Showing titles in Physics

In the 1970s, amid severe cutbacks in physics funding, a small group of underemployed physicists in Berkeley decided to throw off the constraints of academia and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued a freewheeling, speculative approach to physics. Some dabbled with LSD while conducting experiments. They studied quantum theory alongside Eastern mysticism and psychic mind reading, discussing the latest developments while lounging in hot tubs.

These stories from Quanta Magazine map the routes of mathematical exploration, showing listeners how cutting-edge research is done, while illuminating the productive tension between conjecture and proof, theory and intuition. Listeners of The Prime Number Conspiracy are headed on "breathtaking intellectual journeys to the bleeding edge of discovery strapped to the narrative rocket of humanity's never-ending pursuit of knowledge," says Quanta editor-in-chief Thomas Lin. 

Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a life-saver, and can transmit deadly infections. It is medicine, and a commodity dearer than oil. Each of us has nine to 12 pints of it, yet many don’t know their own blood type. For all its ubiqutousness, menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event. In Nine Pints, Rose George takes us from ancient practices of bloodletting to a cutting-edge trauma ward. 

Science fiction has imagined some pretty wild ideas about how the universe could work - from hidden extra dimensions in Interstellar to life as a mental projection in The Matrix. But these imaginings seem downright tame compared to the mind-bending science now coming out of physics and astronomy, and in this audiobook, we look at the strange and fascinating discoveries shaping (and reshaping) the field today. 

The periodic table is one of the most potent icons in science. It lies at the core of chemistry and embodies the most fundamental principles of the field. The one definitive text on the development of the periodic table by van Spronsen (1969), has been out of print for a considerable time. The present book provides a successor to van Spronsen, but goes further in giving an evaluation of the extent to which modern physics has, or has not, explained the periodic system. The book is written in a lively style to appeal to experts and interested lay-persons alike.

Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.

Viajes en el tiempo, agujeros negros, motores de antimateria, aceleración del universo... La física moderna suena a película, pero es ciencia, de la de verdad verdadera, la que nos cuenta una historia fascinante de descubrimientos y sueños cumplidos, de luchas y disputas, y de pasión por comprender la naturaleza. Este divertido audio libro te ayudará a entender de una vez por todas lo que nos rodea, desde lo más pequeño a lo más grande, y a saber que El bosón de Higgs no te va a hacer la cama, ¡ni aunque le insistas!

What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So, Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. Please note: This is a summary, analysis, and review of the book and not the original book.

At the two four-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In 2015, they spotted the ripples produced by two black holes spiralling into each other, setting spacetime quivering. This was the first time black holes had ever been directly detected, and it promises far more for the future of astronomy. Brian Clegg presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a powerful new path to understand the workings of the universe.

From atomic structures to theories about magnetic forces, scientific progress has given us a good grasp on the properties of many different materials. However, science cannot tell us how to measure the temperature of steel just by looking at it, or how to sculpt stone into all kinds of shapes, or what it feels like to blow up a balloon of glass. Handmade is the story of materials through making and doing. Author and material scientist Anna Ploszajski journeys into the domain of makers and craftspeople to comprehend how the most popular materials really work.

By 100 years ago, it seemed clear that the speed of light was the fastest possible speed. Causality was safe. And then quantum mechanics happened, introducing spooky connections that seemed to circumvent the law of cause and effect. From Aristotle's Physics to quantum teleportation, learn about the scientific pursuit of instantaneous connections in this insightful examination of our world.

In this fascinating collection of articles and speeches, Albert Einstein reflects not only on the scientific method at work in his own theoretical discoveries, but eloquently expresses a great appreciation for his scientific contemporaries and forefathers, including Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Max Planck, and Niels Bohr. While Einstein is renowned as one of the foremost innovators of modern science, his discoveries uniquely his own, through his own words it becomes clear that Einstein viewed himself as only the most recent in a long line of scientists driven to create new ways of understanding the world and to prove their scientific theories.

Could there be a civilisation on a mote of dust? How much of your fate have you made? Who cleans the universe? Through more than 50 Koans - pleasingly paradoxical vignettes following the ancient Zen tradition - leading physicist Anthony Aguirre takes the listener across the world from Japan to Italy, and through ideas spanning the age, breadth and depth of the Universe. Using these beguiling Koans and a flair for explaining complex science, Aguirre covers cosmic questions that scientific giants from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with. 

Based on a series of lectures given at Cambridge University, The Theory of Everything presents the most complex concepts of physics—both past and present—in a clear and accessible manner. Acclaimed physicist and author of A Brief History of Time—which has sold more than 25 million copies—Stephen Hawking enlightens audiences and exposes them to the rich history of scientific thought and the complexities of the universe in which we live. Hawking presents a compelling look at our universe, its creation, and how we see ourselves within it.

Are you fascinated by the laws of nature, quantum physics, and its basic concepts that seem meaningless? Quantum mechanics is a field that attempts to understand the behavior of subatomic objects using mathematical notions. The book explains uncertainty and time dependence by further elaborating on the principles of quantum states. It also describes the entanglement of particle and wave states, thereby offering interested listeners the possibility of understanding physics at a slower tempo.

In this fictitious dialogue, it is clearly explained how quantum physics is deterministic and how it is indeterministic, and it is also clearly said what Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But what about relativity? Physics professor Chad Orzel and his inquisitive canine companion, Emmy, tackle the concepts of general relativity in this irresistible introduction to Einstein's physics. Through armchair- and sometimes passenger-seat-conversations with Emmy about the relative speeds of dog and cat motion or the logistics of squirrel-chasing, Orzel translates complex Einsteinian ideas into examples simple enough for a dog to understand.

The purpose of this audiobook was to explain something beautiful that doesn't exist yet. It explores time travel as precognitive dreaming, dematerialization with secret time machine technology and through consciousness travel, lucid dreaming, and remote viewing. It also examines various reports of time slips, dimensional doorways, claims of time travel, the physics of time travel, and the nature of timelessness and non-linear causality.

Is it possible for something or someone to be made invisible? This question, which has intrigued authors of science fiction for over a century, has become a headline-grabbing topic of scientific research. In this book, science writer and optical physicist Gregory J. Gbur traces the science of invisibility from its sci-fi origins in the nineteenth-century writings of authors such as H. G. Wells and Fitz James O'Brien to modern stealth technology, invisibility cloaks, and metamaterials. He explores the history of invisibility and its science and technology connections.

Les grandes théories du cosmos : du Big Bang aux trous noirs. Premier livre de Stephen Hawking écrit à l'intention du non-spécialiste, succès incontournable dès sa parution, "Une brève histoire du temps" présente dans un langage simple et accessible les développements contemporains de l'astrophysique. Retraçant les grandes théories du cosmos, de Galilée et Newton à Einstein et Poincaré.