Download or read book The Joy of Insight Passions of a Physicist written by Victor Weisskopf and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1930s, Victor Weisskopf worked with leading European physicists such as Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac and Wolfgang Pauli. His memoir recounts in simple language how quantum mechanics revolutionized physics and our understanding of matter. Weisskopf takes us to Los Alamos where he worked on the atom bomb during World War II after fleeing the Nazis, to CERN which he led in the early 1960s, and to MIT’s physics department where he taught until his retirement. Weisskopf also recounts his efforts towards nuclear disarmament and tells of his lifelong love of music and passion to understand and explain physics. “[Weisskopf’s] memoir provides a bright tile in the mosaic that our descendants will study in seeking to understand his scientific generation... A warm and frequently witty memoir by an extraordinarily gifted thinker and caring human being.” — Timothy Ferris, The New York Times “Weisskopf’s voice comes through clearly in the book ... a voice that has tried to infuse our century with the idealism and humanism that it so often has lacked... The Joy of Insight is much more than Weisskopf’s autobiography: It is a first-hand account of the intellectual and political forces that shaped the 20th century.” — Science “His account of [Los Alamos], where an isolated, tightly enclosed social world contrasted with the excitement and suspense of unprecedented research and invention, is the best yet written.” — The Atlantic “The Joy of Insight is an inspiring personal memoir by one of the most thoughtful scientists of our time... [A] stimulating book by and about a passionate physicist.” —Boston Globe “[Weisskopf] emerges in this autobiography as a man of gentle wisdom and quiet grace, confident in the idea that physics can provide not only 'the joy of insight,' but also a model of how life should be lived.” — The Sciences

Download or read book Follow Your Passion Find Your Power written by Bob Doyle and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wondering how to make the Law of Attraction work in your life? With the publication of The Secret, the Law of Attraction has become a worldwide phenomenon. Yet, many people are still not getting the results they want and have been left disappointed and confused. Now motivational coach Bob Doyle, one of the teachers featured in the film version of The Secret, dispels the misconceptions and myths about the Law of Attraction and offers a practical, easy-to-use program for creating abundance and happiness. Doyle addresses head-on the objections, questions, and comments that many still have about creating abundance to get the things they want in life. Follow Your Passion, Find Your Power is a down-to-earth, no-hype, motivational approach to take control of your life and get the things you want. Doyle makes it clear that the Law is not a personal development tool you can use the right way or the wrong way; it's a profound statement of how energy works in the universe. It has to do with paying attention, recognizing where you are, and aggressively striving for what you want. It is all about passion, vision, and purpose. Get clear on your vision for your life, and follow a step-by-step plan to live your life by design.

Download or read book Physics on the Fringe written by Margaret Wertheim and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past fifteen years, acclaimed science writer Margaret Wertheim has been collecting the works of "outsider physicists," many without formal training and all convinced that they have found true alternative theories of the universe. Jim Carter, the Einstein of outsiders, has developed his own complete theory of matter and energy and gravity that he demonstrates with experiments in his backyard,-with garbage cans and a disco fog machine he makes smoke rings to test his ideas about atoms. Captivated by the imaginative power of his theories and his resolutely DIY attitude, Wertheim has been following Carter's progress for the past decade. Centuries ago, natural philosophers puzzled out the laws of nature using the tools of observation and experimentation. Today, theoretical physics has become mathematically inscrutable, accessible only to an elite few. In rejecting this abstraction, outsider theorists insist that nature speaks a language we can all understand. Through a profoundly human profile of Jim Carter, Wertheim's exploration of the bizarre world of fringe physics challenges our conception of what science is, how it works, and who it is for.

Download or read book Blood Rites written by Barbara Ehrenreich and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable BookAn ALA Notable Book "Original and illuminating." --The Washington Post What draws our species to war? What makes us see violence as a kind of sacred duty, or a ritual that boys must undergo to "become" men? Newly reissued in paperback, Blood Rites takes readers on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century "total war." Ehrenreich sifts deftly through the fragile records of prehistory and discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place -- not in a "killer instinct" unique to the males of our species, but in the blood rites early humans performed to reenact their terrifying experiences of predation by stronger carnivores. Brilliant in conception and rich in scope, Blood Rites is a monumental work that continues to transform our understanding of the greatest single threat to human life.

Download or read book Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track written by Richard P. Feynman and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I'm an explorer, OK? I like to find out!" -- One of the towering figures of twentieth-century science, Richard Feynman possessed a curiosity that was the stuff of legend. Even before he won the Nobel Prize in 1965, his unorthodox and spellbinding lectures on physics secured his reputation amongst students and seekers around the world. It was his outsized love for life, however, that earned him the status of an American cultural icon-here was an extraordinary intellect devoted to the proposition that the thrill of discovery was matched only by the joy of communicating it to others. In this career-spanning collection of letters, many published here for the first time, we are able to see this side of Feynman like never before. Beginning with a short note home in his first days as a graduate student, and ending with a letter to a stranger seeking his advice decades later, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track covers a dazzling array of topics and themes, scientific developments and personal histories. With missives to and from scientific luminaries, as well as letters to and from fans, family, students, crackpots, as well as everyday people eager for Feynman's wisdom and counsel, the result is a wonderful de facto guide to life, and eloquent testimony to the human quest for knowledge at all levels. Feynman once mused that "people are entertained' enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before." As edited and annotated by his daughter, Michelle, these letters not only allow us to better grasp the how and why of Feynman's enduring appeal, but also to see the virtues of an inquiring eye in spectacular fashion. Whether discussing the Manhattan Project or developments in quantum physics, the Challenger investigation or grade-school textbooks, the love of his wife or the best way to approach a problem, his dedication to clarity, grace, humor, and optimism is everywhere evident..

Download or read book Knowledge and Wonder second edition written by Victor F. Weisskopf and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1979-11-15 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 100,000 copies of the first edition of Knowledge and Wonder have been sold, both in the U.S. and abroad. Written expressly for the general reader and beginning science student, the book describes our present scientific understanding of natural phenomena and the universality of that understanding and its human significance.

Download or read book Passion of the Western Mind written by Richard Tarnas and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-10-19 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

Download or read book The Physicists written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comedy melodrama concerning three mad physicists in a Swiss sanatorium.

Download or read book Einstein written by Walter Isaacson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 603 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NOW A MAJOR SERIES 'GENIUS' ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PRODUCED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING GEOFFREY RUSH Einstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available -- a fully realised portrait of this extraordinary human being, and great genius. Praise for EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson:- 'YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS.' Sunday Times 'As pithy as Einstein himself.’ New Scientist ‘[A] brilliant biography, rich with newly available archival material.’ Literary Review ‘Beautifully written, it renders the physics understandable.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Isaacson is excellent at explaining the science. ' Daily Express

Download or read book Until the End of Time written by Brian Greene and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose, from the world-renowned physicist and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe. "Few humans share Greene’s mastery of both the latest cosmological science and English prose." —The New York Times Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to find meaning in the face of this vast expanse. Greene takes us on a journey from the big bang to the end of time, exploring how lasting structures formed, how life and mind emerged, and how we grapple with our existence through narrative, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and a deep longing for the eternal. From particles to planets, consciousness to creativity, matter to meaning—Brian Greene allows us all to grasp and appreciate our fleeting but utterly exquisite moment in the cosmos.

Download or read book Looking for Spinoza written by Antonio R. Damasio and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2003 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

Download or read book A Beautiful Question written by Frank Wilczek and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the universe embody beautiful ideas? Artists as well as scientists throughout human history have pondered this “beautiful question.” With Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek as your guide, embark on a voyage of related discoveries, from Plato and Pythagoras up to the present. Wilczek’s groundbreaking work in quantum physics was inspired by his intuition to look for a deeper order of beauty in nature. This is the deep logic of the universe—and it is no accident that it is also at the heart of what we find aesthetically pleasing and inspiring. Wilczek is hardly alone among great scientists in charting his course using beauty as his compass. As he reveals in A Beautiful Question, this has been the heart of scientific pursuit from Pythagoras and the ancient belief in the music of the spheres to Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, and into the deep waters of twentieth-century physics. Wilczek brings us right to the edge of knowledge today, where the core insights of even the craziest quantum ideas apply principles we all understand. The equations for atoms and light are almost the same ones that govern musical instruments and sound; the subatomic particles that are responsible for most of our mass are determined by simple geometric symmetries. Gorgeously illustrated, A Beautiful Question is a mind-shifting book that braids the age-old quest for beauty and the age-old quest for truth into a thrilling synthesis. It is a dazzling and important work from one of our best thinkers, whose humor and infectious sense of wonder animate every page. Yes: The world is a work of art, and its deepest truths are ones we already feel, as if they were somehow written in our souls.

Download or read book A Short Bright Flash Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse written by Theresa Levitt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-06-03 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the life of the man who invented a new lighthouse lens, capable of shining brighter, farther, and more efficiently than existing light sources, and his fight against the scientific elite, his poor health, and the limits of his era's technology.

Download or read book The Trouble with Physics written by Lee Smolin and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sample Text

Download or read book The Love Proof written by Madeleine Henry and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this “captivating, heartfelt, and utterly unique tale” (Emily Giffin, author of The Lies That Bind), a brilliant physicist studying the nature of time embarks on an unforgettable and life-changing journey to prove that those we love are always connected to us. Sophie Jones is a physics prodigy on track to unlock the secrets of the universe. When she meets Jake Kristopher during their first week at Yale they instantly feel a deep connection, as if they’ve known each other before. Slowly, their love lures Sophie away from school. When a shocking development forces Sophie into a new reality, she returns to physics to make sense of her world. She grapples with life’s big questions, including how to cope with unexpected change and loss. Inspired by her connection with Jake, Sophie throws herself into her studies, determined to prove that true loves belong together. “Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife will be blown away by Madeleine Henry’s The Love Proof” (PopSugar), a story of lasting connection, time, and intuition. It explores the course that perfect love can take between imperfect people and urges us to listen to our hearts rather than our heads.

Download or read book The Philosophical Breakfast Club written by Laura J. Snyder and published by Crown. This book was released on 2012-01-17 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] fascinating book...about the way four geniuses at Cambridge University revolutionized modern science.“ —Newsweek The Philosophical Breakfast Club recounts the life and work of four men who met as students at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, William Whewell, and Richard Jones. Recognizing that they shared a love of science (as well as good food and drink) they began to meet on Sunday mornings to talk about the state of science in Britain and the world at large. Inspired by the great 17th century scientific reformer and political figure Francis Bacon—another former student of Cambridge—the Philosophical Breakfast Club plotted to bring about a new scientific revolution. And to a remarkable extent, they succeeded, even in ways they never intended. Historian of science and philosopher Laura J. Snyder exposes the political passions, religious impulses, friendships, rivalries, and love of knowledge—and power—that drove these extraordinary men. Whewell (who not only invented the word “scientist,” but also founded the fields of crystallography, mathematical economics, and the science of tides), Babbage (a mathematical genius who invented the modern computer), Herschel (who mapped the skies of the Southern Hemisphere and contributed to the invention of photography), and Jones (a curate who shaped the science of economics) were at the vanguard of the modernization of science. This absorbing narrative of people, science and ideas chronicles the intellectual revolution inaugurated by these men, one that continues to mold our understanding of the world around us and of our place within it. Drawing upon the voluminous correspondence between the four men over the fifty years of their work, Laura J. Snyder shows how friendship worked to spur the men on to greater accomplishments, and how it enabled them to transform science and help create the modern world. "The lives and works of these men come across as fit for Masterpiece Theatre.” —Wall Street Journal "Snyder succeeds famously in evoking the excitement, variety and wide-open sense of possibility of the scientific life in 19th-century Britain...splendidly evoked in this engaging book.” —American Scientist "This fine book is as wide-ranging and anecdotal, as excited and exciting, as those long-ago Sunday morning conversations at Cambridge. The Philosophical Breakfast Club forms a natural successor to Jenny Uglow’s The Lunar Men...and Richard Holmes’s The Age of Wonder.” —Washington Post

Download or read book Strange Beauty written by George Johnson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-09-29 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a New Afterword "Our knowledge of fundamental physics contains not one fruitful idea that does not carry the name of Murray Gell-Mann."--Richard Feynman Acclaimed science writer George Johnson brings his formidable reporting skills to the first biography of Nobel Prize-winner Murray Gell-Mann, the brilliant, irascible man who revolutionized modern particle physics with his models of the quark and the Eightfold Way. Born into a Jewish immigrant family on New York's East 14th Street, Gell-Mann's prodigious talent was evident from an early age--he entered Yale at 15, completed his Ph.D. at 21, and was soon identifying the structures of the world's smallest components and illuminating the elegant symmetries of the universe. Beautifully balanced in its portrayal of an extraordinary and difficult man, interpreting the concepts of advanced physics with scrupulous clarity and simplicity, Strange Beauty is a tour-de-force of both science writing and biography.