Download or read book A Series of Fortunate Events written by Sean B. Carroll and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Fascinating and exhilarating—Sean B. Carroll at his very best."—Bill Bryson, author of The Body: A Guide for Occupants From acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B. Carroll, a rollicking, awe-inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world Why is the world the way it is? How did we get here? Does everything happen for a reason or are some things left to chance? Philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions for millennia, but startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world. Like every other species, we humans are here by accident. But it is shocking just how many things—any of which might never have occurred—had to happen in certain ways for any of us to exist. From an extremely improbable asteroid impact, to the wild gyrations of the Ice Age, to invisible accidents in our parents' gonads, we are all here through an astonishing series of fortunate events. And chance continues to reign every day over the razor-thin line between our life and death. This is a relatively small book about a really big idea. It is also a spirited tale. Drawing inspiration from Monty Python, Kurt Vonnegut, and other great thinkers, and crafted by one of today's most accomplished science storytellers, A Series of Fortunate Events is an irresistibly entertaining and thought-provoking account of one of the most important but least appreciated facts of life.
Download or read book Cosmic Evolution written by Eric J. Chaisson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2001-02-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chaisson addresses some of the most basic issues we can contemplate: the origin of matter and the origin of life, and the ways matter, life, and radiation interact and change with time. He designs for us an expansive yet intricate model depicting the origin and evolution of all material structures.
Download or read book Probable Impossibilities written by Alan Lightman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams tackles "big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way” (Wall Street Journal) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities—and impossibilities—of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between. Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity? Is consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab? Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, whom The Washington Post has called “the poet laureate of science writers,” explores these questions and more—from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life in the universe to what came before the Big Bang. Probable Impossibilities is a deeply engaged consideration of what we know of the universe, of life and the mind, and of things vastly larger and smaller than ourselves.
Download or read book Towards a Philosophy of Cosmic Life written by David Bartosch and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-23 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just as the six branches of a snow crystal converge in regular proportions toward their common center, the six contributions to this book point toward a future philosophy of cosmic life. In this sense, this edited volume represents a multidisciplinary and transcultural polylogue of distinguished authors from three continents, which aims to establish highly innovative perspectives and open new frontiers of developing philosophical reflections and scientific foundations for the emergence of a common cosmic consciousness, for an integral ecology, and for a cooperative planetary civilization of humanity. John B. Cobb, Jr. uses a process-philosophical foundation to describe life as living events expressing novelty and the cosmos as a process of self-enriching and self-evolving “Life Itself.” Chandra Wickramasinghe unfolds his scientific and philosophical perspective on cosmic life in twelve successive steps, offering a wide range of arguments and insights that support an up-to-date theory of panspermia. Attila Grandpierre presents the "Cosmic Life Principle" and the comprehensive science based upon it that is inextricably linked to the healthy and cooperative civilization, to the biological laws of nature, to the laws of logic, to the uplifting of the well-being of people and ecological communities. Chunyou Yan introduces the approach of his holographic philosophy, according to which the universe must be understood as a vast living entity, every aspect of which represents life. Bei Peng shows that the proportions of energy meridians in traditional Chinese medicine correspond to musical intervals, and on this basis she demonstrates the analogy of the human body to macrocosmic phenomena. David Bartosch offers an examination of three important systematic foundations for a poly-contextural, transcultural philosophy of cosmic life with roots in Greek, Chinese, South and West Asian, and European traditions of thought.
Download or read book A Cosmic Kind of Love written by Samantha Young and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-10-18 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Amazon's Best Romances of October! Space is the last thing an event planner and an astronaut need in this charming new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young. When event planner Hallie Goodman receives party-inspiration material from the bride of her latest wedding project, the last thing she expects to find is a collection of digital videos from Darcy’s ex-boyfriend. Hallie knows it’s wrong to keep watching these personal videos, but this guy is cute, funny, and an astronaut on the International Space Station to boot. She’s only human. And it’s not long until she starts sending e-mails and video diaries to his discontinued NASA address. Since they’re bouncing back, there’s no way anyone will ever be able to see them...right? Christopher Ortiz is readjusting to life on earth and being constantly in the shadow of his deceased older brother. When a friend from NASA’s IT department forwards him the e-mails and video messages Hallie has sent, he can’t help but notice how much her sense of humor and pink hair make his heart race. Separated by screens, Hallie and Chris are falling in love with each other, one transmission at a time. But can they make their star-crossed romance work when they each learn the other’s baggage?
Download or read book Cosmic Jackpot written by Paul Davies and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2007-04-11 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cosmic Jackpot is Paul Davies’s eagerly awaited return to cosmology, the successor to his critically acclaimed bestseller The Mind of God. Here he tackles all the "big questions," including the biggest of them all: Why does the universe seem so well adapted for life? In his characteristically clear and elegant style, Davies shows how recent scientific discoveries point to a perplexing fact: many different aspects of the cosmos, from the properties of the humble carbon atom to the speed of light, seem tailor-made to produce life. A radical new theory says it’s because our universe is just one of an infinite number of universes, each one slightly different. Our universe is bio-friendly by accident -- we just happened to win the cosmic jackpot. While this "multiverse" theory is compelling, it has bizarre implications, such as the existence of infinite copies of each of us and Matrix-like simulated universes. And it still leaves a lot unexplained. Davies believes there’s a more satisfying solution to the problem of existence: the observations we make today could help shape the nature of reality in the remote past. If this is true, then life -- and, ultimately, consciousness -- aren’t just incidental byproducts of nature, but central players in the evolution of the universe. Whether he’s elucidating dark matter or dark energy, M-theory or the multiverse, Davies brings the leading edge of science into sharp focus, provoking us to think about the cosmos and our place within it in new and thrilling ways.
Download or read book My Meteorite written by Harry Dodge and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2020 An expansive, radiant, and genre-defying investigation into bonding—and how we are shaped by forces we cannot fully know Is love a force akin to gravity? A kind of invisible fabric which enables communications through space and time? Artist Harry Dodge finds himself contemplating such questions as his father declines from dementia and he rekindles a bewildering but powerful relationship with his birth mother. A meteorite Dodge orders on eBay becomes a mysterious catalyst for a reckoning with the vital forces of matter, the nature of consciousness, and the bafflements of belonging. Structured around a series of formative, formidable coincidences in Dodge’s life, My Meteorite journeys with stylistic bravura from Barthes to Blade Runner, from punk to Pale Fire. It is a wild, incandescent book that creates a literary universe of its own. Blending the personal and the philosophical, the raw and the surreal, the transgressive and the heartbreaking, Harry Dodge revitalizes our world, illuminating the magic just under the surface of daily life.
Download or read book Living in the Weather of the World written by Richard Bausch and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2017 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In these fourteen indelible stories, Richard Bausch once again proves himself a modern master. From the prize-winning novelist and universally acclaimed short story writer ("Richard Bausch is a master of the short story" --The New York Times Book Review), thirteen unforgettable tales that showcase his electrifying artistry. Bausch plumbs the depths of familial and marital estrangement, the violence of suicide and despair, the gulfs between friends and lovers, the complexities of divorce and infidelity, the fragility and impermanence of love. Wherever he casts his gaze, he illuminates the darkest corners of human experience with the bright light of wisdom and compassion, finding grace and redemption amidst sorrow and regret. Bausch's stories are simply extraordinary.
Download or read book A Cosmic Chance written by Sacha Kurucz and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE UNWAVERING PAST Love is the last thing on cynical rock chick, Simone Hartley's, mind. She's too busy ticking off her bucket list to care about finding a "nice guy". Adding to her frustrations is her chaotic family, who always places her in the middle of their dramas and constantly reminds her to settle down. But Simone digs her heels in - point-blank refusing to look for love until she's done achieving her goals. THE UNEXPECTED PRESENT In the beginning, this was easy. Nobody who approached her was even remotely tempting, and she was happy enough to live out the daydream of a perfect partner within the unfinished pages of her notebook. But all of that was about to be challenged. When a psychic reading foretells fateful catalysts in her destiny - one of a fortuitous meeting and the other of an inescapable tragedy. THE UNKNOWN FUTURE Life isn't random. Her future is set. But with this knowledge now in Simone's hands, will she be able to realign what fate has seemingly written in her stars? Only time will tell...
Download or read book Cosmos Culture Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context written by Steven J. Dick and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2012-01-27 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT--OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price During the last 50 years, coincident with the Space Age, cosmic evolution has been recognized as the master narrative of the universe, history writ large. Cosmic evolution includes physical, biological, and cultural evolution, and of these the latter is by far the most rapid. In this volume, authors with diverse backgrounds in science, history, anthropology, and more, consider culture in the context of the cosmos. How does our knowledge of cosmic evolution affect terrestrial culture? Conversely, how does our knowledge of cultural evolution affect our thinking about possible cultures in the cosmos? Are life, mind, and culture of fundamental significance to the grand story of the cosmos that has generated its own self-understanding through science, rational reasoning, and mathematics? Might this lead to cultural evolution on a large enough scale to allow the universe to both create and steer itself toward its own destiny? Related products: NASA's First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives; NASA 50 Anniversary Proceedings can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01336-1 Bringing the Future Within Reach: Celebrating 75 Years of the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center, 1941-2016 can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/033-000-01377-9 Other products produced by National Aerounautics and Space Administration (NASA) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/550
Download or read book This Book Will Change Your Life written by Ben Carey and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2003-10-28 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the year ahead looking much the same as the last? Another 365-day grind of meetings, dinner dates, and deadlines? If so, try this book--the perfect gift for the adventurous reader. Part instruction manual, part therapy, part religious cult, part sheer anarchy, This Book Will Change Your Life will help you poke a stick in the spokes of your routine. It's not the soft-hearted kind of book that's interested in what you have to say; rather it contains 365 daily orders, each one of which could turn your humdrum existence into a daily free-fall. Whether learning to tell one joke properly, spending an hour talking to a tree, or choosing a motto to live by, This Book Will Change Your Life will lead you to make every day of the next year the first day of your new life.
Download or read book Cosmic Consciousness written by Richard Maurice Bucke and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chance Providence and Necessity written by Rudolf Steiner and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1988 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chance, necessity, and providence are related to love, loyalty, and grace. Into the central theme of necessity, chance, and providence, Steiner introduces a fascinating description of the nature spirits, particularly the gnomes. He also relates his penetrating insights into the question of the death of children and the significant role this plays in earthly culture and the spiritual worlds.
Download or read book Cosmic written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-01-19 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liam has always felt a bit like he's stuck between two worlds. This isprimarily because he's a twelve-year-old kid who looks like he's about thirty. Sometimes it's not so bad, like when his new principal mistakes him for a teacher on the first day of school or when he convinces a car dealer to let him take a Porsche out on a test drive. But mostly it's just frustrating, being a kid trapped in an adult world. And so he decides to flip things around. Liam cons his way onto the first spaceship to take civilians into space, a special flight for a group of kids and an adult chaperone, and he is going as the adult chaperone. It's not long before Liam, along with his friends, is stuck between two worlds again—only this time he's 239,000 miles from home. Frank Cottrell Boyce, author of Millions and Framed, brings us a funny and touching story of the many ways in which grown-upness is truly wasted on grown-ups.
Download or read book Reports and Documents written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on with total page 1516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Taming of Chance written by Ian Hacking and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-08-31 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines detailed scientific historical research with characteristic philosophic breadth and verve.
Download or read book Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Baker Reference Library written by Walter A. Elwell and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2001-05-01 with total page 1312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fifteen years after its original publication comes a thoroughly revised edition of the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Every article from the original edition has been revisited. With some articles being removed, others revised, and many new articles added, the result is a completely new dictionary covering systematic, historical, and philosophical theology as well as theological ethics.
