Theories of Everything: Ideas in Profile

Theories of Everything: Ideas in Profile PDF Author: Frank Close
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782833099
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Physicist Frank Close takes the reader to the frontiers of science in a vividly told investigation of revolutionary science and enterprise from the seventeenth century to the present. He looks at what has been meant by theories of everything, explores the scientific breakthroughs they have allowed, and shows the far-reaching effects they have had on crucial aspects of life and belief. Theories of everything, he argues, can be described as those which draw on all relevant branches of knowledge to explain everything known about the universe. Such accounts may reign supreme for centuries. Then, often as a result of the advances they themselves have enabled, a new discovery is made which the current theory cannot explain. A new theory is needed which inspiration, sometimes, supplies. Moving from Isaac Newton's work on gravity and motion in the seventeenth century to thermodynamics and James Clerk Maxwell's laws of electromagnetism in the nineteenth to Max Planck's and Paul Dirac's quantum physics in the twentieth, Professor Close turns finally to contemporary physics and the power and limitations of the current theory of everything. The cycle in which one theory of everything is first challenged and then replaced by another is continuing right now.

Theories of Everything: Ideas in Profile

Theories of Everything: Ideas in Profile PDF Author: Frank Close
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782833099
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book Here

Book Description
Physicist Frank Close takes the reader to the frontiers of science in a vividly told investigation of revolutionary science and enterprise from the seventeenth century to the present. He looks at what has been meant by theories of everything, explores the scientific breakthroughs they have allowed, and shows the far-reaching effects they have had on crucial aspects of life and belief. Theories of everything, he argues, can be described as those which draw on all relevant branches of knowledge to explain everything known about the universe. Such accounts may reign supreme for centuries. Then, often as a result of the advances they themselves have enabled, a new discovery is made which the current theory cannot explain. A new theory is needed which inspiration, sometimes, supplies. Moving from Isaac Newton's work on gravity and motion in the seventeenth century to thermodynamics and James Clerk Maxwell's laws of electromagnetism in the nineteenth to Max Planck's and Paul Dirac's quantum physics in the twentieth, Professor Close turns finally to contemporary physics and the power and limitations of the current theory of everything. The cycle in which one theory of everything is first challenged and then replaced by another is continuing right now.

New Theories of Everything

New Theories of Everything PDF Author: John D. Barrow
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019954817X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Cosmology & the universe.

The Illustrated Theory of Everything

The Illustrated Theory of Everything PDF Author: Stephen W. Hawking
Publisher: Phoenix Books
ISBN: 1614670323
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Stephen W. Hawking, widely believed to have been one of be one of the world’s greatest minds, presents a series of seven lectures— covering everything from big bang to black holes to string theory—. These lectures not only capture the brilliance of Hawking’'s mind, but his characteristic wit as well. In The Illustrated Theory of Everything, Hawking begins with a history of ideas about the universe, from Aristotle’s determination that the Earth is round to Hubble’s discovery, more than 2,000 years later, that the universe is expanding. Using that as a launching pad, he explores the reaches of modern physics, including theories on the origin of the universe (e.g., the Big Bang), the nature of black holes, and space-time. Finally, he poses the questions left unanswered by modern physics, especially how to combine all the partial theories into a “unified theory of everything.” “If we find the answer to that,” he claims, “it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason.” A great popularizer of science as well as a brilliant scientist, Hawking believes that advances in theoretical science should be “understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists.” In this book, he offers a fascinating voyage of discovery about the cosmos and our place in it. It is a book for anyone who has ever gazed at the night sky and wondered what was up there and how it came to be.

In Search of a Theory of Everything

In Search of a Theory of Everything PDF Author: Demetris Nicolaides
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019009835X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 187

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Book Description
"In Search of a Theory of Everything is an adventurous journey in space and time in search of a unified "theory of everything" (TOE) by means of a rare and agile interplay between the natural philosophies of influential ancient Greek thinkers and the laws of modern physics. For a TOE, all the phenomena of nature share a subtle underlying commonality and are explainable by a single overarching immutable principle. Reading the past for what it is, is of tremendous value, but so is its reading from the perspective of modern knowledge. Not to judge it for its flaws but to be inspired by its insights. This comparative study of the universe is the spirit of In Search of a Theory of Everything-to physics through philosophy, to the new via the old, and in a balanced way. A relatively "easier" analysis of nature, that of a major natural philosopher of antiquity, commences every chapter to fasten the bedrock for the more complex. The transition into the more complicated views of modern physics is gradual and systematic, entwining finely the two, the ancient with the new, the forgotten with the current, by unfolding a history and a philosophy of science, and connecting all the great feats of the mind and time. Those philosophers had ideas that resonate with aspects of modern science; puzzles that still baffle; and rationales that can be used to reassess completely anew fundamental but competing principles of modern physics, even to speculate about open physics problems. In Search of a Theory of Everything is a new kind of sight, is a philosophical insight of modern physics"--

Everything is Now

Everything is Now PDF Author: Bill Spence
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000195821
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 83

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Book Description
This engaging and beautifully written book gives an authoritative but accessible account of some of the most exciting and unexpected recent developments in theoretical physics. – Professor Lionel J Mason, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford String theory is often paraded as a theory of everything, but there are a large number of untold stories in which string theory gives us insight into other areas of physics. Here, Bill Spence does an excellent job of explaining the deep connections between string theory, particle physics, and the novel way of viewing space and time. – Professor David Tong, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge Foremost amongst Nature’s closest-guarded secrets is how to unite Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum theory – thereby creating a ‘quantum space-time’. This problem has been unsolved now for more than a century, with the standard methods of physics making little headway. It is clear that much more radical ideas are needed, and our front-line researchers are showing that string theory provides these. This book describes these extraordinary developments, which are helping us to think in entirely new ways about how physical reality may be structured at its deepest level. Amongst these ideas are that Everything can happen at the same time – it is all Now; Hidden spaces, large and small, are everywhere amongst us; The basic objects are ‘membranes’ that behave like soap bubbles and can explore the shape of spacetime in new ways; We are holographic projections from higher dimensions; You can take the ‘square root’ of gravity; Ideas from the ancient Greeks are resurfacing in a beautiful new form; And the very latest work shows that ‘staying positive’ is essential. The book is aimed at a general audience, using analogies, diagrams, and simple examples throughout. It is intended as a brief tour, enabling the reader to become aware of the main ideas and recent work. A full list of further resources is supplied. Bill Spence is the founding Director of the Centre for Research in String Theory at Queen Mary University of London. He has worked on string theory for over three decades.

Conservatism: Ideas in Profile

Conservatism: Ideas in Profile PDF Author: Roger Scruton
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782833102
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Roger Scruton looks at the central ideas of conservatism over the centuries. He examines conservative thinking on civil society, the rule of law and the role of the state on the one hand; and freedom (including freedom of expression and association), morality, equality, property and rights on the other. He traces the origins and development of the conservative ideology in the philosophies and thoughts of, among others, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, John Ruskin, Michael Oakeshott, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Robert Nozick. He shows how conservative ideas have worked out in the politics and policies of leading figures people such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Salisbury, Calvin Coolidge, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. He also looks closely at the degree to which capitalism and free markets have been, and are integral to, conservative ideology and politics in the UK and in the USA. Professor Scruton's clear, incisive guide is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the politics and policies of the west now and over the last three centuries.

Music: Ideas in Profile

Music: Ideas in Profile PDF Author: Andrew Gant
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782832513
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
Ideas in Profile Series Is music a science or an art? It's both, as Andrew Gant reveals in this lively and accessible account of what music is and what it's for. Music has been central to life since the dawn of humankind and is intimately bound up with the origins of language. Andrew Gant introduces us to its long history and its many genres and manifestations. He explains how composers compose, players play and singers sing. He looks at how musical styles develop, the ways they fall in and out of fashion, and why certain kinds of music - dancing and love songs, for example - is a universal in human culture. He considers how music is composed, the nature of genius and the workings of inspiration. He shows how music can be composed and used to stir patriotism, instill courage, reinforce identity, sell a product, or make a political point. And he goes beyond humans to examine music in the natural world in the creativity of birdsong. This is, in short, the ideal introduction to a very big subject.

Holt’S Theory of Everything

Holt’S Theory of Everything PDF Author: John R. Holt
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532014546
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
If youve ever wondered if a particle can have weight but no mass, why the neutron is neutral or why the electrona negative particledoesnt fly apart when all of its inner parts are presumably negative also, then this book is for you. John R. Holt chases the holy grail of sciencea theory that explains everythingin this ambitious work that draws upon particle physics, theoretical physics, cosmology, and related disciplines. Combining empirical facts with reasonable speculation, he presents a simple theory in an easy-to-understand format that can be applied to the whole universe. This theory presents a scheme using only one material substance which, under the influence of only one force, produces all we see and interact with in the world around us. The theory he presentsonce understoodwill put physics as a whole and our understanding of reality on a new path. Explore complicated ideas, and challenge your biases, superstitions, and misconceptions with Holts Theory of Everything.

The Theory of Everything Else

The Theory of Everything Else PDF Author: Dan Schreiber
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063259214
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"A pleasure. ... Suitable for beach reading or for mainlining before a dinner party." —Dan Piepenbring, New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "Absorbing. ... As thoughtfully written as it is nuts." —Chicago Tribune A collection of the world’s most mind-boggling, thought-provoking, and downright hilarious theories by the co-host of the hit podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, Dan Schreiber. Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Will we ever travel back in time? Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? Will we ever talk to animals? Are we being told the truth? Are mysterious creatures roaming the Earth? And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower curtain always billow in towards you? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions (that includes the shower-curtain one, which is a mystery that has eluded scientists for decades, and which they are still trying to solve). But don’t worry, no matter what questions you have, you can bet on the fact that there is someone (or something) out there, investigating it on your behalf—and Dan Schreiber collects their latest findings. From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires currently trying to work out whether or not the universe is one giant video game simulation to the self-proclaimed community of Italian time-travelers who are trying to save the world from destruction; The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.

The Ultimate Theory of Everything

The Ultimate Theory of Everything PDF Author: Roy R Porter Jr.
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1453543627
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
The Ultimate Theory of Everything and Other Misguided Thought Experiments will have you rethinking the conception of "Time" as we know it. It will also entertain you with some humorous ways of looking at some old and new ideas. http://ultimate-theory-of-everything.com/ Could the ideas put forth in this book be what Einstein and other Physicists have overlooked? Could this lead to a Final Theory, Flying Cars, Field Propulsion or more? I have no idea! These are just "thought experiments"! So far no one has ever proven or dis proven these ideas (or maybe could care less). It is intended to lead readers down the path of "Thinking Outside the Book" and to explore other ways of looking at things. Could this lead to breakthroughs in physics? I make no predictions about that! Although, any "wrong ideas" I set forth as thought experiments here may inspire someone else to get it right. Above all, it is to be experienced in your own way. Always remember that the ideas here are nothing more than ideas and NOT proven facts. What sets it apart is that many ideas (or delusions!) presented here have never been found anywhere else! And maybe for good reason?