Softcover, Harpercollins - Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters: ISBN 0060894083 (0-06-089408-3)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters: ISBN 0060194979 (0-06-019497-9)
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Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braidby Douglas R. HofstadterISBN 0465026567 (0-465-02656-7)
Softcover, Basic Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'Book summary:As stated in the Scientific American, "Every few decades an unknown author brings out a boof of such depth, clarity range, wit beauty and originality that it is recognized at once as a major literary event - this is such a work." [via]
More editions of Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid:
- Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: ISBN 0394745027 (0-394-74502-7)
Softcover, Vintage Books - Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: ISBN 0394756827 (0-394-75682-7)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group - Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: ISBN 0465026850 (0-465-02685-0)
Hardcover, Perseus Books Group - Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: ISBN 0465026567 (0-465-02656-7)
Softcover, Basic Books
- Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid: ISBN 0394745027 (0-394-74502-7)
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Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societiesby Jared DiamondISBN 0393317552 (0-393-31755-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies'Book summary:With a new chapter. The phenomenal bestseller; over 1.5 million copies sold; is now a major PBS special.Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series. Until around 11,000 BC, all peoples were still Stone Age hunter/gatherers. At that point, a great divide occurred in the rates that human societies evolved. In Eurasia, parts of the Americas, and Africa, farming became the prevailing mode of existence when indigenous wild plants and animals were domesticated by prehistoric planters and herders. As Jared Diamond vividly reveals, the very people who gained a head start in producing food would collide with preliterate cultures, shaping the modern world through conquest, displacement, and genocide.The paths that lead from scattered centers of food to broad bands of settlement had a great deal to do with climate and geography. But how did differences in societies arise? Why weren't native Australians, Americans, or Africans the ones to colonize Europe? Diamond dismantles pernicious racial theories tracing societal differences to biological differences. He assembles convincing evidence linking germs to domestication of animals, germs that Eurasians then spread in epidemic proportions in their voyages of discovery. In its sweep, Guns, Germs and Steel encompasses the rise of agriculture, technology, writing, government, and religion, providing a unifying theory of human history as intriguing as the histories of dinosaurs and glaciers. 32 illustrations [via]
More editions of Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies:
- Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393061310 (0-393-06131-0)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 061318114X (0-613-18114-X)
Hardcover, Bt Bound - Guns, Germs, and Steel : The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393038912 (0-393-03891-2)
Hardcover, Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W. - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393973867 (0-393-97386-7)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393317552 (0-393-31755-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393061310 (0-393-06131-0)
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Guns, Germs, and Steel Reader's Companionby Jared DiamondISBN 1586638637 (1-58663-863-7)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guns, Germs, and Steel Reader's Companion'Book summary:Scholar and professor Jared Diamond made a huge splash with this fascinating but controversial book, which argues that geography and environment have almost singlehandedly determined the course of human history. Dig deeper into his contentions with the information inside this invaluable reader's handbook:- Why did Europe colonize Africa and Asia rather than the other way around?
- Why is geography the most important factor in human history?
- How has the rest of the scientific community received Diamond's theory?
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Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimensionby Michio KakuISBN 0385477058 (0-385-47705-8)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension'Book summary:How many dimensions do you live in? Three? Maybe that's all your commonsense sense perception perceives, but there is growing and compelling evidence to suggest that we actually live in a universe of ten real dimensions. Kaku has written an extraordinarily lucid and thought-provoking exploration of the theoretical and empirical bases of a ten-dimensional universe and even goes so far as to discuss possible practical implications--such as being able to escape the collapse of the universe. Yikes. Highly Recommended. [via]
More editions of Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension:
- Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension: ISBN 0195085140 (0-19-508514-0)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr on Demand - Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension: ISBN 0192861891 (0-19-286189-1)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension: ISBN 0385477058 (0-385-47705-8)
Softcover, Random House Inc
- Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension: ISBN 0195085140 (0-19-508514-0)
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The Illustrated a Brief History of Timeby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 0553103741 (0-553-10374-1)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Illustrated a Brief History of Time'Book summary:In the years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has established itself as a landmark volume in scientific
writing. It has also become an international publishing phenomenon, translated into forty languages and selling over nine million copies.The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since then there have been extraordinary advances in the
technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic world. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawking's theoretical predictions
in the first edition of his book, including the recent discoveries of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which probed back in time to within 300,000 years of the universe's beginning and revealed the wrinkles in the fabric of space-time that he had projected.Eager to bring to his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his most recent research, for this revised and expanded edition Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, revised and updated the original chapters throughout, and written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel.
In addition, to heighten understanding of complex concepts that readers may have found difficult to grasp despite the clarity and wit of Hawking's writing, this edition is magnificently enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made possible by spectacular new technological advances such as the Hubble telescope, and computer- generated images of three- and four-dimensional realities. Detailed captions clarify these illustrations, enabling readers to experience the vastness of intergalactic space, the nature of black holes, and the microcosmic world of
particle physics in which matter and antimatter collide.A classic work that now brings to the reader the latest understanding of cosmology, The Illustrated A Brief History of Time is the story of the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space. [via]
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In Search of Schrodinger's Catby John GribbinISBN 0553342533 (0-553-34253-3)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality'Book summary:Part history book and part remedial physics text for those who lost interest when the equations started getting unintuitive, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat explains quantum physics in a way that's not only clear, but also enjoyable.
Gribbin opens with the subjects that most physics professors have just started to examine at the end of the semester: The mysterious character of light, the valence concept in Nils Bohr's atomic model, radioactive decay, and the physics of life-defining DNA all get clear, comprehensive, and witty coverage. This book reveals the beauty and mystery that underlies everything in the universe.
Does this book claim to explain quantum physics without math? No. Math is too central to physics to be bypassed. But if you can do basic algebra, you can understand the equations in In Search of Schrödinger's Cat. Gribbin is the physics teacher everyone should have in high school or college: kind without being a pushover, knowledgeable without being condescending, and clearly expressive without being boring. Gribbin's book belongs on the shelf of every pre-calculus student. It also deserves a place in the library of everyone who was scared away from advanced physics prematurely. [via]
More editions of In Search of Schrodinger's Cat:
- In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: ISBN 0553341030 (0-553-34103-0)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group - In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: The Startling World of Quantum Physics Explained: ISBN 0704530716 (0-7045-3071-6)
Hardcover, Wildwood House - In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality: ISBN 0553342533 (0-553-34253-3)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
- In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: ISBN 0553341030 (0-553-34103-0)
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The Language Instinctby Steven PinkerISBN 0060976519 (0-06-097651-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Language Instinct'Book summary:In The Language Instinct , Steven Pinker, well-known for his revolutionary theory of how children acquire language, lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, how it evolved. With wit, education, and deft use of everyday examples of humor and wordplay, Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution like web spinning in spiders or sonar in bats. [via]
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The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Languageby Steven PinkerISBN 0060958332 (0-06-095833-2)
Softcover, Perennial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language'Book summary:In this "extremely valuable book, very informative, and very well written" (Noam Chomsky), one of the greatest thinkers in the field of linguistics explains how language works--how people, ny making noises with their mouths, can cause ideas to arise in other people's minds. [via]
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River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Lifeby Richard Dawkins, Lalla WardISBN 0465069908 (0-465-06990-8)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life'Book summary:Nearly a century and a half after Charles Darwin formulated it, the theory of evolution is still the subject of considerable debate. Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins is among Darwin's chief defenders, and an able one indeed-- witty, literate, capable of turning a beautiful phrase. In River Out of Eden he introduces general readers to some fairly abstract problems in evolutionary biology, gently guiding us through the tangles of mitochondrial DNA and the survival-of-the- fittest ethos. (Superheroes need not apply: Dawkins writes, "The genes that survive . . . will be the ones that are good at surviving in the average environment of the species.") Dawkins argues for the essential unity of humanity, noting that "we are much closer cousins of one another than we normally realize, and we have many fewer ancestors than simple calculations suggest." [via]
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The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universeby Roger PenroseISBN 0679776311 (0-679-77631-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe'Book summary:From one of our greatest living scientists, a magnificent book that provides, for the serious lay reader, the most comprehensive and sophisticated account we have yet had of the physical universe and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory.
Since the earliest efforts of the ancient Greeks to find order amid the chaos around us, there has been continual accelerated progress toward understanding the laws that govern our universe. And the particularly important advances made by means of the revolutionary theories of relativity and quantum mechanics have deeply altered our vision of the cosmos and provided us with models of unprecedented accuracy.
What Roger Penrose so brilliantly accomplishes in this book is threefold. First, he gives us an overall narrative description of our present understanding of the universe and its physical behaviorsfrom the unseeable, minuscule movement of the subatomic particle to the journeys of the planets and the stars in the vastness of time and space.
Second, he evokes the extraordinary beauty that lies in the mysterious and profound relationships between these physical behaviors and the subtle mathematical ideas that explain and interpret them.
Third, Penrose comes to the arresting conclusionas he explores the compatibility of the two grand classic theories of modern physicsthat Einsteins general theory of relativity stands firm while quantum theory, as presently constituted, still needs refashioning.
Along the way, he talks about a wealth of issues, controversies, and phenomena; about the roles of various kinds of numbers in physics, ideas of calculus and modern geometry, visions of infinity, the big bang, black holes, the profound challenge of the second law of thermodynamics, string and M theory, loop quantum gravity, twistors, and educated guesses about science in the near future. In The Road to Reality he has given us a work of enormous scope, intention, and achievementa complete and essential work of science [via]More editions of The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe:
- The Road To Reality: A Complete Guide To The Laws Of The Universe: ISBN 0679454438 (0-679-45443-8)
Hardcover, Random House Inc - The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe: ISBN 0224044478 (0-224-04447-8)
Hardcover, Jonathan Cape - The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe: ISBN 0679776311 (0-679-77631-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc
- The Road To Reality: A Complete Guide To The Laws Of The Universe: ISBN 0679454438 (0-679-45443-8)
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The Selfish Geneby Richard DawkinsISBN 0199291152 (0-19-929115-2)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Selfish Gene'Book summary:Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since.
Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Selfish Gene:
- The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192860925 (0-19-286092-5)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192177737 (0-19-217773-7)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0195200004 (0-19-520000-4)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 019857519X (0-19-857519-X)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0199291144 (0-19-929114-4)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0199291152 (0-19-929115-2)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192860925 (0-19-286092-5)
A Short History of Nearly Everythingby Bill BrysonISBN 1417665483 (1-4176-6548-3)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Short History of Nearly Everything'Book summary:One of the worlds most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the worlds most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
From the Hardcover edition. [via]More editions of A Short History of Nearly Everything:
- A Short History of Nearly Everything: ISBN 076790818X (0-7679-0818-X)
Softcover, Broadway Books - A Short History of Nearly Everything: ISBN 0375432000 (0-375-43200-0)
Hardcover, Random House Large Print - A Short History of Nearly Everything: ISBN 0767908171 (0-7679-0817-1)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group - A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition: ISBN 0767923227 (0-7679-2322-7)
Hardcover, Broadway Books - A Short History of Nearly Everything: ISBN 1417665483 (1-4176-6548-3)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
- A Short History of Nearly Everything: ISBN 076790818X (0-7679-0818-X)
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard FeynmanISBN 0613181468 (0-613-18146-8)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'Book summary:A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith [via]
More editions of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!:
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Characterby Richard P FeynmanISBN 0553276646 (0-553-27664-6)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character'Book summary:A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith [via]
More editions of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character:
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character: ISBN 0553346687 (0-553-34668-7)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group - Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character: ISBN 0393019217 (0-393-01921-7)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character: ISBN 0553276646 (0-553-27664-6)
Softcover, Bantam Books
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character: ISBN 0553346687 (0-553-34668-7)
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Characterby Ralph Leighton, Richard P Feynman, Edward HutchingsISBN 0393316041 (0-393-31604-1)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character'Book summary:A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith [via]
More editions of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character:
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Characterby Richard Phillips FeynmanISBN 0553256491 (0-553-25649-1)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character'Book summary:A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith [via]
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The Universe in a Nutshellby S. W. HawkingISBN 055380202X (0-553-80202-X)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Universe in a Nutshell'Book summary:Stephen Hawking, science's first real rock star, may be the least-read bestselling author in history--it's no secret that many people who own A Brief History of Time have never finished it. Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell aims to remedy the situation, with a plethora of friendly illustrations to help readers grok some of the most brain-bending ideas ever conceived.
Does it succeed? Yes and no. While Hawking offers genuinely accessible context for such complexities as string theory and the nature of time, it's when he must translate equations to sentences that the limits of language get in the way. But Hawking has simplified the origin of the universe, the nature of space and time, and what holds it all together to an unprecedented degree, inviting nonscientists to share his obvious awe and love of the unseen forces that shape it all.
Yes, it's difficult reading, but it's worth it. Hawking is one of the great geniuses of our time, a man whose life has been devoted to thinking in the abstract about the universe. With his help, and pictures--lots of pictures--we can seek to understand a bit more of the cosmos. --Therese Littleton [via]
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Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steelby Jared DiamondISBN 848306667X (84-8306-667-X)
Hardcover, Debate Editorial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steel'More editions of Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steel:
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Brevisima Historia Del Tiempo/a Brief History of Timeby Stephen Hawking, Leonard MlodinowISBN 8484326373 (84-8432-637-3)
Hardcover, Planeta Pub Corp
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Brevisima Historia Del Tiempo/a Brief History of Time'Book summary:En 1988 aparecio un libro que iba a cambiar de arriba abajo nuestra concepcion del universo y que se convirtio en uno de los mayores best-sellers cientificos: "Historia del tiempo", de Stephen Hawking, el mayor genio del siglo xx despues de Einstein. Pese a su exito colosal, aquel libro presentaba algunas dificultades de comprension para el publico menos familiarizado con los principios de la fisica teorica. Ahora, diecisiete años despues, el profesor Hawking ha escrito este libro maravilloso y sencillo que pone al alcance del comun de los mortales los grandes misterios del mundo y de la vida. [via]
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Freakonomics: Un Economista Polfticamente Incorrecto Explora El Lado Oculta De Lo Que Nos Afectaby Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. LevittISBN 8466625127 (84-666-2512-7)
Softcover, Ediciones B
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Freakonomics: Un Economista Polfticamente Incorrecto Explora El Lado Oculta De Lo Que Nos Afecta'Book summary:[via]Presenting economics as the underlying connection between seemingly unrelated events or phenomena, this international bestseller establishes a new way of looking at the world. The authors explain the hidden side of everything, from violent crime, parenting, and baby names to the Ku Klux Klan and real estate, demonstrating how economics isn't just about numbers, but a study of incentiveshow people get what they need and want when others need and want the same thing.Comprobando que el estudio de la economía puede explicar como se relacionan fenómenos distintos, este bestseller internacional establece una nueva manera de ver al mundo. Los autores explican el lado escondido de todo, desde crímenes violentos y nombres de bebes hasta el Ku Klux Klan y bienes raíces, demostrando que el estudio de la economía es un estudio de los incentivos: el modo en que las personas obtienen lo que desean o necesitan, especialmente cuando otras personas desean o necesitan lo mismo.More editions of Freakonomics: Un Economista Polfticamente Incorrecto Explora El Lado Oculta De Lo Que Nos Afecta:
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Gdel, Escher, Bachby D.R. HofstadterISBN 8472234592 (84-7223-459-2)
Softcover, Tusquets Editor
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Gdel, Escher, Bach'Book summary:¿Puede un sistema comprenderse a sí mismo ? Si esta pregunta se refiere a la mente humana, entonces nos encontramos ante una cuestión clave del pensamiento científico. Y de la filosofía. Y del arte. Investigar este misterio es una aventura que recorre la matemática, la física, la biología, la psicología y, muy especialmente, el lenguaje. Douglas R. Hofstadter, joven y ya célebre científico, nos abre la puerta del enigma con la belleza y la alegría creadora de su estilo. Sorprendentes paralelismos ocultos entre los grabados de Escher y la música de Bach nos remiten a las paradojas clásicas de los antiguos griegos y a un teorema de la lógica matemática moderna que ha estremecido el pensamiento del siglo XX : el de Kurt Gödel. Todo lenguaje, todo sistema formal, todo programa de ordenador, todo proceso de pensamiento, llegan, tarde o temprano, a la situación límite de la autorreferencia : de querer expresarse sobre sí mismos. Surge entonces la emoción del infinito, como dos espejos enfrentados y obligados a reflejarse mutua e indefinidamente. Gödel, Escher, Bach: un Eterno y Grácil Bucle, es una obra de arte escrita por un sabio. Versa sobre los misterios del pensamiento e incluye, ella misma, sus propios misterios. / Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of Bach, the artwork of Escher, and the mathematics of Gödel.mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence. [via]
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Genoma: La Autobiografia De Una Especie En 23 Capitulosby Matt RidleyISBN 8430604146 (84-306-0414-6)
Softcover, Santillana USA Pub Co Inc
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Historia Del Tiempoby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 8420639710 (84-206-3971-0)
Softcover, Grupo Anaya Comercial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Historia Del Tiempo'Book summary:HISTORIA DEL TIEMPO es un libro de divulgación sobre el espacio y el tiempo escrito por uno de los físicos teóricos más prestigiosos de la actualidad. En él STEPHEN W. HAWKING presenta de forma clara y concisa los conceptos fundamentales de la mecánica newtoniana, la teoría de la relatividad, la mecánica cuántica y la cosmología contemporánea, temas todos ellos que, junto a su interés intrínseco, permiten enmarcar el problema de fondo tratado en el libro: el origen del universo y la creación del espacio-tiempo, llegando a asomarse a campos más amplios y aventurados, como la metafísica e incluso la teología, al plantearse la naturaleza de Dios creador, o más bien garante del sentido del universo.(*CR*) [via]
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Historia del tiempo / A Brief History of Time: del big bang a los agujeros negros / From Big Bangs to the Black Holesby Stephen W. HawkingISBN 9879317114 (987-9317-11-4)
Softcover, Distal S R L
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Historia del tiempo / A Brief History of Time: del big bang a los agujeros negros / From Big Bangs to the Black Holes'More editions of Historia del tiempo / A Brief History of Time: del big bang a los agujeros negros / From Big Bangs to the Black Holes:
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Una Breve Historia De Casi Todo/a Short History of Nearly Everythingby Bryson BillISBN 8478713808 (84-7871-380-8)
Softcover, Rba Publicaciones Editores revistas
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Una Breve Historia De Casi Todo/a Short History of Nearly Everything'Book summary:One of the worlds best-selling writers takes his ultimate journey into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. Its a dazzling quest, to understand what that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, &how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since. Description in Spanish: Bill Bryson se describe como un viajero renuente, pero ni siquiera cuando está en su casa, en la seguridad de su estudio, puede contener esa curiosidad que siente por el mundo que le rodea. En Una breve historia de casi todo intenta entender qué ocurrió entre la Gran Explosión y el surgimiento de la civilización, cómo pasamos de la nada a lo ahora somos. [via]
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