The proponents of artificial intelligence want to prove that it is only a matter of time before computers will be doing everything that a human mind can do. They take it for granted that pleasure and pain, the appreciation of beauty and humour, consciousness and free will are capacities that a computer will display once the appropriate programs of ...
One of todays most accomplished scientists presents the only comprehensive and comprehensible account of the physics of the universe. Penrose examines the mathematical foundations of the physical universe, exposing the underlying beauty of physics and giving us one the most important works in modern science writing.
Nobel laureate Erwin Schrodinger's What is Life? is one of the great science classics of the twentieth century. A distinguished physicist's exploration of the question which lies at the heart of biology, it was written for the layman, but proved one of the spurs to the birth of molecular biology and the subsequent discovery of the structure of DNA ...
In this book, the author summarizes and brings up to date his current thinking in these complex areas. He presents a masterful summary of those areas of physics in which he feels there are major unsolved problems. Through this, he introduces radically new concepts which he believes will be fruitful in understanding the workings of the brain and ...
The motivation for this book arose, in part, from a need for detailed replies to a number of queries and criticisms from readers of the author's previous book, The Emperor's New Mind , many of whom have gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid the conclusion that there must be something non-computational involved in thinking. Penrose searches for a ...
The bestselling author of The Emperor's New Mind offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artifical intelligence. Shadows of the Mind points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind. 49 illustrations.
Einstein said that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. But was he right? Can the quantum theory of fields and Einstein's general theory of relativity, the two most accurate and successful theories in all of physics, be united in a single quantum theory of gravity? Can quantum and cosmos ever be combined ...
The spectacular reception of the book and audio versions of Feynmans Six Easy Pieces (published in 1995) resulted in a worldwide clamor for More Feynman! More Feynman! The outcome is these six additional lectures, drawn from the celebrated three-volume Lectures on Physics. Though slightly more challenging than the first six, these lectures are ...
The proponents of artificial intelligence want to prove that it is only a matter of time before computers will be doing everything that a human mind can do. They take it for granted that pleasure and pain, the appreciation of beauty and humour, consciousness and free will are capacities that a computer will display once the appropriate programs of ...
Nobel laureate Erwin Schrodinger was one of the most distinguished scientists of the twentieth century; his lectures on the history and philosophy of science are legendary. 'Nature and the Greeks' and 'Science and Humanism' makes available for the first time in many years the text of two of Schrodinger's most famous lecture series. 'Nature and the ...
Focusing on topics related to Einstein's theory of relativity, this book and audio CDs reproduce the author's lectures of the 1960s. The book is also available on its own (ISBN 0-201-15025-5).
After 1905, physics would never be the same again. That year, Einstein shattered many cherished scientific beliefs in five great papers that would establish him as the world's leading physicist. This book brings those papers together in an accessible format.
The book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th to 20th century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and ...
After 1905, Einstein's miraculous year, physics would never be the same again. In those twelve months, Einstein shattered many cherished scientific beliefs with five extraordinary papers that would establish him as the world's leading physicist. This book brings those papers together in an accessible format. The best-known papers are the two that ...
The Road to Reality is the most important and ambitious work of science for a generation. It provides nothing less than a comprehensive account of the physical universe and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory. It assumes no particular specialist knowledge on the part of the reader, so that, for example, the early chapters give us ...
Halfway through the 21st century, an organization with members from each industrialized nation has found a way to colonize Mars. Owing to Earth's economic collapse, the colony is cut off from the mother planet. The head of the colony wants to create Utopia - some, however, want to go home.
In this book, Roger Penrose presents a masterly summary of those areas of physics in which he feels there are major unsolved problems. These ideas are then challenged by three distinguished experts from different backgrounds - Abner Shimony and Nancy Cartwright as Philosophers of science and Stephen Hawking as a theoretical physicist and ...
Over an imaginary coffee with top NASA physicist Calle, Einstein tells all about his revolutionary work on relativity, quest for a grand unifying theory of the cosmos, anxieties about the nuclear bomb he helped unleash, and personal matters, too.
This volume introduces and systematically develops the calculus of 2-spinors. This is the first detailed exposition of this technique which leads not only to a deeper understanding of the structure of space-time, but also provides shortcuts to some very tedious calculations. Many results are given here for the first time.
After the colonization of Mars--according to utopian ideals that seek to leave behind the petty squabbles of Earth--the planet's new tenants suddenly find themselves entirely alone, when their contact with Earth mysteriously stops. Soon they find their new society beginning to disintegrate, threatening to hurl them straight back into the ...
Acquaints the specialist in relativity theory with some global techniques for the treatment of space-times and will provide the pure mathematician with a way into the subject of general relativity.
This book is a collection of topical survey articles by leading researchers in the fields of applied analysis and probability theory, working on the mathematical description of growth phenomena. Particular emphasis is on the interplay of the two fields, with articles by analysts being accessible for researchers in probability, and vice versa. ...
In the two volumes that comprise this work Roger Penrose and Wolfgang Rindler introduce the calculus of 2-spinors and the theory of twistors, and discuss in detail how these powerful and elegant methods may be used to elucidate the structure and properties of space-time. In volume 1, Two-spinor calculus and relativistic fields, the calculus of 2 ...
In the two volumes that comprise this work Roger Penrose and Wolfgang Rindler introduce the calculus of 2-spinors and the theory of twistors, and discuss in detail how these powerful and elegant methods may be used to elucidate the structure and properties of space-time. In volume 1, Two-spinor calculus and relativistic fields, the calculus of 2 ...
"Death and Anti-Death" collects essays by professional philosophers and other professional scholars on issues related to death, life extension, and anti-death, broadly construed.
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
