Imagined Life

Imagined Life PDF Author: James Trefil
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588346730
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The captivating possibilities of extraterrestrial life on exoplanets, based on current scientific knowledge of existing worlds and forms of life 2023 Canopus Awards for Interstellar Writing Finalist It is now known that we live in a galaxy with more planets than stars. The Milky Way alone encompasses 30 trillion potential home planets. Scientists Trefil and Summers bring readers on a marvelous experimental voyage through the possibilities of life--unlike anything we have experienced so far--that could exist on planets outside our own solar system. Life could be out there in many forms: on frozen worlds, living in liquid oceans beneath ice and communicating (and even battling) with bubbles; on super-dense planets, where they would have evolved body types capable of dealing with extreme gravity; on tidally locked planets with one side turned eternally toward a star; and even on "rogue worlds," which have no star at all. Yet this is no fictional flight of fancy: the authors take what we know about exoplanets and life on our own world and use that data to hypothesize about how, where, and which sorts of life might develop. Imagined Life is a must-have for anyone wanting to learn how the realities of our universe may turn out to be far stranger than fiction.

Imagined Life

Imagined Life PDF Author: James Trefil
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588346730
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description
The captivating possibilities of extraterrestrial life on exoplanets, based on current scientific knowledge of existing worlds and forms of life 2023 Canopus Awards for Interstellar Writing Finalist It is now known that we live in a galaxy with more planets than stars. The Milky Way alone encompasses 30 trillion potential home planets. Scientists Trefil and Summers bring readers on a marvelous experimental voyage through the possibilities of life--unlike anything we have experienced so far--that could exist on planets outside our own solar system. Life could be out there in many forms: on frozen worlds, living in liquid oceans beneath ice and communicating (and even battling) with bubbles; on super-dense planets, where they would have evolved body types capable of dealing with extreme gravity; on tidally locked planets with one side turned eternally toward a star; and even on "rogue worlds," which have no star at all. Yet this is no fictional flight of fancy: the authors take what we know about exoplanets and life on our own world and use that data to hypothesize about how, where, and which sorts of life might develop. Imagined Life is a must-have for anyone wanting to learn how the realities of our universe may turn out to be far stranger than fiction.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Feminist Legal Theory

The Ashgate Research Companion to Feminist Legal Theory PDF Author: Vanessa E. Munro
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317043413
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 548

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Book Description
As a distinct scholarly contribution to law, feminist legal theory is now well over three decades old. Those three decades have seen consolidation and renewal of its central concerns as well as remarkable growth, dynamism and change. This Companion celebrates the strength of feminist legal thought, which is manifested in this dynamic combination of stability and change, as well as in the diversity of perspectives and methodologies, and the extensive range of subject-matters, which are now included within its ambit. Bringing together contributors from across a range of jurisdictions and legal traditions, the book provides a concise but critical review of existing theory in relation to the core issues or concepts that have animated, and continue to animate, feminism. It provides an authoritative and scholarly review of contemporary feminist legal thought, and seeks to contribute to the ongoing development of some of its new approaches, perspectives, and subject-matters. The Companion is divided into three parts, dealing with 'Theory', 'Concepts' and 'Issues'. The first part addresses theoretical questions which are of significance to law, but which also connect to feminist theory at the broadest and most interdisciplinary level. The second part also draws on general feminist theory, but with a more specific focus on debates about equality and difference, race, culture, religion, and sexuality. The 'Issues' section considers in detail more specific areas of substantive legal controversy.

The Knowledge Web

The Knowledge Web PDF Author: James Burke
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439128219
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
In The Knowledge Web, James Burke, the bestselling author and host of television's Connections series, takes us on a fascinating tour through the interlocking threads of knowledge running through Western history. Displaying mesmerizing flights of fancy, he shows how seemingly unrelated ideas and innovations bounce off one another, spinning a vast, interactive web on which everything is connected to everything else: Carmen leads to the theory of relativity, champagne bottling links to wallpaper design, Joan of Arc connects through vaudeville to Buffalo Bill. Illustrating his open, connective theme in the form of a journey across a web, Burke breaks down complex concepts, offering information in a manner accessible to anybody -- high school graduates and Ph.D. holders alike. The journey touches almost two hundred interlinked points in the history of knowledge, ultimately ending where it begins. At once amusing and instructing, The Knowledge Web heightens our awareness of our interdependence -- with one another and with the past. Only by understanding the interrelated nature of the modern world can we hope to identify complex patterns of change and direct the process of innovation to the common good.

Habitable Exoplanets for Extra-Terrestrials

Habitable Exoplanets for Extra-Terrestrials PDF Author: C.R. Kitchin
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040115721
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
This book explores the questions of What, Why, When, How and Where we might find Extra-Terrestrials (a.k.a. Aliens) and their habitats throughout the Universe – and Who might they be? Starting from ourselves and the Earth and eventually speculating about life-forms that might span multiple Universes, it provides an accessible introduction to extra-terrestrial life, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence and exoplanets. It will enable readers to appreciate, follow and sometimes answer questions on life and planets outside Earth. It details these exciting topics by pondering what comprises an alien life form and what suitable habitats might exist for them inside and out of our solar system. The book also looks ahead to the future and the realities of finding alien life and the possibilities of mankind leaving Earth and living on another planet. This guide is accessible to those without a formal scientific or mathematical background. It will also be of interest to students of astrobiology, astronomy, astrophysics, planets throughout the Universe, the origin and evolution of life-forms beyond the Earth and (perhaps) of the ultimate limits attainable by life in the Universe, who are looking to learn more about those same topics, but which are outside their own specialisms. Key Features: Combines the exciting topics of extra-terrestrial life, the search for life outside Earth and exoplanets into one accessible guide Contains no complex mathematical formulae or content Authored by a professional educator and a professional and amateur astronomer, with a life-long interest in getting everyone and anyone as fascinated by astronomy and its related subjects as he himself has been, since discovering the subject in early secondary school

New Nonfiction Film

New Nonfiction Film PDF Author: Dara Waldron
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1501322524
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
New Nonfiction Film: Art, Poetics and Documentary Theory is the first book to offer a lengthy examination of the relationship between fiction and documentary from the perspective of art and poetics. The premise of the book is to propose a new category of nonfiction film that is distinguished from – as opposed to being conflated with – the documentary film in its multiple historical guises; a premise explored in case-studies of films by distinguished artists and filmmakers (Abbas Kiarostami, Ben Rivers, Chantal Akerman, Ben Russell Pat Collins and Gideon Koppel). The book builds a case for this new category of film, calling it the 'new nonfiction film,' and argues, in the process, that this kind of film works to dismantle the old distinctions between fiction and documentary film and therefore the axioms of Film and Cinema Studies as a discipline of study.

James Jones

James Jones PDF Author: Steven R. Carter
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252023712
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
James Jones's spiritual beliefs were central to his great World War II trilogy From Here to Eternity. The Thin Red Line, and Whistle, as well as to the rest of his fiction. In this first book-length exploration of the subject, Steven Carter argues that Jones's ideas about reincarnation, karma, and spiritual evolution were heavily influenced by transcendentalism, theosophy, and Oriental religions. The author places Jones in what he identifies as a tradition of American literary Orientalism that includes Emerson, Thoreau, Kerouac, Ginsberg, and others. Carter bases his argument on extensive research into American literature and criticism coupled with visits and personal correspondence with Jones.

Black Theology in Transatlantic Dialogue

Black Theology in Transatlantic Dialogue PDF Author: A. Reddie
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 023060109X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In this book, Anthony G. Reddie creates a dynamic conversation between black theologies in the US and in the UK, comparing and highlighting divergences in the respective movements.

The Physics of Capitalism

The Physics of Capitalism PDF Author: Erald Kolasi
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1685900925
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
A comprehensive blueprint for a new post-capitalist order—which values our collective future over immediate economic gains The fate of all economic systems is written in the energy flows they obtain from the natural world. Our collective humanity very much depends on nature—for joy, for comfort, and for sheer survival. In his prescient new book, The Physics of Capitalism, Erald Kolasi explores the deep ecological physics of human existence by developing a new theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between economic systems and the wider natural world. Nature is full of complex and dynamic systems that are constantly interacting with our societies. The collective physical interactions of the natural world guide and forge many fundamental features of human societies and civilizations. Humanity does not exist on a magical pedestal above the rest of reality; we are just one slice in a grand continuum of physical systems that interact, combine, and transform over time. We too belong to the natural world. And it’s this critical fact that controls the long-term fate of our economies and civilizations. Among all the living organisms that have called this blue marble home, humans are a very recent species. In that short period of time, we have managed to become one of the most dominant life forms in the history of the planet, creating powerful civilizations with elaborate cultures, large populations, and extensive trade networks. We have been nomads and farmers, scientists and lawyers, nurses and doctors, welders and blacksmiths. Our achievements are both astonishing and unprecedented, but they also carry great risks. Throughout history, economic growth has depended heavily on people converting more energy from their natural environments and concentrating the resulting energy flows towards the application of specific tasks. The economic and demographic growth of human civilization over the last ten thousand years has profoundly impacted natural ecosystems throughout the planet, triggering major instabilities across the biosphere that threaten to reverberate on civilization and to destabilize its long-term trajectory. Swamped with multiple ecological challenges of historic proportions, global civilization now stands at a critical tipping point that deserves closer scrutiny. If we are to have any hope of addressing the difficult challenges we face, then we must begin by understanding them and appreciating their complexity. And then, we must act. This book offers a comprehensive blueprint for our collective future, pointing the way to a new post-capitalist order that can provide long-term viability and stability for human civilization on a global scale.

Twins and Recursion in Digital, Literary and Visual Cultures

Twins and Recursion in Digital, Literary and Visual Cultures PDF Author: Edward King
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 135016917X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
The tale of twins being reunited after a long separation is a trope that has been endlessly repeated and reworked across different cultures and throughout history, with each moment adapting the twin plot to address its current cultural tensions. In this study, Edward King demonstrates how twins are a means of exploring the social implications of hyper-connectivity and the compromising relationship between humans and digital information, their environment and their genetics. As King demonstrates, twins tell us about the changing forms of connectivity and power in contemporary culture and what new conceptions of the human they present us with. Taking account of a broad range of literary, cultural and scientific practices, Entwined Being probes discussions surrounding twins such as: - The way in which they appear in behavioral genetics as a way of identifying inherited predispositions to social media - How their faces interrupt biometric interfaces such as facial recognition software and undermine advances in neo-liberal surveillance systems - How they represent the uncanny and the weird in the horror genre and how this questions ideologies of communications media and the connectivity it enables - Their association with telepathy and cybernetics in science fiction - Their construction as models for entangled being in ecological thought Drawing upon the literary and filmic works of Ken Follet, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Bruce Chatwin, Shelley Jackson, Brian de Palma, Peter Greenway and David Cronenberg, as well as science fiction literature and the television series Orphan Black, King illuminates how twins are employed across a range of disciplines to envision a critical re-conception of the human in times of digital integration and ecological crisis.

Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain

Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain PDF Author: Pat Rogers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009098861
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
This first comprehensive account of Daniel Defoe's Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain explores the content, sources, form, and historical significance of one of the foremost books written about Britain during the eighteenth century. Pat Rogers' study offers fresh interdisciplinary insight for both new readers and Defoe students.