books tagged “quantum gravity”

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Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers, and Shrieks: Singularities and Acausalities in Relativistic Spacetimes
by John Earman

ISBN 019509591X (0-19-509591-X)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr on Demand

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- Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers, and Shrieks: Singularities and Acausalities in Relativistic Spacetimes: ISBN 019509591X (0-19-509591-X)
  Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr on Demand
Between Inner Space and Outer Space : Essays on Science Art and Philosophy
by John D. Barrow

ISBN 0198502540 (0-19-850254-0)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press

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More editions of Between Inner Space and Outer Space : Essays on Science Art and Philosophy:
- Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on Science, Art, and Philosophy: ISBN 0192880411 (0-19-288041-1)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- Between Inner Space and Outer Space : Essays on Science Art and Philosophy: ISBN 0198502540 (0-19-850254-0)
  Hardcover, Oxford University Press
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Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe
by Michio Kaku, Jennifer Trainer Thompson

ISBN 0385477813 (0-385-47781-3)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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Book summary:
Beyond Einstein takes readers on an exciting excursion into the discoveries that have led scientists to the brightest new prospect in theoretical physics today -- superstring theory. What is superstring theory and why is it important? This revolutionary breakthrough may well be the
fulfillment of Albert Einstein's lifelong dream of a Theory of Everything, uniting the laws of physics into a single description explaining all the known forces in the universe. Co-authored by one of the leading pioneers in superstrings, Michio Kaku, and completely revised and updated with the newest groundbreaking research, the book approaches scientific questions with the excitement of a detective story, offering a fascinating look at the new science that may make the impossible possible. [via]
More editions of Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe:
- Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe: ISBN 0553343491 (0-553-34349-1)
  Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
- Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for the Theory of the Universe: ISBN 0385477813 (0-385-47781-3)
  Softcover, Random House Inc
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The Book of Nothing
by John D. Barrow

ISBN 0224059629 (0-224-05962-9)
Hardcover, Jonathan Cape

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Book summary:
From our modern perspective, it is easy to deride the wranglings of medieval scholars over the numbers of angels that could dance on the head of a pin and whether Nature abhorred a vacuum. But as John Barrow reveals in this timely and important book, new discoveries in science have shown that these scholars were right to suspect that Nothing has hidden depths. It is a concept shot through with paradoxes: even innocent-looking phrases like "Nothing is real" flip their meanings as we ponder them, like those illusions that look like a vase one moment, and opposing faces the next. Nothing is fertile too, as Barrow shows with a stunning trick that allows every number one can think of to be built out of nothing at all. But his book is about far more than mind games. Arguably the most important discovery of 20th century physics is that there is no such thing as nothing: even the tightest vacuum is teeming with sub-atomic particles popping in and out of existence according to the dictates of quantum theory. Now many astronomers suspect that such "vacuum effects" may have triggered the Big Bang itself, filling our universe with matter. Indeed, the very latest observations suggest that vacuum effects will dictate the ultimate fate of the universe. As an internationally respected cosmologist, Barrow does a fine job of explaining these new discoveries. The result is a book that is required reading for anyone wanting to understand why there will be much ado about Nothing among scientists in the years ahead --Robert Matthews [via]
More editions of The Book of Nothing:
- The Book of Nothing: ISBN 0224059629 (0-224-05962-9)
  Hardcover, Jonathan Cape
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The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the Origins of the Universe
by John D. Barrow

ISBN 0375726098 (0-375-72609-8)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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Book summary:
From our modern perspective, it is easy to deride the wranglings of medieval scholars over the number of angels that could dance of the head of a pin and whether Nature abhors a vacuum. But as John Barrow reveals in this timely and important book, new discoveries in science have shown that these scholars were right to suspect that Nothing has hidden depths.
It is a concept shot through with paradoxes: even innocent-looking phrases like "Nothing is real" flip their meanings as we ponder them, like those illusions that look like a vase one moment, and opposing faces the next. Nothing is fertile, too, as Barrow shows via a stunning trick that allows every number one can think of to be built out of nothing at all.
But his book is about far more than mind games. Arguably, the most important discovery of 20th-century physics is that there is no such thing as nothing: even the tightest vacuum is teeming with subatomic particles popping in and out of existence, according to the dictates of quantum theory. Now, many astronomers suspect that such "vacuum effects" may have triggered the Big Bang itself, filling our universe with matter. Indeed, the very latest observations suggest that vacuum effects will dictate the ultimate fate of the universe.
As an internationally respected cosmologist, Barrow does a fine job of explaining these new discoveries. The result is a book that is required reading for anyone who wants to understand why there will be much ado about Nothing among scientists in the years ahead. --Robert Matthews, Amazon.co.uk [via]
More editions of The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the Origins of the Universe:
- The Book of Nothing : Vacuums, Voids and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe: ISBN 0375420991 (0-375-42099-1)
  Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
- The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the Origins of the Universe: ISBN 0375726098 (0-375-72609-8)
  Softcover, Random House Inc
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Einstein's Universe: Gravity at Work and Play
by A. Zee

ISBN 0195142853 (0-19-514285-3)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr on Demand

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Book summary:
On Albert Einstein's seventy-sixth and final birthday, a friend gave him a simple toy made from a broomstick, a brass ball attached to a length of string, and a weak spring. Einstein was delighted: the toy worked on a principle he had conceived fifty years earlier when he was working on his revolutionary theory of gravity--a principle whose implications are still confounding physicists today.

Starting with this winning anecdote, Anthony Zee begins his animated discussion of phenomena ranging from the emergence of galaxies to the curvature of space-time, evidence for the existence of gravity waves, and the shape of the universe in the first nanoseconds of creation and today. Making complex ideas accessible without oversimplifying, Zee leads the reader through the implications of Einstein's theory and its influence on modern physics. His playful and lucid style conveys the excitement of some of the latest developments in physics, and his new Afterword brings things even further up-to-date. [via]
More editions of Einstein's Universe: Gravity at Work and Play:
- Einstein's Universe: Gravity at Work and Play: ISBN 0195142853 (0-19-514285-3)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr on Demand
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Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
by B. Greene

ISBN 0375708111 (0-375-70811-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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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]
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The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics
by Roger Penrose, Martin Gardner

ISBN 0192861980 (0-19-286198-0)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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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]
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The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics
by Julian Barbour

ISBN 0195145925 (0-19-514592-5)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Richard Feynman once quipped: "Time is what happens when nothing else does." But Julian Barbour disagrees: if nothing happened, if nothing changed, time would stop. For time is nothing but change. It is change that we perceive occurring all around us, not time. In fact, time doesn't exist.
In this highly provocative volume, Barbour presents the basic evidence for the nonexistence of time, explaining what a timeless universe is like and showing how the world will nonetheless be experienced as intensely temporal. It is a book that strikes at the heart of modern physics, that casts doubt on Einstein's greatest contribution, the space-time continuum, but that also points to the solution of one of the great paradoxes of modern science: the chasm between classical and quantum physics. Indeed, Barbour argues that the unification of Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics may well spell the end of time--time will cease to have a role in the foundations of physics.
Barbour writes with remarkable clarity, as he ranges from ancient philosophers such as Heraclitus and Parmenides, to such giants of science as Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, to the work of contemporary physicists such as John Wheeler, Roger Penrose, and Steven Hawking. Along the way, the author treats us to an enticing look at some of the mysteries of the universe and presents intriguing ideas about multiple worlds, time travel, immortality, and, above all, the illusion of motion.
Turning our understanding of reality inside-out, The End of Time is a vibrantly written and revolutionary book. [via]
More editions of The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics:
- The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics: ISBN 0195117298 (0-19-511729-8)
  Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics: ISBN 0195145925 (0-19-514592-5)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
by Brian Greene

ISBN 0375727205 (0-375-72720-5)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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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]
More editions of The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality:
- The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality: ISBN 0375412883 (0-375-41288-3)
  Hardcover, Random House Inc
- The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality: ISBN 0375727205 (0-375-72720-5)
  Softcover, Random House Inc
Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science
by Jean Bricmont, Alan D. Sokal

ISBN 0312204078 (0-312-20407-8)
Softcover, Picador USA

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Book summary:
In 1996, an article entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" was published in the cultural studies journal Social Text. Packed with recherché quotations from "postmodern" literary theorists and sociologists of science, and bristling with imposing theorems of mathematical physics, the article addressed the cultural and political implications of the theory of quantum gravity. Later, to the embarrassment of the editors, the author revealed that the essay was a hoax, interweaving absurd pronouncements from eminent intellectuals about mathematics and physics with laudatory--but fatuous--prose.
In Fashionable Nonsense, Alan Sokal, the author of the hoax, and Jean Bricmont contend that abuse of science is rampant in postmodernist circles, both in the form of inaccurate and pretentious invocation of scientific and mathematical terminology and in the more insidious form of epistemic relativism. When Sokal and Bricmont expose Jacques Lacan's ignorant misuse of topology, or Julia Kristeva's of set theory, or Luce Irigaray's of fluid mechanics, or Jean Baudrillard's of non-Euclidean geometry, they are on safe ground; it is all too clear that these virtuosi are babbling.
Their discussion of epistemic relativism--roughly, the idea that scientific and mathematical theories are mere "narrations" or social constructions--is less convincing, however, in part because epistemic relativism is not as intrinsically silly as, say, Regis Debray's maunderings about Gödel, and in part because the authors' own grasp of the philosophy of science frequently verges on the naive. Nevertheless, Sokal and Bricmont are to be commended for their spirited resistance to postmodernity's failure to appreciate science for what it is. --Glenn Branch [via]
More editions of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science:
- Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science: ISBN 0312195451 (0-312-19545-1)
  Hardcover, St Martins Pr
- Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science: ISBN 0312204078 (0-312-20407-8)
  Softcover, Picador USA
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Feynman Lectures on Gravitation
by Brian Hatfield, Richard P Feynman, William G. Wagner, Fernando B. Morinigo

ISBN 0201627345 (0-201-62734-5)
Hardcover, Perseus Books

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Book summary:
The Feynman Lectures on Gravitation are based on notes prepared during a course on gravitational physics that Richard Feynman taught at Caltech during the 1962-63 academic year. For several years prior to these lectures, Feynman thought long and hard about the fundamental problems in gravitational physics, yet he published very little. These lectures represent a useful record of his viewpoints and some of his insights into gravity and its application to cosmology, superstars, wormholes, and gravitational waves at that particular time. The lectures also contain a number of fascinating digressions and asides on the foundations of physics and other issues.Characteristically, Feynman took and untraditional non-geometric approach to gravitation and general relativity based on the underlying quantum aspects of gravity. Hence, these lectures contain a unique pedagogical account of the development of Einsteins general relativity as the inevitable result of the demand for a self-consistent theory of a massless spin-2 field (the graviton) coupled to the energy-momentum tensor of matter. This approach also demonstrates the intimate and fundamental connection between gauge invariance and the Principle of Equivalence.
[via]
More editions of Feynman Lectures on Gravitation:
- Feynman Lectures on Gravitation: ISBN 0201627345 (0-201-62734-5)
  Hardcover, Perseus Books
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The Future of Spacetime
by Kip S. Thorne, Timothy Ferris, Igor Novikov, Alan Lightman, S. W. Hawking, Richard Price

ISBN 039332446X (0-393-32446-X)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc

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Book summary:
Our Minds Tell us that some things in the universe must be true. The New Physics tells us that they are not, and in the process, blurs the line between science and science fiction. Here are six accessible essays by those who walk that line, moving ever further out in discovering the patterns of nature, aimed at readers who share their fascination with the deepest mysteries of the universe.
-- Richard Price: An Introduction to Spacetime Physics
-- Stephen Hawking: Chronology Protection
-- Igor Novikov: Can We Change the Past?
-- Kip S. Thorne: Speculations about the Future
-- Timothy Ferris: On the Popularization of Science
-- Alan Lightman: The Physicist as Novelist [via]
More editions of The Future of Spacetime:
- The Future of Spacetime: ISBN 0393020223 (0-393-02022-3)
  Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- The Future of Spacetime: ISBN 039332446X (0-393-32446-X)
  Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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The Geometric Universe: Science, Geometry, and the Work of Roger Penrose
by S. A. Huggett, Lionel Mason, Paul Tod, Sheung Tsou

ISBN 0198500599 (0-19-850059-9)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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Book summary:
This collection has been inspired by the work of Roger Penrose. It gives an overview of current work on the interaction between geometry and physics, from which many important developments in research have emerged. This volume collects together the contributions of many important researchers, including Sir Roger himself, and gives an overview of the many applications of geometrical ideas and techniques across mathematics and the physical sciences. From the area of pure mathematics papers are included on the topics of classical differential geometry and non-commutative geometry, knot invariants, and the applications of gauge theory. Contributions from applied mathematics cover the topics of integrable systems and general relativity. Current research in experimental and theoretical physics inspired chapters on string theory, quantum gravity, the foundations of quantum mechanics, quasi-crystals and astrophysics. The collection also includes articles on quantum computation, quantum cryptography and the possible role of micro-tubules in a theory of consciousness. [via]
More editions of The Geometric Universe: Science, Geometry, and the Work of Roger Penrose:
- The Geometric Universe: Science, Geometry, and the Work of Roger Penrose: ISBN 0198500599 (0-19-850059-9)
  Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr
Gravitation and Guage Symmetries
by Milutin Blagojevic

ISBN 0750307676 (0-7503-0767-6)
Softcover, Inst of Physics Pub Inc

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- Gravitation and Guage Symmetries: ISBN 0750307676 (0-7503-0767-6)
  Softcover, Inst of Physics Pub Inc
The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes And the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything
by Paul Halpern

ISBN 0471741493 (0-471-74149-3)
Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc

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- The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes, and the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything: ISBN 047146595X (0-471-46595-X)
  Hardcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
- The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes And the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything: ISBN 0471741493 (0-471-74149-3)
  Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension
by Michio Kaku

ISBN 0385477058 (0-385-47705-8)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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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]
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Intellectual Impostures: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science
by J. Bricmont, Alan D. Sokal

ISBN 1861976313 (1-86197-631-3)
Softcover, Profile Books

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Book summary:
When Intellectual Impostures was published in France, it sent shock waves through the Left Bank establishment. When it was published in Britain, it provoked vicious debate. Sokal and Bricmont examine the canon of French postmodernists - Lacan, Kristeva, Baudrillard, Irigaray, Latour, Virilio, Deleuze and Guattari - and systematically expose their abuse of science. [via]
More editions of Intellectual Impostures: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science:
- Intellectual Impostures: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of Science: ISBN 1861976313 (1-86197-631-3)
  Softcover, Profile Books
Introducing Stephen Hawking
by Oscar Zarate, J. P. McEvoy, Richard Appignanesi

ISBN 1840466391 (1-84046-639-1)
Softcover, Totem Books

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- Introducing Stephen Hawking: ISBN 1840460962 (1-84046-096-2)
  Softcover, Totem Books
- Introducing Stephen Hawking: ISBN 1840466391 (1-84046-639-1)
  Softcover, Totem Books
Introducing Stephen Hawking
by Stephen W. Hawking, Richard Appignanesi, Oscar Zarate, J. P. McEvoy

ISBN 1874166250 (1-874166-25-0)
Softcover, Totem Books

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- Introducing Stephen Hawking: ISBN 1874166250 (1-874166-25-0)
  Softcover, Totem Books
Introducing Time
by Ralph Edney, Craig Callender, Richard Appignanesi

ISBN 1840462639 (1-84046-263-9)
Softcover, Natl Book Network

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- Introducing Time: ISBN 1840462639 (1-84046-263-9)
  Softcover, Natl Book Network
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Keeping It Real: Quantum Gravity book 1
by Justina Robson

ISBN 1591025397 (1-59102-539-7)
Softcover, Prometheus Books

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Book summary:
The Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. The fabric that kept the universe's different dimensions apart was torn and now, six years later, the people of earth exist in uneasy company with the inhabitants of, amongst others, the elfin, elemental, and demonic realms. Magic is real and can be even more dangerous than technology. Elves are exotic, erotic, dangerous, and really bored with the constant "Lord of the Rings" references. Elementals are a law unto themselves and demons are best left well to themselves. Special agent Lila Black used to be pretty, but now she's not so sure. Her body is more than half restless carbon and metal alloy machinery, a machine she's barely in control of. It goes into combat mode, enough weapons for a small army springing from within itself, at the merest provocation. As for her heart, well, ever since being drawn into a game by the elfin rockstar Zal (lead singer of the No Shows), who she's been assigned to protect, she's not even sure she can trust that any more either. [via]
More editions of Keeping It Real: Quantum Gravity book 1:
- Keeping It Real: Quantum Gravity book 1: ISBN 1591025397 (1-59102-539-7)
  Softcover, Prometheus Books
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The Large, the Small and the Human Mind
by Roger Penrose, Abner Shimony, Nancy Cartwright, Stephen Hawking, M. S. Longair, Malcolm Longair

ISBN 0521655382 (0-521-65538-2)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Will quantum physics let us reduce consciousness to computation? Roger Penrose says "no" with great force and eloquence in The Large, The Small, and the Human Mind. Originally prepared as a series of three lectures in Cambridge's Tanner Series on Human Values, the material is both meticulously thought out and informally presented, including many illustrations by Penrose and others. For publication, the author sought out rebuttals and commentary by philosophers Abner Shimony and Nancy Cartwright as well as his own colleague and occasional rival, the well-known theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, then reserves the last word for himself, as is his prerogative. The result is a sharp but polite argument on the nature of thinking and its reducibility; readers familiar with The Emperor's New Mind and Shadow of the Mind will find the arguments from quantum physics fleshed out in greater detail but also attacked with good-natured aplomb. Those who missed out on Penrose's older forays into this territory (or are somehow disinterested in the nature of thought) will find this an excellent, if broad, overview of the modern conception of physics from subatomic shenanigans to the radius of the universe as well as a stimulating debate among several great modern thinkers. Despite Penrose's certainty that our brains can't be modelled by computational systems--and hence that strong artificial intelligence will remain in science fiction--the argument continues, and will continue for some time. The Large, The Small, and the Human Mind crystallises that debate for readers who want to keep up with the latest thinking about thinking. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Large, the Small and the Human Mind:
- The Large, the Small and the Human Mind: ISBN 0521563305 (0-521-56330-5)
  Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
- The Large, the Small and the Human Mind: ISBN 0521655382 (0-521-65538-2)
  Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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The Large, the Small and the Human Mind
by Abner Shimony, Nancy Cartwright, Stephen W. Hawking, Roger Penrose, Malcolm S. Longair

ISBN 0521785723 (0-521-78572-3)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Will quantum physics let us reduce consciousness to computation? Roger Penrose says "no" with great force and eloquence in The Large, The Small, and the Human Mind. Originally prepared as a series of three lectures in Cambridge's Tanner Series on Human Values, the material is both meticulously thought out and informally presented, including many illustrations by Penrose and others. For publication, the author sought out rebuttals and commentary by philosophers Abner Shimony and Nancy Cartwright as well as his own colleague and occasional rival, the well-known theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, then reserves the last word for himself, as is his prerogative. The result is a sharp but polite argument on the nature of thinking and its reducibility; readers familiar with The Emperor's New Mind and Shadow of the Mind will find the arguments from quantum physics fleshed out in greater detail but also attacked with good-natured aplomb. Those who missed out on Penrose's older forays into this territory (or are somehow disinterested in the nature of thought) will find this an excellent, if broad, overview of the modern conception of physics from subatomic shenanigans to the radius of the universe as well as a stimulating debate among several great modern thinkers. Despite Penrose's certainty that our brains can't be modelled by computational systems--and hence that strong artificial intelligence will remain in science fiction--the argument continues, and will continue for some time. The Large, The Small, and the Human Mind crystallises that debate for readers who want to keep up with the latest thinking about thinking. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Large, the Small and the Human Mind:
- The Large, the Small and the Human Mind: ISBN 0521785723 (0-521-78572-3)
  Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
The Life of the Cosmos
by Lee Smolin

ISBN 0195126645 (0-19-512664-5)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Lee Smolin is not afraid to think big--really, really big. His theory of cosmic evolution by the natural selection of black-hole universes makes what we can experience into an infinitesimal, yet crucial, part of an ever-larger whole. Smolin says, "the new view of the universe is light, in all its senses, because what Darwin has given us, and what we may aspire to generalize to the cosmos as a whole, is a way of thinking about the world which is scientific and mechanistic, but in which the occurrence of novelty--indeed, the perpetual birth of novelty--can be understood." Other scientists are, to say the least, divided on whether Smolin has much chance of being right, but they agree with Paul Davies that he is "a deep and original thinker." [via]
More editions of The Life of the Cosmos:
- The Life of the Cosmos: ISBN 019510837X (0-19-510837-X)
  Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- The Life of the Cosmos: ISBN 0195126645 (0-19-512664-5)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
Loops, Knots, Gauge Theories and Quantum Gravity
by Rodolfo Gambini, Jorge Pullin, Abhay Ashtekar, P. V. Landshoff, D. R. Nelson

ISBN 0521654750 (0-521-65475-0)
Softcover, Cambridge University Press

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- Loops, Knots, Gauge Theories and Quantum Gravity: ISBN 0521654750 (0-521-65475-0)
  Softcover, Cambridge University Press
The Nature of Space and Time
by Roger Penrose, Stephen W. Hawking

ISBN 0691050848 (0-691-05084-8)
Softcover, Princeton Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Who doesn't love a good argument? When physics heavyweights Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose delivered three sets of back-and-forth lectures capped by a final debate at Cambridge's Isaac Newton Institute, the course of modern cosmological thinking was at stake. As it happens, The Nature of Space and Time, which collects these remarks, suggests that little has changed from the days when Einstein challenged Bohr by refusing to believe that God plays dice. The maths is more abstruse, the arguments more refined, but the argument still hinges on whether our physical theories should be expected to model reality or merely predict measurements.
Hawking, clever and playful as usual, sides with Bohr and the Copenhagen interpretation, and builds a strong case for quantum gravity. Penrose, inevitably a bit dry in comparison, shares Einstein's horror at such intuition-blasting thought experiments as Schrödinger's long-suffering cat--and scores just as many points for general relativity. The maths is tough going for lay readers, but a few leaps of faith will carry them through to some deeply thought-provoking rhetoric. Though no questions find final answers in The Nature of Space and Time, the quality of discourse should be enough to satisfy the scientifically curious. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Nature of Space and Time:
- The Nature of Space and Time: ISBN 0691037914 (0-691-03791-4)
  Hardcover, Princeton Univ Pr
- The Nature of Space and Time: ISBN 0691050848 (0-691-05084-8)
  Softcover, Princeton Univ Pr
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Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law
by Peter Woit

ISBN 0465092756 (0-465-09275-6)
Hardcover, Perseus Books Group

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Book summary:
At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as "not even wrong," meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not. In Peter Woit's view, superstring theory is just such an idea. In Not Even Wrong, he shows that what many physicists call superstring "theory" is not a theory at all. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed the subject to survive and flourish. Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth. In the face of many books from enthusiasts for string theory, this book presents the other side of the story.
[via]
More editions of Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law:
- Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law: ISBN 0465092756 (0-465-09275-6)
  Hardcover, Perseus Books Group
An Old Man's Toy: Gravity at Work and Play in Einsteins Universe
by A. Zee

ISBN 002040915X (0-02-040915-X)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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- An Old Man's Toy: Gravity at Work and Play in Einsteins Universe: ISBN 0026334402 (0-02-633440-2)
  Hardcover, Macmillan
- An Old Man's Toy: Gravity at Work and Play in Einsteins Universe: ISBN 002040915X (0-02-040915-X)
  Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, And the Future of the Cosmos
by Michio Kaku

ISBN 1400033721 (1-4000-3372-1)
Softcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc

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Book summary:
Is our universe dying?
Could there be other universes?
In Parallel Worlds, world-renowned physicist and bestselling author Michio Kakuan author who has a knack for bringing the most ethereal ideas down to earth (Wall Street Journal)takes readers on a fascinating tour of cosmology, M-theory, and its implications for the fate of the universe.

In his first book of physics since Hyperspace, Michio Kaku begins by describing the extraordinary advances that have transformed cosmology over the last century, and particularly over the last decade, forcing scientists around the world to rethink our understanding of the birth of the universe, and its ultimate fate. In Dr. Kakus eyes, we are living in a golden age of physics, as new discoveries from the WMAP and COBE satellites and the Hubble space telescope have given us unprecedented pictures of our universe in its infancy.

As astronomers wade through the avalanche of data from the WMAP satellite, a new cosmological picture is emerging. So far, the leading theory about the birth of the universe is the inflationary universe theory, a major refinement on the big bang theory. In this theory, our universe may be but one in a multiverse, floating like a bubble in an infinite sea of bubble universes, with new universes being created all the time. A parallel universe may well hover a mere millimeter from our own.

The very idea of parallel universes and the string theory that can explain their existence was once viewed with suspicion by scientists, seen as the province of mystics, charlatans, and cranks. But today, physicists overwhelmingly support string-theory, and its latest iteration, M-theory, as it is this one theory that, if proven correct, would reconcile the four forces of the universe simply and elegantly, and answer the question What happened before the big bang?

Already, Kaku explains, the worlds foremost physicists and astronomers are searching for ways to test the theory of the multiverse using highly sophisticated wave detectors, gravity lenses, satellites, and telescopes. The implications of M-theory are fascinating and endless. If parallel worlds do exist, Kaku speculates, in time, perhaps a trillion years or more from now, as appears likely, when our universe grows cold and dark in what scientists describe as a big freeze, advanced civilizations may well find a way to escape our universe in a kind of inter-dimensional lifeboat.

An unforgettable journey into black holes and time machines, alternate universes, and multidimensional space, Parallel Worlds gives us a compelling portrait of the revolution sweeping the world of cosmology.
[via]
More editions of Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, And the Future of the Cosmos:
- Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos: ISBN 0385509863 (0-385-50986-3)
  Hardcover, Doubleday Publishing
- Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, And the Future of the Cosmos: ISBN 1400033721 (1-4000-3372-1)
  Softcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale : Contemporary Theories in Quantum Gravity
by Craig Callender, Nick Huggett

ISBN 0521664454 (0-521-66445-4)
Softcover, Cambridge University Press

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  Softcover, Cambridge University Press
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Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos
by Seth Lloyd

ISBN 1400033861 (1-4000-3386-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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Book summary:
Is the universe actually a giant quantum computer? According to Seth LloydProfessor of Quantum-Mechanical Engineering at MIT and originator of the first technologically feasible design for a working quantum computerthe answer is yes. This wonderfully accessible book illuminates the professional and personal paths that led him to this remarkable conclusion.

All interactions between particles in the universe, Lloyd explains, convey not only energy but also informationin other words, particles not only collide, they compute. And what is the entire universe computing, ultimately? Its own dynamical evolution, he says. As the computation proceeds, reality unfolds.

To elucidate his theory, Lloyd examines the history of the cosmos, posing questions that in other hands might seem unfathomably complex: How much information is there in the universe? What information existed at the moment of the Big Bang and what happened to it? How do quantum mechanics and chaos theory interact to create our world? Could we attempt to re-create it on a giant quantum computer?

Programming the Universe presents an original and compelling vision of reality, revealing our world in an entirely new light. [via]
More editions of Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos:
- Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos: ISBN 1400040922 (1-4000-4092-2)
  Hardcover, Random House Inc
- Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos: ISBN 1400033861 (1-4000-3386-1)
  Softcover, Random House Inc
Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action
by Nancey C. Murphy, Robert John Russell, C.J. Isham, Robert J. Russell

ISBN 0268039763 (0-268-03976-3)
Softcover, Univ of Notre Dame Pr

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- Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action: ISBN 0268039763 (0-268-03976-3)
  Softcover, Univ of Notre Dame Pr
Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics?: Developments Of Quantum Mechanics In The 21st Century
by Avshalom C. Elitzur, Shahar Dolev, Nancy Kolenda

ISBN 3540221883 (3-540-22188-3)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag

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- Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics?: Developments Of Quantum Mechanics In The 21st Century: ISBN 3540221883 (3-540-22188-3)
  Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
by Roger Penrose

ISBN 0679776311 (0-679-77631-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc

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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]
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Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity
by Charles L. Harper, John D. Barrow, P. C. W. Davies

ISBN 052183113X (0-521-83113-X)
Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr

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Book summary:
This preview of the future of physics comprises contributions from recognized authorities inspired by the pioneering work of John Wheeler. Quantum theory represents a unifying theme within the book, as it relates to the topics of the nature of physical reality, cosmic inflation, the arrow of time, models of the universe, superstrings, quantum gravity and cosmology. Attempts to formulate a final unification theory of physics are also considered, along with the existence of hidden dimensions of space, hidden cosmic matter, and the strange world of quantum technology. John Archibald Wheeler is one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century. His extraordinary career has spanned momentous advances in physics, from the birth of the nuclear age to the conception of the quantum computer. Famous for coining the term "black hole," Professor Wheeler helped lay the foundations for the rebirth of gravitation as a mainstream branch of science, triggering the explosive growth in astrophysics and cosmology that followed. His early contributions to physics include the S matrix, the theory of nuclear rotation (with Edward Teller), the theory of nuclear fission (with Niels Bohr), action-at-a-distance electrodynamics (with Richard Feynman), positrons as backward-in-time electrons, the universal Fermi interaction (with Jayme Tiomno), muonic atoms, and the collective model of the nucleus. His inimitable style of thinking, quirky wit, and love of the bizarre have inspired generations of physicists. [via]
More editions of Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity:
- Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity: ISBN 052183113X (0-521-83113-X)
  Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness
by Roger Penrose

ISBN 0195106466 (0-19-510646-6)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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Book summary:
A New York Times bestseller when it appeared in 1989, Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind was universally hailed as a marvelous survey of modern physics as well as a brilliant reflection on the human mind, offering a new perspective on the scientific landscape and a visionary glimpse of the possible future of science. Now, in Shadows of the Mind, Penrose offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artificial intelligence. But perhaps more important, in this volume he points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind.
Penrose contends that some aspects of the human mind lie beyond computation. This is not a religious argument (that the mind is something other than physical) nor is it based on the brain's vast complexity (the weather is immensely complex, says Penrose, but it is still a computable thing, at least in theory). Instead, he provides powerful arguments to support his conclusion that there is something in the conscious activity of the brain that transcends computation--and will find no explanation in terms of present-day science. To illuminate what he believes this "something" might be, and to suggest where a new physics must proceed so that we may understand it, Penrose cuts a wide swathe through modern science, providing penetrating looks at everything from Turing machines (computers programmed from artificial intelligence) to the implications of Godel's theorem maintaining that conscious thinking must indeed involve ingredients that cannot adequately be stimulated by mere computation. Of particular interest is Penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in The Emperor's New Mind, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet. But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in Shadows of the Mind is Penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying deep within the brain's neurons. (He argues that microtubules--not neurons--may indeed be the basic units of the brain, which, if nothing else, would dramatically increase the brain's computational power.) Furthermore, he contends that in consciousness some kind of global quantum state must take place across large areas of the brain, and that it within microtubules that these collective quantum effects are most likely to reside.
For physics to accommodate something that is as foreign to our current physical picture as is the phenomenon of consciousness, we must expect a profound change--one that alters the very underpinnings of our philosophical viewpoint as to the nature of reality. Shadows of the Mind provides an illuminating look at where these profound changes may take place and what our future understanding of the world may be. [via]
More editions of Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness:
- Shadows of the Mind : A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness: ISBN 0198539789 (0-19-853978-9)
  Hardcover, Oxford University Press
- Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness: ISBN 0195106466 (0-19-510646-6)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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Three Roads to Quantum Gravity
by Lee Smolin

ISBN 0465078362 (0-465-07836-2)
Softcover, Basic Books

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Book summary:
It's difficult, writes Lee Smolin in this lucid overview of modern physics, to talk meaningfully about the big questions of space and time, given the limitations of our technology and perceptions.
It's more difficult still given some of the contradictions and inconsistencies that obtain between quantum theory, which "was invented to explain why atoms are stable and do not instantly fall apart" but has little to say about space and time, and general relatively theory, which has everything to say about the big picture but tends to collapse when describing the behavior of atoms and their even smaller constituents. Whence the hero of Smolin's tale, the as-yet-incomplete quantum theory of gravity, which seeks to unify relativity and quantum theory--and, in the bargain, to move toward a "grand theory of everything." Smolin ably explains concepts that underlie quantum gravity, such as background independence, the superposition principle, and the notion of causal structure, and he traces the development of allied theories that have shaped modern physics and led to this new view of the universe.
Although he allows that "it has not been possible to test any of our new theories of quantum gravity experimentally," Smolin predicts that a solid framework will be established by 2015 at the outside. If he's correct, the years in between promise to be an exciting time for students of the physical sciences, and Smolin's book makes an engaging introduction to some of the big questions they'll be asking. --Gregory McNamee [via]
More editions of Three Roads to Quantum Gravity:
- Three Roads to Quantum Gravity: ISBN 0465078354 (0-465-07835-4)
  Hardcover, Perseus Books Group
- Three Roads to Quantum Gravity: ISBN 0465078362 (0-465-07836-2)
  Softcover, Basic Books
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The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, And What Comes Next
by Lee Smolin

ISBN 0618551050 (0-618-55105-0)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin

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Book summary:
In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physics the basis for all other sciences has lost its way. For more than two centuries, our understanding of the laws of nature expanded rapidly. But today, despite our best efforts, we know nothing more about these laws than we knew in the 1970s. Why is physics suddenly in trouble? And what can we do about it?

One of the major problems, according to Smolin, is string theory: an ambitious attempt to formulate a theory of everything that explains all the particles and forces of nature and how the universe came to be. With its exotic new particles and parallel universes, string theory has captured the publics imagination and seduced many physicists.

But as Smolin reveals, theres a deep flaw in the theory: no part of it has been tested, and no one knows how to test it. In fact, the theory appears to come in an infinite number of versions, meaning that no experiment will ever be able to prove it false. As a scientific theory, it fails. And because it has soaked up the lions share of funding, attracted some of the best minds, and effectively penalized young physicists for pursuing other avenues, it is dragging the rest of physics down with it.

With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it. A group of young theorists has begun to develop exciting ideas that, unlike string theory, are testable. Smolin not only tells us who and what to watch for in the coming years, he offers novel solutions for seeking out and nurturing the best new talentgiving us a chance, at long last, of finding the next Einstein.
[via]
More editions of The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, And What Comes Next:
- The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, And What Comes Next: ISBN 0618551050 (0-618-55105-0)
  Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin
Two Dimensional Quantum Gravity and Random Surfaces: Jerusalem Winter School for Theoreticalphysic S, Jerusalem, Israel, 27 Dec, 90-4 Jan, 91
by D.J. Gross, T. Piran, S. Weinberg

ISBN 9810206429 (981-02-0642-9)
Hardcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc

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- Two Dimensional Quantum Gravity and Random Surfaces: Jerusalem Winter School for Theoreticalphysic S, Jerusalem, Israel, 27 Dec, 90-4 Jan, 91: ISBN 9810206429 (981-02-0642-9)
  Hardcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc
The Universe, the Eleventh Dimension, and Everything: What We Know and How We Know It
by Richard Morris

ISBN 1568581408 (1-56858-140-8)
Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr

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  Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr
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The Universe That Discovered Itself
by John D. Barrow

ISBN 0192862006 (0-19-286200-6)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr

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Book summary:
Are there really laws of nature out there waiting to be discovered? Or are they simply an illusion? This revised edition of "The World Within the World", is John Barrow's extraordinary study of how we view the universe. Covering the magical notions of primitive cultures to the latest ideas about chaos, black holes, inflation, and superstrings, the book traces the development of our concept of what the laws of nature are and how we come to know them. Entertaining and inspiring, it is a journey to the edge of space and time. [via]
More editions of The Universe That Discovered Itself:
- The Universe That Discovered Itself: ISBN 0192862006 (0-19-286200-6)
  Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
by Lisa Randall

ISBN 0060531096 (0-06-053109-6)
Softcover, Perennial

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- Warped Passages: Unraveling The Mysteries Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions: ISBN 0060531088 (0-06-053108-8)
  Hardcover, Harpercollins
- Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions: ISBN 0060531096 (0-06-053109-6)
  Softcover, Perennial