Highly esteemed astrophysicist Joseph Silk explores the vast mysteries and speculations of the field of cosmology in a way that balances an accessible style for the general reader and enough technical detail for advanced students and professionals.
Indeed, while the physical laws and origins of the universe can be endlessly complex, even Einstein once mused that they could be explained simply enough to be grasped by nonspecialists. To that end, Silk begins by introducing the basic story of the major discoveries in cosmology over the past century-wherin we learned that we live in an expanding universe populated with galaxies and stars. The middle chapters examine a number of contemporary puzzles, such as dark matter and dark energy. The last third of the book looks at the human side of cosmology and moves to the more philosophical frontiers of the field, such as concepts of multiverses and time travel-areas of exploration where some crossover into speculative territory becomes unavoidable.
In the past century alone, our understanding of the universe has expanded exponentially, and it will be fascinating to see what discoveries the next hundred years hold. Few books will provide such a thorough understanding of where we have been and what might lie ahead as Horizons of Cosmology. The book is published by Templeton Press.
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.
His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through time and space, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey, and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.
A rising star in theoretical physics offers his awesome vision of our universe and beyond, all beginning with a simple question: Why does time move forward?
Along with eminent colleagues, Hawking extends theoretical frontiers by speculating on the big questions of modern cosmology.
Includes:
“Conceptual Revolution” by Paul Thagard
“Cosmic Understanding” by Milton K. Munitz
“Gravitation and Inertia” by Ignazio Ciufolini and John Archibald Wheeler
“The Nature of Space and Time” by Stephen Hawking
Albert Einstein described Relativity as a "popular explosion" of his famous theory. Written in 1916, it introduced the lay audience to the remarkable perspective which had overturned theoretical physics. Einstein's genius was to express this perspective in understandable terms.
"The present book is intended," Einstein wrote in 1916, "as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the Theory of Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics. . . . In the interest of clearness, it appeared to me inevitable that I should repeat myself frequently, without paying the slightest attention to the elegance of the presentation. I adhered scrupulously to the precept of that brilliant theoretical physicist L. Boltzmann, according to whom matters of elegance ought to be left to the tailor and to the cobbler."
The gifted young cosmologist Janna Levin sets out to determine the size of the universe, along the way providing an intimate look at the day-to-day life of a globe-trotting physicist. Nimbly synthesizing geometry, topology, chaos and string theories, Levin shows how the pattern of hot and cold spots left over from the big bang may one day reveal the size and shape of the cosmos. She does so with such originality, lucidity, and even poetry, that How the Universe Got Its Spots becomes a thrilling and deeply personal communication between a scientist and the lay reader.
“[Levin] covers…fascinating ground…She writes passages that may make you either feel claustrophobic for only living in three visible dimensions or see the night sky in an entirely new way.”—Baltimore City Paper
Unsere Sonne macht es vor: Leichte Atomkerne verschmelzen zu schwereren. Gewaltige Energiemengen werden bei dieser Kernfusion freigesetzt: Es herrschen Temperaturen von mehr als 100 Millionen Grad Celsius. Forscher vom Max Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik (ipp) arbeiten daran, diese nahezu unerschöpfliche Energiequelle auf der Erde nutzbar zu machen. Die Vorlesung behandelt zunächst die Grundlagen der Kernfusion. Im zweiten Teil werden die Konzepte zur Realisierung der Kernfusion im Labor beschrieben. Schließlich wird im letzten Teil ein Überblick über den derzeitigen Stand der Forschung sowie ein Ausblick auf zukünftige Arbeiten gegeben.
Die Relativitätstheorien gehören zu den herausragenden Leistungen der Physik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Durch Albert Einstein sind unsere Vorstellungen von Raum, Zeit und Materie grundlegend revolutioniert worden. Die Einführung in dieses Thema behandelt die Eckpfeiler der Theorien und beschreibt in leichter Art und Weise wesentliche Effekte und Konsequenzen. Es ist eben nicht alles relativ, sondern dann und nur dann, wenn man zwei Uhren miteinander vergleicht und wenn man eben nicht in ein schwarzes Loch fällt. Dann nämlich wäre einem alles relativ egal.
A comprehensive, plain language introduction to all aspects of Meteoritics, by the world's foremost expert in the field.
What are these strange visitors from space? In a question & answer format, comprehensive answers are provided as to what are meteors, meteoritic clouds, meteorite craters, and even how to find meteorites. An outstanding introduction to the field of Meteoritics, for anyone with even the slightest interest in Astronomy or Earth Science.
CONTENTS:
* Meteors and Meteorites
* The Nature of Meteorites
* Classification of Meteorites
* Meteoritic Clouds and Dust
* Meteorite Craters
* Tektites
Description: Attempts by scientists and artists to reveal deep truths about the universe may take different forms, but they often end up agreeing with the poet John Keats that "truth is beauty." Geometry, physics and the other sciences describe the world we live in, and artists often play with these properties in their own imaginative investigations. From the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci to high tech computer graphics, Neil and Lynne paint a picture of how science has inspired art through the ages. Guests: Peter Max: pop artist best known for his psychedelic Cosmic 60s graphic design
Description:
Mark Twain said, "Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please." Pseudoscience adherents to this adage, but are their distortions deliberate, the result of scientific ignorance, or due to a deep desire for extraordinary possibilities? In our quest to understand the universe, how can we be sure our conclusions are correct? Human beings have evolved to find meaningful patterns in nature, but sometimes the patterns we see are just figments of our imagination-or perhaps the result of wishful thinking. Join Neil and guest co-host Leighann Lord as they investigate the weird and wacky world of pseudoscience. Co-host: Leighann Lord: comedian who has appeared on "HBO's Def Comedy All-Star Jam", Comedy Central's "Premium Blend", and ABC's "The View." She writes a weekly humor column called "Comic Perspective". Guests:
Michael Shermer: editor-in-Chief of Skeptic magazine and author of "Why People Believe Weird Things". Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour FoxFamily television series Exploring the Unknown. James "The Amazing" Randi: magician and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation. JREF sponsors the annual "Amazing Meeting" and also offers a prize of one million dollars to anyone who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties.
Description:
Forty years ago, on the dusty plains known as the Sea of Tranquility, Neil Armstrong stepped off a lunar module and into the pages of history. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Neil Armstrong spoke these words after placing his foot down onto lunar soil, and throughout the course of the Apollo program eleven other astronauts also walked on the Moon. In this show, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and many others share their memories of Apollo, and say what they think should be NASA's next step in space.
Co-host:
Terence T. "Tom" Henricks former NASA astronaut. A commander of two Space Shuttle missions and pilot of two others, Henricks became the first person to log over 1,000 hours as a Space Shuttle pilot/commander. His four space shuttle missions were STS-44, STS-55, STS-70 and STS-78.
