Time Machine Tales

Time Machine Tales PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319488643
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
This book contains a broad overview of time travel in science fiction, along with a detailed examination of the philosophical implications of time travel. The emphasis of this book is now on the philosophical and on science fiction, rather than on physics, as in the author's earlier books on the subject. In that spirit there are, for example, no Tech Notes filled with algebra, integrals, and differential equations, as there are in the first and second editions of TIME MACHINES. Writing about time travel is, today, a respectable business. It hasn’t always been so. After all, time travel, prima facie, appears to violate a fundamental law of nature; every effect has a cause, with the cause occurring before the effect. Time travel to the past, however, seems to allow, indeed to demand, backwards causation, with an effect (the time traveler emerging into the past as he exits from his time machine) occurring before its cause (the time traveler pushing the start button on his machine’s control panel to start his trip backward through time). Time Machine Tales includes new discussions of the advances by physicists and philosophers that have appeared since the publication of TIME MACHINES in 1999, examples of which are the chapters on time travel paradoxes. Those chapters have been brought up-to-date with the latest philosophical thinking on the paradoxes.

Time Machine Tales

Time Machine Tales PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319488643
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
This book contains a broad overview of time travel in science fiction, along with a detailed examination of the philosophical implications of time travel. The emphasis of this book is now on the philosophical and on science fiction, rather than on physics, as in the author's earlier books on the subject. In that spirit there are, for example, no Tech Notes filled with algebra, integrals, and differential equations, as there are in the first and second editions of TIME MACHINES. Writing about time travel is, today, a respectable business. It hasn’t always been so. After all, time travel, prima facie, appears to violate a fundamental law of nature; every effect has a cause, with the cause occurring before the effect. Time travel to the past, however, seems to allow, indeed to demand, backwards causation, with an effect (the time traveler emerging into the past as he exits from his time machine) occurring before its cause (the time traveler pushing the start button on his machine’s control panel to start his trip backward through time). Time Machine Tales includes new discussions of the advances by physicists and philosophers that have appeared since the publication of TIME MACHINES in 1999, examples of which are the chapters on time travel paradoxes. Those chapters have been brought up-to-date with the latest philosophical thinking on the paradoxes.

The Ancestor's Tale

The Ancestor's Tale PDF Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 0297865412
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 517

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Book Description
One of the most brilliant scientists of our age gives us his definitive work: a synthesis of his comprehensive vision of life. THE ANCESTOR'S TALE is a pilgrimage back through time; a journey on which we meet up with fellow pilgrims as we and they converge on our common ancestors. Chimpanzees join us at about 6 million years in the past, orang utans at 14 million years, as we stride on together, a growing band. The journey provides the setting for a collection of some 40 tales. Each explores an aspect of evolutionary biology through the stories of characters met along the way. The tales are interspersed with prologues detailing the journey, route maps showing joining lineages, and life-like reconstructions of our common ancestors. THE ANCESTOR'S TALE represents a pilgrimage on an unimaginable scale: our goal is four billion years away, and the number of pilgrims joining us grows vast - ultimately encompassing all living creatures. At the end of the journey lies something remarkable in its simplicity and transformative power: the first, humble, replicating molecules.

In Pursuit of Zeta-3

In Pursuit of Zeta-3 PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691227594
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
An engrossing look at the history and importance of a centuries-old but still unanswered math problem For centuries, mathematicians the world over have tried, and failed, to solve the zeta-3 problem. Math genius Leonhard Euler attempted it in the 1700s and came up short. The straightforward puzzle considers if there exists a simple symbolic formula for the following: 1+(1/2)^3+(1/3)^3+(1/4)^3+. . . . But why is this issue—the sum of the reciprocals of the positive integers cubed—so important? With In Pursuit of Zeta-3, popular math writer Paul Nahin investigates the history and significance of this mathematical conundrum. Drawing on detailed examples, historical anecdotes, and even occasionally poetry, Nahin sheds light on the richness of the nature of zeta-3. He shows its intimate connections to the Riemann hypothesis, another mathematical mystery that has stumped mathematicians for nearly two centuries. He looks at its links with Euler’s achievements and explores the modern research area of Euler sums, where zeta-3 occurs frequently. An exact solution to the zeta-3 question wouldn’t simply satisfy pure mathematical interest: it would have critical ramifications for applications in physics and engineering, such as quantum electrodynamics. Challenge problems with detailed solutions and MATLAB code are included at the end of each of the book’s sections. Detailing the trials and tribulations of mathematicians who have approached one of the field’s great unsolved riddles, In Pursuit of Zeta-3 will tantalize curious math enthusiasts everywhere.

The Probability Integral

The Probability Integral PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031384164
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description


The Mathematical Radio

The Mathematical Radio PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691235325
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
How a modern radio works, told through mathematics, history, and selected puzzles The modern radio is a wonder, and behind that magic is mathematics. In The Mathematical Radio, Paul Nahin explains how radios work, deploying mathematics and historical discussion, accompanied by a steady stream of intriguing puzzles for math buffs to ponder. Beginning with oscillators and circuits, then moving on to AM, FM, and single-sideband radio, Nahin focuses on the elegant mathematics underlying radio technology rather than the engineering. He explores and explains more than a century of key developments, placing them in historical and technological context. Nahin, a prolific author of books on math for the general reader, describes in fascinating detail the mathematical underpinnings of a technology we use daily. He explains and solves, for example, Maxwell’s equations for the electromagnetic field. Readers need only a familarity with advanced high school–level math to follow Nahin’s mathematical discussions. Writing with the nonengineer in mind, Nahin examines topics including impulses in time and frequency, spectrum shifting at the transmitter, the superheterodyne, the physics of single-sideband radio, and FM sidebands. Chapters end with “challenge problems” and an appendix offers solutions, partial answers, and hints. Readers will come away with a new appreciation for the beauty of even the most useful mathematics.

Inside Interesting Integrals

Inside Interesting Integrals PDF Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030437884
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
What’s the point of calculating definite integrals since you can’t possibly do them all? What makes doing the specific integrals in this book of value aren’t the specific answers we’ll obtain, but rather the methods we’ll use in obtaining those answers; methods you can use for evaluating the integrals you will encounter in the future. This book, now in its second edition, is written in a light-hearted manner for students who have completed the first year of college or high school AP calculus and have just a bit of exposure to the concept of a differential equation. Every result is fully derived. If you are fascinated by definite integrals, then this is a book for you. New material in the second edition includes 25 new challenge problems and solutions, 25 new worked examples, simplified derivations, and additional historical discussion.

A Cultural History of Fairy Tales in the Modern Age

A Cultural History of Fairy Tales in the Modern Age PDF Author: Andrew Teverson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350287601
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
How have fairy tales from around the world changed over the centuries? What do they tell us about different cultures and societies? Drawing together contributions from an international range of scholars in history, literature, and cultural studies, this volume uniquely examines creative applications of fairy tales in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It explores how the fairy tale has become a genre that flourishes on film, on TV, and in digital media, as well as in the older technologies of print, performance, and the visual arts. An essential resource for researchers, scholars and students of literature, history, the visual arts and cultural studies, this book explores such themes and topics as: forms of the marvelous, adaptation, gender and sexuality, humans and non-humans, monsters and the monstrous, spaces, socialization, and power. A Cultural History of Fairy Tales (6-volume set) A Cultural History of Fairy Tales in Antiquity is also available as a part of a 6-volume set, A Cultural History of Fairy Tales, tracing fairy tales from antiquity to the present day, available in print, or within a fully-searchable digital library accessible through institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access (see www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com). Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Tenement Tales of New York

Tenement Tales of New York PDF Author: James William Sullivan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Tenement houses
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description


The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales

The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales PDF Author: Jack Zipes
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191004162
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 757

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Book Description
In over 1,000 entries, this acclaimed Companion covers all aspects of the Western fairy tale tradition, from medieval to modern, under the guidance of Professor Jack Zipes. It provides an authoritative reference source for this complex and captivating genre, exploring the tales themselves, the writers who wrote and reworked them, and the artists who illustrated them. It also covers numerous related topics such as the fairy tale and film, television, art, opera, ballet, the oral tradition, music, advertising, cartoons, fantasy literature, feminism, and stamps. First published in 2000, 130 new entries have been added to account for recent developments in the field, including J. K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins, and new articles on topics such as cognitive criticism and fairy tales, digital fairy tales, fairy tale blogs and websites, and pornography and fairy tales. The remaining entries have been revised and updated in consultation with expert contributors. This second edition contains beautifully designed feature articles highlighting countries with a strong fairy tale tradition, covering: Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, North America and Canada, Portugal, Scandinavian countries, Slavic and Baltic countries, and Spain. It also includes an informative and engaging introduction by the editor, which sets the subject in its historical and literary context. A detailed and updated bibliography provides information about background literature and further reading material. In addition, the A to Z entries are accompanied by over 60 beautiful and carefully selected black and white illustrations. Already renowned in its field, the second edition of this unique work is an essential companion for anyone interested in fairy tales in literature, film, and art; and for anyone who values the tradition of storytelling.

The Greatest Sci-Fi Tales Ever Written

The Greatest Sci-Fi Tales Ever Written PDF Author: Jules Verne
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 3859

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Book Description
The Greatest Sci-Fi Tales Ever Written' is a monumental anthology that traverses the intricate tapestry of speculative fiction, offering readers a comprehensive exploration into the realms of imagination, scientific wonder, and visionary storytelling. This collection is distinguished by its astounding diversity, featuring narratives that span from gothic horror to utopian visions and interstellar adventures, reflecting the multifaceted nature of the genre itself. The anthology includes seminal works that have laid the groundwork for modern science fiction, highlighting the innovative spirit and the boundless creativity of its contributors. The authors represented in this compilationJules Verne, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and their illustrious contemporarieswere at the forefront of literary movements that pushed the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Their collective contributions illuminate the evolving societal attitudes toward science, technology, and the future during their respective eras. This anthology is emblematic of a period teeming with discovery and intellectual curiosity, encompassing the dawn of the industrial age to the early twentieth century, thus offering a panoramic view of the historical, cultural, and literary contexts that these stories emerged from. 'The Greatest Sci-Fi Tales Ever Written' is an indispensable volume for anyone captivated by the power of speculative fiction to probe the unknown and reimagine our world. It presents an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the works of masters who have significantly shaped the landscape of science fiction. This collection is both a gateway for newcomers to the genre and a treasure trove for seasoned aficionados, promising to inspire, entertain, and provoke thought with its extraordinary breadth of visionary ideas and narratives.