Download or read book Our Mathematical Universe written by Max Tegmark and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-02-03 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist. Fascinating from first to last—this is a book that has already prompted the attention and admiration of some of the most prominent scientists and mathematicians.
Download or read book The Mathematical Universe written by Joel L. Schiff and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-18 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I first had a quick look, then I started reading it. I couldn't stop. -Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel Prize, in Physics 1999) This is a book about the mathematical nature of our Universe. Armed with no more than basic high school mathematics, Dr. Joel L. Schiff takes you on a foray through some of the most intriguing aspects of the world around us. Along the way, you will visit the bizarre world of subatomic particles, honey bees and ants, galaxies, black holes, infinity, and more. Included are such goodies as measuring the speed of light with your microwave oven, determining the size of the Earth with a stick in the ground and the age of the Solar System from meteorites, understanding how the Theory of Relativity makes your everyday GPS system possible, and so much more. These topics are easily accessible to anyone who has ever brushed up against the Pythagorean Theorem and the symbol π, with the lightest dusting of algebra. Through this book, science-curious readers will come to appreciate the patterns, seeming contradictions, and extraordinary mathematical beauty of our Universe.
Download or read book The Mathematical Universe written by William Dunham and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1994-08-16 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Dunham writes for nonspecialists, and they will enjoy his piquantanecdotes and amusing asides -- Booklist "Artfully, Dunham conducts a tour of the mathematical universe. . .he believes these ideas to be accessible to the audience he wantsto reach, and he writes so that they are." -- Nature "If you want to encourage anyone's interest in math, get them TheMathematical Universe." * New Scientist
Download or read book Poetry of the Universe written by Robert Osserman and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2011-04-27 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the bestselling literary tradition of Lewis Thomas's Lives of a Cell and James Watson's The Double Helix, Poetry of the Universe is a delightful and compelling narrative charting the evolution of mathematical ideas that have helped to illuminate the nature of the observable universe. In a richly anecdotal fashion, the book explores teh leaps of imagination and vision in mathematics that have helped pioneer our understanding of the world around us.
Download or read book The Universe in Zero Words written by Dana Mackenzie and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-08-25 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most popular books about science, and even about mathematics, tiptoe around equations as if they were something to be hidden from the reader's tender eyes. Dana Mackenzie starts from the opposite premise: He celebrates equations. No history of art would be complete without pictures. Why, then, should a history of mathematics--the universal language of science--keep the masterpieces of the subject hidden behind a veil? The Universe in Zero Words tells the history of twenty-four great and beautiful equations that have shaped mathematics, science, and society--from the elementary (1+1=2) to the sophisticated (the Black-Scholes formula for financial derivatives), and from the famous (E=mc2) to the arcane (Hamilton's quaternion equations). Mackenzie, who has been called "a popular-science ace" by Booklist magazine, lucidly explains what each equation means, who discovered it (and how), and how it has affected our lives. Illustrated in color throughout, the book tells the human and often-surprising stories behind the invention or discovery of the equations, from how a bad cigar changed the course of quantum mechanics to why whales (if they could communicate with us) would teach us a totally different concept of geometry. At the same time, the book shows why these equations have something timeless to say about the universe, and how they do it with an economy (zero words) that no other form of human expression can match. The Universe in Zero Words is the ultimate introduction and guide to equations that have changed the world.
Download or read book A History of the Circle written by Ernest Zebrowski and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging from ancient times to twentieth-century theories of time and space, looks at how exploring the circle has lead to increased knowledge about the physical universe.
Download or read book A Beginner s Guide to Constructing the Universe written by Michael S. Schneider and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover how mathematical sequences abound in our natural world in this definitive exploration of the geography of the cosmos You need not be a philosopher or a botanist, and certainly not a mathematician, to enjoy the bounty of the world around us. But is there some sort of order, a pattern, to the things that we see in the sky, on the ground, at the beach? In A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe, Michael Schneider, an education writer and computer consultant, combines science, philosophy, art, and common sense to reaffirm what the ancients observed: that a consistent language of geometric design underpins every level of the universe, from atoms to galaxies, cucumbers to cathedrals. Schneider also discusses numerical and geometric symbolism through the ages, and concepts such as periodic renewal and resonance. This book is an education in the world and everything we can't see within it. Contains numerous b&w photos and illustrations.
Download or read book Reasoning with the Infinite written by Michel Blay and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until the Scientific Revolution, the nature and motions of heavenly objects were mysterious and unpredictable. The Scientific Revolution was revolutionary in part because it saw the advent of many mathematical tools—chief among them the calculus—that natural philosophers could use to explain and predict these cosmic motions. Michel Blay traces the origins of this mathematization of the world, from Galileo to Newton and Laplace, and considers the profound philosophical consequences of submitting the infinite to rational analysis. "One of Michael Blay's many fine achievements in Reasoning with the Infinite is to make us realize how velocity, and later instantaneous velocity, came to play a vital part in the development of a rigorous mathematical science of motion."—Margaret Wertheim, New Scientist
Download or read book Knots Molecules and the Universe written by Erica Flapan and published by American Mathematical Soc.. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an elementary introduction to geometric topology and its applications to chemistry, molecular biology, and cosmology. It does not assume any mathematical or scientific background, sophistication, or even motivation to study mathematics. It is meant to be fun and engaging while drawing students in to learn about fundamental topological and geometric ideas. Though the book can be read and enjoyed by nonmathematicians, college students, or even eager high school students, it is intended to be used as an undergraduate textbook. The book is divided into three parts corresponding to the three areas referred to in the title. Part 1 develops techniques that enable two- and three-dimensional creatures to visualize possible shapes for their universe and to use topological and geometric properties to distinguish one such space from another. Part 2 is an introduction to knot theory with an emphasis on invariants. Part 3 presents applications of topology and geometry to molecular symmetries, DNA, and proteins. Each chapter ends with exercises that allow for better understanding of the material. The style of the book is informal and lively. Though all of the definitions and theorems are explicitly stated, they are given in an intuitive rather than a rigorous form, with several hundreds of figures illustrating the exposition. This allows students to develop intuition about topology and geometry without getting bogged down in technical details.
Download or read book How Not to Be Wrong written by Jordan Ellenberg and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Witty, compelling, and just plain fun to read . . ." —Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do—the whole world is shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It’s a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does “public opinion” really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician’s method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman—minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia’s views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can’t figure out about you, and the existence of God. Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is “an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength.” With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.
Download or read book The Language of the Universe written by Colin Stuart and published by Big Picture Press. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to present mathematics in a new, approachable way, this book explores the history and application of math in the natural world. With incredible artwork from Ximo Abadía, the reader can visualize atoms, explore the geometric complexity of beehives, and wonder at the movement of the planets. With engaging, easy-to-understand text by acclaimed science writer Colin Stuart, this title will truly captivate and inspire.
Download or read book The Dream Universe written by David Lindley and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid and captivating narrative about how modern science broke free of ancient philosophy, and how theoretical physics is returning to its unscientific roots In the early seventeenth century Galileo broke free from the hold of ancient Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. He drastically changed the framework through which we view the natural world when he asserted that we should base our theory of reality on what we can observe rather than pure thought. In the process, he invented what we would come to call science. This set the stage for all the breakthroughs that followed--from Kepler to Newton to Einstein. But in the early twentieth century when quantum physics, with its deeply complex mathematics, entered into the picture, something began to change. Many physicists began looking to the equations first and physical reality second. As we investigate realms further and further from what we can see and what we can test, we must look to elegant, aesthetically pleasing equations to develop our conception of what reality is. As a result, much of theoretical physics today is something more akin to the philosophy of Plato than the science to which the physicists are heirs. In The Dream Universe, Lindley asks what is science when it becomes completely untethered from measurable phenomena?
Download or read book The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time written by Roberto Mangabeira Unger and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Lee Smolin argue for a revolution in our cosmological ideas. Ideal for non-scientists, physicists and cosmologists.
Download or read book Lost in Math written by Sabine Hossenfelder and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this "provocative" book (New York Times), a contrarian physicist argues that her field's modern obsession with beauty has given us wonderful math but bad science. Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria. Worse, these "too good to not be true" theories are actually untestable and they have left the field in a cul-de-sac. To escape, physicists must rethink their methods. Only by embracing reality as it is can science discover the truth.
Download or read book When We Cease to Understand the World written by Benjamin Labatut and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2021 Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize and the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger—these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear. At a breakneck pace and with a wealth of disturbing detail, Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to tell the stories of the scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.
Download or read book Love and Math written by Edward Frenkel and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An awesome, globe-spanning, and New York Times bestselling journey through the beauty and power of mathematics What if you had to take an art class in which you were only taught how to paint a fence? What if you were never shown the paintings of van Gogh and Picasso, weren't even told they existed? Alas, this is how math is taught, and so for most of us it becomes the intellectual equivalent of watching paint dry. In Love and Math, renowned mathematician Edward Frenkel reveals a side of math we've never seen, suffused with all the beauty and elegance of a work of art. In this heartfelt and passionate book, Frenkel shows that mathematics, far from occupying a specialist niche, goes to the heart of all matter, uniting us across cultures, time, and space. Love and Math tells two intertwined stories: of the wonders of mathematics and of one young man's journey learning and living it. Having braved a discriminatory educational system to become one of the twenty-first century's leading mathematicians, Frenkel now works on one of the biggest ideas to come out of math in the last 50 years: the Langlands Program. Considered by many to be a Grand Unified Theory of mathematics, the Langlands Program enables researchers to translate findings from one field to another so that they can solve problems, such as Fermat's last theorem, that had seemed intractable before. At its core, Love and Math is a story about accessing a new way of thinking, which can enrich our lives and empower us to better understand the world and our place in it. It is an invitation to discover the magic hidden universe of mathematics.
Download or read book Mathematical Structures of the Universe written by Michał Eckstein and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains a collection of essays on mathematical structures that serve to model the Universe. The contributions discuss such topics as the interplay between mathematics and physics, geometrical structures in physical models, and observational and conceptual aspects of cosmology. The reader can also contemplate the scientific method on the verge of its limits. [Subject: Physics, Mathematics, Cosmology, Natural Philosophy]
