About this product: Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world, and in their wake have left an uneasy coexistence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical inquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality?
After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientific minds, as well as a lifetime of meditative, spiritual, and philosophic study, the Dalai Lama presents a brilliant analysis of why all avenues of inquiry—scientific as well as spiritual—must be pursued in order to arrive at a complete picture of the truth. Through an examination of Darwinism and karma, quantum mechanics and philosophical insight into the nature of reality, neurobiology and the study of consciousness, the Dalai Lama draws significant parallels between contemplative and scientific examinations of reality.
This breathtakingly personal examination is a tribute to the Dalai Lama’s teachers—both of science and spirituality. The legacy of this book is a vision of the world in which our different approaches to understanding ourselves, our universe, and one another can be brought together in the service of humanity.
The idiosyncrasies of human decision-making have confounded economists and social theorists for years. If each person makes choices for personal (and often irrational) reasons, how can people’s choices be predicted by a single theory? How can any economic, social, or political theory be valid? The truth is, none of them really are.
Mark Buchanan makes the fascinating argument that the science of physics is beginning to provide a new picture of the human or “social atom,” and help us understand the surprising, and often predictable, patterns that emerge when they get together. Look at patterns, not people, Buchanan argues, and rules emerge that can explain how movements form, how interest groups operate, and even why ethnic hatred persists. Using similar observations, social physicists can predict whether neighborhoods will integrate, whether stock markets will crash, and whether crime waves will continue or abate.
Brimming with mind games and provocative experiments, The Social Atom is an incisive, accessible, and comprehensive argument for a whole new way to look at human social behavior.
About this product: In the sub-atomic kingdom of K'ai, the Hulk gained Bruce Banner's brain but lost his heart to the gorgeous green Grace: Jarella! After the sinister Psyklop gets their world in his hands, the atom-crossed couple seek happiness on Earth, but the odds seem stacked against them in both dimensions! Will the Hulk save his emerald angel and her war-torn world? Can green hearts be broken? Find out in this saga that spans time, space, and [non]human emotion! Guest-starring Captain Marvel and the Avengers! Collects Incredible Hulk #140, #148, #156, #202-205 and #246-248, and What If? #23.
Whether all human languages are fundamentally the same or different has been a subject of debate for ages. This problem has deep philosophical implications: If languages are all the same, it implies a fundamental commonality--and thus mutual intelligibility--of human thought.We are now on the verge of solving this problem. Using a twenty-year-old theory proposed by the world's greatest living linguist, Noam Chomsky, researchers have found that the similarities among languages are more profound than the differences. Languages whose grammars seem completely incompatible may in fact be structurally almost identical, except for a difference in one simple rule. The discovery of these rules and how they may vary promises to yield a linguistic equivalent of the Periodic Table of the Elements: a single framework by which we can understand the fundamental structure of all human language. This is a landmark breakthrough both within linguistics, which will herewith finally become a full-fledged science, and in our understanding of the human mind.
About this product: The legendary Isaac Asimov starts what is perhaps the finest of all his books with a simple query: How finely can a piece of matter be divided? But like many simple questions, this one leads readers on a far-flung quest for a final answer, a search that encompasses such fascinating phenomena as light and electricity and their components--strange but real bits of matter that challenge our assumptions about the very nature of time and space. 40 illustrations.
About this product: Conceptual Chemistry provides a fresh, insightful, and welcoming look into the concepts of chemistry at a level suitable for readers who tend to shy away from science courses. Emphasis is placed upon a conceptual understanding of our every day world from the perspective of atoms and molecules. Twelve core chapters cover basic chemical concepts such as atomic models, chemical bonding, and chemical reactions. These are followed by seven chapters organized around chemistry-related topics, such as nutrition, drugs, agriculture, water resources, the atmosphere, commercial materials, and sources of energy. The end-of-chapter study material for each chapter is extensive and includes Matching Key Terms, Review Questions, Insights to Hands-On Chemistry activities, Exercises, Suggested Readings and Websites, and, for select chapters, Problems and Discussion Topics.
About this product: The exciting, first-hand account of heroism and daring sabotage during the Nazi occupation of Norway. The outcome of World War II could very possibly have been much different if Knut Haukelid and his small, but courageous band of Norwegian soldiers had not been successful in sabotaging the Nazis supply of heavy water. The heavy water produced at a facility in occupied Norway was vital to Hitlers race with the United States to develop the atomic bomb. Knut Haukelids Skis Against The Atom gives the reader an intimate account of the valiant and self-sacrificing service that the not-to-be-subdued Norwegians performed for the whole free world.
About this product: Spectra of Atoms and Molecules, 2nd Edition is designed to introduce advanced undergraduates and new graduate students to the vast field of spectroscopy. Of interest to chemists, physicists, astronomers, atmospheric scientists, and engineers, it emphasizes the fundamental principles of spectroscopy with its primary goal being to teach students how to interpret spectra. The book includes a clear presentation of group theory needed for understanding the material and a large number of excellent problems are found at the end of each chapter. In keeping with the visual aspects of the course, the author provides a large number of diagrams and spectra specifically recorded for this book. Topics such as molecular symmetry, matrix representation of groups, quantum mechanics, and group theory are discussed. Analyses are made of atomic, rotational, vibrational, and electronic spectra. Spectra of Atoms and Molecules, 2nd Edition has been updated to include the 1998 revision of physical constants, and conforms more closely to the recommended practice for the use of symbols and units. This new edition has also added material pertaining to line intensities, which can be confusing due to the dozens of different units used to report line and band strengths. Another major change is in author Peter Bernath's discussion of the Raman effect and light scattering, where the standard theoretical treatment is now included. Aimed at new students of spectroscopy regardless of their background, Spectra of Atoms and Molecules will help demystify spectroscopy by showing the necessary steps in a derivation.
About this product: Anybody who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it. Niels Bohr's dictum bears witness to the bewildering impact of quantum theory, flying in the face of classical physics and dramatically transforming scientists' outlook on our relationship with the material world. In this book Paul Davies interviews eight physicists involved in debating and testing the theory, with radically different views of its significance.
BOOK
