Download or read book Turbulent Mirror written by John Briggs and published by HarperCollins Publishers. This book was released on 1989 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the many faces of chaos and reveals how its laws direct most of the familiar processes of everyday life.

Download or read book A Distant Mirror written by Barbara W. Tuchman and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 1987-07-12 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “marvelous history”* of medieval Europe, from the bubonic plague and the Papal Schism to the Hundred Years’ War, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Guns of August *Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October, in The Wall Street Journal The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering age of crusades, cathedrals, and chivalry; on the other, a world plunged into chaos and spiritual agony. In this revelatory work, Barbara W. Tuchman examines not only the great rhythms of history but the grain and texture of domestic life: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes, and war dominated the lives of serf, noble, and clergy alike. Granting her subjects their loyalties, treacheries, and guilty passions, Tuchman re-creates the lives of proud cardinals, university scholars, grocers and clerks, saints and mystics, lawyers and mercenaries, and, dominating all, the knight—in all his valor and “furious follies,” a “terrible worm in an iron cocoon.” Praise for A Distant Mirror “Beautifully written, careful and thorough in its scholarship . . . What Ms. Tuchman does superbly is to tell how it was. . . . No one has ever done this better.”—The New York Review of Books “A beautiful, extraordinary book . . . Tuchman at the top of her powers . . . She has done nothing finer.”—The Wall Street Journal “Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . a great book, in a great historical tradition.”—Commentary

Download or read book The Split and the Structure written by Rudolf Arnheim and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rudolf Arnheim's great forte is his ability to illuminate the perceptual processes that go into the making and reception of artworks—painting, sculpture, architecture, and film. Over the years, his pioneering mode of "reading" art from a unique scientific/philosophic perspective has garnered him an established and devoted audience. That audience will take pleasure in Arnheim's most recent collection of essays, one that covers a range of topics and includes titles such as "Outer Space and Inner Space," "What Is an Aesthetic Fact?," "As I Saw Children's Art," "Two Ways of Being Human," "Consciousness—an Island of Images," and "From Chaos to Wholeness." The notion of structure is Arnheim's guide in these explorations. Most of the essays examine the nature of structure affirmatively: how it comes about, its incentives and objectives, its celebration of perfection. He is interested in how artists grope for structure to shape powerful, enlightening images, and how a scientist's search for truth is a search for structure. Writing with enviable clarity, even when deploying complex arguments, Arnheim makes it easy and exciting to follow him as he thinks. America is not abundantly supplied with "public intellectuals" such as Rudolf Arnheim—to have his writings with us is cause for celebration. "The word 'structure' appears for good reason in the title of this collection. . . . Structure seems to be needed as an arbiter wherever this civilization of ours is split by selfish interests and fighting for either/or decisions. The essays want to speak with the voice of reason, because they want to show how the parts require the whole."

Download or read book Collective Phenomena in Current carrying Plasmas written by Evgeniĭ Dmitrievich Volkov and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 926 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.

Download or read book Nuclear Science Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 1132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Fire in the Crucible written by John Briggs and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The co-author of Looking Glass Universe probes the nature of creativity and reveals the strategies and tactics of some of our greatest creative minds. What makes geniuses different from the rest of us? What is the difference between a prodigy and a genius? Are geniuses born or made? What is creative vision and where does it come from? What are the secrets of talent? And why do great creators seem to have so many oppositions in their personalities? In this mind-expanding investigation of creativity, John Briggs reveals that there is no special trait of genius. Geniuses are not necessarily smarter or more talented than other people, but they give their attention to subtle nuances, contradictory feelings and perceptions that others experience and ignore. By focusing on sensory nuances, geniuses create themselves. Fire in the Crucible offers a compelling exploration of the roots of creativity and genius. Drawing on the lives and work of extraordinary scientists, artists, writers, composers, and inventors, Briggs shows how creative individuals exploit doubt and uncertainty, and the mental strategies and tactics they employ when they work. “In asking about creativity,” he writes, “we are really asking about what is best, what is deepest in life.” Fire in the Crucible draws the reader into an eye-opening journey through the inner workings of some of the greatest creative minds of all time—and allows us to understand more deeply the nature of creativity in our own lives and work. Praise for Fire in the Crucible “His refreshingly open-ended approach brings us closer to the elusive nature of genius.” —Publishers Weekly “An exuberant voyage through the brains and minds of creative individuals, chock-full of intriguing scientific discoveries and puzzling paradoxes.” —Howard Gardner, Harvard University, author of Multiple Intelligences

Download or read book Putting A New Spin on Groups written by Bud A. McClure and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2005-01-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Putting a New Spin on Groups: The Science of Chaos, Second Edition continues to challenge orthodoxy and static ideas about small group dynamics. A primary goal is to offer an alternative model of group development that addresses three factors: *The model integrates old ideas from previous models of group development with new concepts from chaos theory and the work of Arthur Young. *The book emphasizes the importance of conflict in group development and recognizes that group growth--while progressive--is neither linear or unidimensional. *Particular attention is focused on how groups change, evolve, and mature. In addition, this book highlights certain group phenomena that have been given only cursory attention in many group textbooks, including women in authority, group metaphors, regressive groups, and the transpersonal potential of small groups. This book has been revised in response to feedback from reviewers and colleagues and includes new ideas, applications of chaos theory in social sciences, and thinking about group behavior. It is an intellectually challenging read with just the right amount of world application.

Download or read book Tom Stoppard s Arcadia written by John Fleming and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tom Stoppard is widely regarded as one of the leading contemporary British playwrights, a writer who has earned an intriguing mix of both critical and commercial success. Arcadia is considered by many critics to be Stoppard's masterpiece, a work that weds his love for words and ideas in his early career, with his emphasis on storytelling and emotional engagement in his later career. With its engaging alteration between past and present Arcadia offers a comedic and entertaining exploration of chaos theory, entropy, the Second Law of thermodynamics, iterated algorithms, fractals, and other concepts culled from the realms of math and science.

Download or read book Coronal Seismology written by Alexander Stepanov and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-05-14 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This concise and systematic account of the current state of this new branch of astrophysics presents the theoretical foundations of plasma astrophysics, magneto-hydrodynamics and coronal magnetic structures, taking into account the full range of available observation techniques -- from radio to gamma. The book discusses stellar loops during flare energy releases, MHD waves and oscillations, plasma instabilities and heating and charged particle acceleration. Current trends and developments in MHD seismology of solar and stellar coronal plasma systems are also covered, while recent progress is presented in the observational study of quasi-periodic pulsations in solar and stellar flares with radio, optical, X and gamma rays. In addition, the authors investigate the origin of coherent radio emission from stellar loops, paying special attention to their fine structure. For advanced students and specialists in astronomy, as well as theoretical and plasma physics.

Download or read book Looking Glass Universe written by John Briggs and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 1986 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book ERDA Energy Research Abstracts written by United States. Energy Research and Development Administration and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 756 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Dune Companion written by Donald E. Palumbo and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This companion to Frank Herbert's six original Dune novels--Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune--provides an encyclopedia of characters, locations, terms and other elements, and highlights the series' underrated aesthetic integrity. An extensive introduction discusses the theme of ecology, chaos theory concepts and structures, and Joseph Campbell's monomyth in Herbert's narratives.

Download or read book Has Science Found God written by Victor J. Stenger and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2009-12-02 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past few years a number of scientists have claimed that there is credible scientific evidence for the existence of God. In 1998 Newsweek went so far as to proclaim on its cover, "Science Finds God." Is this true? Are scientists close to solving the greatest of all mysteries? Physicist Victor J. Stenger delves into this fascinating question from a skeptical point of view in this lucid and engrossing presentation of the key scientific facts. Stenger critically reviews the attempts of many contemporary theologians and some scientists to resurrect failed natural theologies in new guises. Whether these involve updated arguments from design, "anthropic" coincidences, or modern forms of deism, Stenger clearly shows that nothing in modern science requires supernatural explanation. He offers naturalistic explanations for empirical observations that are frequently given theistic interpretations: for example, that information in the universe implies an intelligent designer, that a universe with a beginning requires a Creator, and that the elegant laws of physics suggest a transcendent realm. He shows that alleged spiritual, nonmaterial phenomena do not lie beyond the experimental reach of physics. This thorough and careful consideration of scientific evidence covers much ground yet remains accessible and highly informative to the educated lay reader.

Download or read book Humans Animals Machines written by Glen A. Mazis and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the overlap and blurring of boundaries among humans, animals, and machines.

Download or read book Remapping Reality written by John Aloysius McCarthy and published by Rodopi. This book was released on 2006 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about intersections among science, philosophy, and literature. It bridges the gap between the traditional "cultures" of science and the humanities by constituting an area of interaction that some have called a "third culture." By asking questions about three disciplines rather than about just two, as is customary in research, this inquiry breaks new ground and resists easy categorization. It seeks to answer the following questions: What impact has the remapping of reality in scientific terms since the Copernican Revolution through thermodynamics, relativity theory, and quantum mechanics had on the way writers and thinkers conceptualized the place of human culture within the total economy of existence? What influence, on the other hand, have writers and philosophers had on the doing of science and on scientific paradigms of the world? Thirdly, where does humankind fit into the total picture with its uniquely moral nature? In other words, rather than privileging one discipline over another, this study seeks to uncover a common ground for science, ethics, and literary creativity. Throughout this inquiry certain nodal points emerge to bond the argument cogently together and create new meaning. These anchor points are the notion of movement inherent in all forms of existence, the changing concepts of evil in the altered spaces of reality, and the creative impulse critical to the literary work of art as well as to the expanding universe. This ambitious undertaking is unified through its use of phenomena typical of chaos and complexity theory as so many leitmotifs. While they first emerged to explain natural phenomena at the quantum and cosmic levels, chaos and complexity are equally apt for explaining moral and aesthetic events. Hence, the title "Remapping Reality" extends to the reconfigurations of the three main spheres of human interaction: the physical, the ethical, and the aesthetic or creative.

Download or read book Chaos Complexity Curriculum and Culture written by William E. Doll and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2005 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the fields of chaos and complexity are important in a number of disciplines, they have not yet been influential in education. This book remedies this dilemma by gathering essays by authors from around the world who have studied and applied chaos and complexity theories to their teaching. Rich in its material, recursive in its interweaving of themes, conversational in its relationships, and rigorous in its analysis, the book is essential reading for undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals who deal with these important topics.