Download or read book Bang Crunch written by Neil Smith and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An audacious New Face of Fiction debut: nine riveting stories that announce a major writer in the tradition of Yann Martel and Barbara Gowdy. Unexpected humour and tenderness intertwine with loneliness and hopefulness in this remarkable book from an already acclaimed writer. In nine richly varied stories, written in intense, clear-eyed prose, the reader is led into an exploration of the human need for connection, however tenuous or absurd, and at whatever cost. The stories operate with heartbreaking precision, drawing us past the surface of characters’ lives and into the moments of decision and recognition that shape these people irrevocably. Here are stories striking in the range of their shifting tone and the reach of their subjects. We are introduced to a support group for people who suspect their benign nature has caused benign tumours to grow inside them. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome whose age expands and contracts like the universe. A recently widowed woman talks to her husband’s ashes, which are entombed in a hollowed-out curling stone. A store detective’s valiant act to save a pair of pink calfskin gloves is entwined with the unfortunate results of an unsuccessful space mission. Rendering grief, loneliness, hope, love and happiness with exquisite subtlety and intelligence, Neil Smith proves himself an able chronicler of the human condition. Bang Crunch constitutes a significant achievement by a powerful writer.
Download or read book Crunch Bang written by Ryan M. Williams and published by Glittering Throng Press. This book was released on 2020-10-04 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The secrets to the Crunch Bang drive lay in the remnants of the Big Bang—there for any species to discover. Many years after humanity joined the galactic civilization of space-faring species, starship cruise liners take the wealthy and the humble to the greatest sights and places in the galaxy. From the ruins of the T’Kon civilization to the azure seas of Ceti Alpha 5 and every other place Cantorians exult in song. Which means everywhere, even places that anyone with an ounce of sense would stay away from. A starliner means passengers, and passengers love to eat and drink. Mostly. Which means that they excrete waste and it’s Chrystal Eagle’s job as First Technician on the Elegant Slipstream to manage the entire complex system. The greatest gig in the galaxy—except for the passengers. Crunch Bang collects the three stories that launched the Crunch Bang universe: “The Greatest Gig,” “Love, [unpronounceable],” and “Shore Leave.” Also includes an excerpt of the full-length novel Stowaway to Eternity set in the same universe. Buckle up and take the plunge!
Download or read book Bangs Crunches Whimpers and Shrieks written by John Earman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1995-11-02 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost from its inception, Einstein's general theory of relativity was known to sanction spacetime models harboring singularities. Until the 1960s, however, spacetime singularities were thought to be artifacts of the idealizations of the models. This attitude evaporated in the face of a series of theorems, due largely to Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, which showed that Einstein's general theory implies that singularities can be expected to occur in a wide variety of conditions in both gravitational collapse and in cosmology. In the light of these results some physicists adopted the attitude that, since spacetime singularities are intolerable, general relativity contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Others hoped that peaceful coexistence with singularities could be achieved by proving a form of Roger Penrose's cosmic censorship hypothesis, which would place singularities safely inside black holes. Whatever the attitude one adopts toward spacetime singularities, it is evident that they raise a number of foundational problems for physics and have profound implications for the philosophy of space and time. However, philosophers of science have been slow to awaken to the significance of these developments. Indeed, this is the first serious book-length study of the subject by a philosopher of science. It features an overview of the literature on singularities, as well as an analytic commentary on their significance to a number of scientific and philosophical issues.
Download or read book From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch and Everything in Between written by Vlad Van Rosenthal, and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2011-10-07 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our passionate curiosity to unravel the mysteries of the world, life, and the universe, humans have contrived numerous theories, both scientific and religious, with each claiming more relevance than the last. Despite all of these influential postulates, however, the real truth remains obscured to us, as it likely will until the moment of our eventual extinction. In From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch and Everything in Between: A Simplified Look at a Not-So-Simple Universe, Dr. Vlad Van Rosenthal explores the subjects made complex by science and religion—those concerning our planet, our solar system, and our civilization. Van Rosenthal’s compelling and accessible style introduces us to the fundamental explanations of the origin and future of our universe and of human life. From the cataclysmic explosion at the beginning to the one at the end—either from asteroids colliding with the earth, the nuclear explosion of nearby stars, or the fatal swelling of our own sun—we are a unique species on an unique planet that has most likely seen numerous civilizations and will hopefully see many more. We are all invited to form and debate our own perspectives on the earth, time, and space, for we are truly beholden to no one’s mind but our own.
Download or read book A Little Book about the Big Bang written by Tony Rothman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tony Rothman offers a primer on the science of the big bang and the questions we still can’t answer about the origins of the universe. Enlisting thoughtful analogies and a step-by-step approach, Rothman guides readers through dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, and other topics at—and beyond—the cutting edge of cosmology.
Download or read book The Big Crunch written by Pete Hautman and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A funny, clear-eyed view of the realities of teenage love from National Book Award winner Pete Hautman. A funny, clear-eyed view of the realities of teenage love from National Book Award winner Pete Hautman.Jen and Wes do not "meet cute." They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever. This is not that kind of love story.Instead, they just hang around in each other's orbits...until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they're still not sure where it will go. Especially when Jen starts to pity-date one of Wes's friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets.From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, this is a love story for people not particularly biased toward romance. But it is romantic, in the same way that truth can be romantic and uncertainty can be the biggest certainty of all...
Download or read book Bang crunch written by Neil Smith and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Carbon Crunch written by Dieter Helm and published by Yale.ORIM. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An economist’s take on “why the world’s efforts to curb the carbon dioxide emissions behind global warming have gone so wrong, and how it can do better” (Financial Times). Despite commitments to renewable energy and two decades of international negotiations, global emissions continue to rise. Coal, the most damaging of all fossil fuels, has actually risen from 25% to almost 30% of world energy use. And while European countries congratulate themselves on reducing emissions, they’ve increased their carbon imports from China and other developing nations, who continue to expand their coal use. As standards of living improve in developing countries, coal use can only increase as well—and global temperatures along with it. Written by an Oxford economist who specializes in environmental issues, this book goes beyond pieties and pipe dreams to address the practical realities that are preventing us from making progress on this crucial issue—and what we can do differently before it’s too late. “Should be compulsory reading for the entire political class as well as the bureaucratic elite and the commentariat.”—New Statesman “An optimistically levelheaded book about actually dealing with global warming.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A powerful and heartfelt plea for hard-nosed realism.”—New Scientist
Download or read book Innovative Computational Intelligence A Rough Guide to 134 Clever Algorithms written by Bo Xing and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-12-13 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first notable feature of this book is its innovation: Computational intelligence (CI), a fast evolving area, is currently attracting lots of researchers’ attention in dealing with many complex problems. At present, there are quite a lot competing books existing in the market. Nevertheless, the present book is markedly different from the existing books in that it presents new paradigms of CI that have rarely mentioned before, as opposed to the traditional CI techniques or methodologies employed in other books. During the past decade, a number of new CI algorithms are proposed. Unfortunately, they spread in a number of unrelated publishing directions which may hamper the use of such published resources. These provide us with motivation to analyze the existing research for categorizing and synthesizing it in a meaningful manner. The mission of this book is really important since those algorithms are going to be a new revolution in computer science. We hope it will stimulate the readers to make novel contributions or even start a new paradigm based on nature phenomena. Although structured as a textbook, the book's straightforward, self-contained style will also appeal to a wide audience of professionals, researchers and independent learners. We believe that the book will be instrumental in initiating an integrated approach to complex problems by allowing cross-fertilization of design principles from different design philosophies. The second feature of this book is its comprehensiveness: Through an extensive literature research, there are 134 innovative CI algorithms covered in this book.
Download or read book Endless Universe written by Paul J. Steinhardt and published by Crown. This book was released on 2007-05-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two world-renowned scientists present an audacious new vision of the cosmos that “steals the thunder from the Big Bang theory.” —Wall Street Journal The Big Bang theory—widely regarded as the leading explanation for the origin of the universe—posits that space and time sprang into being about 14 billion years ago in a hot, expanding fireball of nearly infinite density. Over the last three decades the theory has been repeatedly revised to address such issues as how galaxies and stars first formed and why the expansion of the universe is speeding up today. Furthermore, an explanation has yet to be found for what caused the Big Bang in the first place. In Endless Universe, Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok, both distinguished theoretical physicists, present a bold new cosmology. Steinhardt and Turok “contend that what we think of as the moment of creation was simply part of an infinite cycle of titanic collisions between our universe and a parallel world” (Discover). They recount the remarkable developments in astronomy, particle physics, and superstring theory that form the basis for their groundbreaking “Cyclic Universe” theory. According to this theory, the Big Bang was not the beginning of time but the bridge to a past filled with endlessly repeating cycles of evolution, each accompanied by the creation of new matter and the formation of new galaxies, stars, and planets. Endless Universe provides answers to longstanding problems with the Big Bang model, while offering a provocative new view of both the past and the future of the cosmos. It is a “theory that could solve the cosmic mystery” (USA Today).
Download or read book Boo written by Neil Smith and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An award-winning debut novel about the bonds of friendship and finding your place in the world—be it this one, or the next—from the author of Bang Crunch. “Instantly charming, never predictable, quietly profound.” —Bryan Lee O’Malley, #1 New York Times betselling author of Seconds and the Scott Pilgrim series Do you ever wonder, dear Mother and Father, what kind of toothpaste angels use in heaven? I will tell you. . . . This book I am writing to you about my afterlife will be your nitty-gritty. One day I hope to discover a way to deliver my story to you. It is the first week of school in 1979, and Oliver "Boo" Dalrymple—ghostly pale eighth grader; aspiring scientist; social pariah—is standing next to his locker, reciting the periodic table. The next thing he knows, he finds himself lying in a strange bed in a strange land. He is a new resident of a place called Town—an afterlife exclusively for thirteen-year-olds. Soon Boo is joined by Johnny Henzel, a fellow classmate, who brings with him a piece of surprising news about the circumstances of the boys’ deaths. In Town, there are no trees or animals, just endless rows of redbrick dormitories surrounded by unscalable walls. No one grows or ages, but everyone arrives just slightly altered from who he or she was before. To Boo’s great surprise, the qualities that made him an outcast at home win him friends; and he finds himself capable of a joy he has never experienced. But there is a darker side to life after death—and as Boo and Johnny attempt to learn what happened that fateful day, they discover a disturbing truth that will have profound repercussions for both of them.
Download or read book Big Bang Disruption written by Larry Downes and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It used to take years or even decades for disruptive innovations to dethrone dominant products and services. But now any business can be devastated virtually overnight by something better and cheaper. How can executives protect themselves and harness the power of Big Bang Disruption? Just a few years ago, drivers happily spent more than $200 for a GPS unit. But as smartphones exploded in popularity, free navigation apps exceeded the performance of stand-alone devices. Eighteen months after the debut of the navigation apps, leading GPS manufacturers had lost 85 percent of their market value. Consumer electronics and computer makers have long struggled in a world of exponential technology improvements and short product life spans. But until recently, hotels, taxi services, doctors, and energy companies had little to fear from the information revolution. Those days are gone forever. Software-based products are replacing physical goods. And every service provider must compete with cloud-based tools that offer customers a better way to interact. Today, start-ups with minimal experience and no capital can unravel your strategy before you even begin to grasp what’s happening. Never mind the “innovator’s dilemma”—this is the innovator’s disaster. And it’s happening in nearly every industry. Worse, Big Bang Disruptors may not even see you as competition. They don’t share your approach to customer service, and they’re not sizing up your product line to offer better prices. You may simply be collateral damage in their efforts to win completely different markets. The good news is that any business can master the strategy of the start-ups. Larry Downes and Paul Nunes analyze the origins, economics, and anatomy of Big Bang Disruption. They identify four key stages of the new innovation life cycle, helping you spot potential disruptors in time. And they offer twelve rules for defending your markets, launching disruptors of your own, and getting out while there’s still time. Based on extensive research by the Accenture Institute for High Performance and in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, and executives from more than thirty industries, Big Bang Disruption will arm you with strategies and insights to thrive in this brave new world.
Download or read book Metaheuristics Outlines MATLAB Codes and Examples written by Ali Kaveh and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-03-29 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book presents eight well-known and often used algorithms besides nine newly developed algorithms by the first author and his students in a practical implementation framework. Matlab codes and some benchmark structural optimization problems are provided. The aim is to provide an efficient context for experienced researchers or readers not familiar with theory, applications and computational developments of the considered metaheuristics. The information will also be of interest to readers interested in application of metaheuristics for hard optimization, comparing conceptually different metaheuristics and designing new metaheuristics.
Download or read book Bang written by Brian May and published by . This book was released on 2008-04-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the history of the universe from the big bang that began it, through the emergence of life in it, to current exploration of it, and theorizes about future discoveries and its ultimate end.
Download or read book Nothing Will Be Different written by Tara McGowan-Ross and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction 2022 — Shortlisted A neurotic party girl's coming-of-age memoir about learning to live before getting ready to die. Tara has it pretty good: a nice job, a writing career, a forgiving boyfriend. She should be happy. Yet Tara can’t stay sober. She’s terrible at monogamy. Even her psychiatrist grows sick of her and stops returning her calls. She spends most of her time putting out social fires, barely pulling things off, and feeling sick and tired. Then, in the autumn following her twenty-seventh birthday, an abnormal lump discovered in her left breast serves as the catalyst for a journey of rigorous self-questioning. Waiting on a diagnosis, she begins an intellectual assessment of her life, desperate to justify a short existence full of dumb choices. Armed with her philosophy degree and angry determination, she attacks each issue in her life as the days creep by and winds up writing a searingly honest memoir about learning to live before getting ready to die. A RARE MACHINES BOOK
Download or read book Country of Cold written by Kevin Patterson and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2011-01-28 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Vintage Tales Book. Graduating from high school in a small Canadian town, you are immediately faced with two stark choices: leave or stay. Country of Cold follows the stories of a disparate group of Dunsmuir, Manitoba’s class of 1980, most of whom leave, imagining that life happens elsewhere. They flee to the freedom of the big cities of the world and the far corners of Canada, but many end up feeling rootless and alone, whether as a physician in an Arctic Inuit community, a temporary boyfriend in Paris, or a student in the McGill Ghetto. The characters attempt to unravel the impossible puzzles of adulthood -- searching for answers by hurtling over falls in a barrel, building a boat to escape a teen-daughter-gone-bad, or embarking on an unlikely affair with a two-bit wrestler. Kevin Patterson won international accolades for his wonderfully observed and moving memoir, The Water in Between. This fiction debut confirms him as a major new literary talent.
Download or read book The End of Everything written by Katie Mack and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mack looks at five ways the universe could end, and the lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology. --From publisher description.
