Early one summer morning in 1905, a young patent clerk wakes from a dream at his desk. He is Albert Einstein. The reader witnesses Einstein's dreams of new worlds - visions of the effect on people's lives when time is circular or flows backwards, slows down or takes the form of a nightingale.
When a divorced middle-aged professor named Charles goes to his college reunion, he is stunned by a vivid memories of the woman he used to love, a dancer named Juliana. As he replays the story of his affair with her, and her final betrayal, he realizes that over the years he has falsified many aspects of it, and that the truth of the situation is ...
Bill Chalmers, a Boston executive on his way to work, abruptly loses his memory and has no idea who he is or what he's supposed to be doing. As his memory returns (after a series of daunting experiences) he begins to have other symptoms, including the loss of all his bodily functions. He deteriorates further and further, and by novel's end he has ...
Embarking on a provocative exploration of the delicate divide between the physical world and the spiritual world, between skepticism and faith, this novel from highly acclaimed author Lightman investigates timeless questions that continue to challenge contemporary society.
This volume reports on where the science of black holes, gravitational waves, and time travel will likely lead, as reported by spacetime's most important theoreticians and observers. Here are six essays by those who walk that line, moving ever further out in discovering the patterns of nature.
The conservation of energy, the second law of thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics - together, these concepts form the foundation upon which modern physics was built. But the influence of these four landmark ideas has extended far beyond hard science. There is no aspect of twentieth-century culture - including the arts, ...
"Origins" reveals the human being within the scientist in a study of the philosophical, personal, and social factors that enter into the scientific process. 27 active cosmologists - including Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, Steven Weinberg, Vera Rubin, Allan Sandage, Margaret Geller, and Alan Guth - talk candidly about their childhoods and early ...
"Flatland" has fascinated generations of readers. It is a deft mixture of social satire and science fiction that continues to pose provocative questions about perception and reality. "Flatland" is a brilliant parody of Victorian society where all existence is limited to length and breadth - its inhabitants unable even to imagine a third dimension. ...
Radiative Processes in Astrophysics This clear, straightforward, and fundamental introduction is designed to present-from a physicist's point of view-radiation processes and their applications to astrophysical phenomena and space science. It covers such topics as radiative transfer theory, relativistic covariance and kinematics, bremsstrahlung ...
Today's most prominent thinkers provide enlightening insight into some of themost important and cutting-edge topics in the field in this acclaimed series.320 pp.
The last century has seen an explosion of creativity and insight that led to breakthroughs in every field of science. Alan Lightman tells the stories of two dozen breakthroughs made by such brilliant scientists as Einstein, Bohr, McClintock, and Pauling, and their original papers.
This series annually collects the best essays published each year. Lightman, the 2000 guest editor, chose a diverse group of voices writing on a variety of subjects. The collection is unified by the earnestness of each essay.
Cosmology - the study of the origin, structure, and continuing evolution of the universe - is the most speculative of all sciences and religion. In "Ancient Light" astrophysicist and science writer Alan Lightman takes the reader on a grand tour of cosmology, exploring its history, the theories and the evidence, the new discoveries, the outstanding ...
From the gifted scientist-author of the acclaimed novels "Einstein's Dreams" and "The Diagnosis" comes his first collection of essays in more than 15 years; 11 original, insightful, and beautifully written pieces that explore the creative nature of the scientific endeavor.
A collection of essays on physics in the everyday and artistic world, including how a ballet dancer depends on the laws of physics, how scientists must choose between tinkering and theorizing, and how the nature of discovery is actually not very scientific at all.
A tie-in to the trade paperback release of Lightman's bestselling Einstein's Dreams, this easy-to-understand guide to astronomy introduces readers to cosmic puzzles and explores whether extraterrestrial life exists. "An easily digestible handbook to understanding our universe".--Los Angeles Daily News.
"A group of remarkably penetrating, frank, and expert scientists, techno-wizards, activists, and writers raise provocative questions about what is gained and what is lost in a world enthralled by technology in this wonderfully soulful forum on life in the 'Wired World.'" -BOOKLIST Biotechnology, Cloning, Robotics, Nanotechnology... At a time ...
Important and useful to every student of relativity, this book is a unique collection of some 475 problems - with solutions - in the fields of special and general relativity, gravitation, relativistic astrophysics, and cosmology. The problems are expressed in broad physical terms to enhance their pertinence to readers with diverse backgrounds. In ...
With anecdotes, speculation, humor and warmth, Alan Lightman examines what science has to say about curious everyday questions and shows how the world of science is connected to the world one lives in.
In this lucid and exciting book, MIT astrophysicist and science writer Alan Lightman gives an insider's look at what we know about the cosmos and offers a glimpse ahead at the projects today's astronomers are developing to probe the final frontier. With a foreword by the president of the American Astronomical Society. 25 illustrations.
The story of a physicist as a young man. Benito adores the rationality of physics and pursues it with a religious fervour. He finds very little rationality in his affairs with women however, they make no sense to him. Other work by the author includes "Einstein's Dreams".
Few dogs are as emotionally engaging or physically elegant as the greyhound. None are as swift. Its unmatched fleetness is key to the breed's longtime survival. Bred to hunt, the greyhound has a lineage extending back 8,000 years. Throughout their history, greyhounds have been the companions of kings and an inspiration to writers and artists alike ...
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