From microcosm to cosmos -- The Copernicus Complex -- The ten-billion-year spree -- Neighbors -- A grand illusion -- Sugar and spice -- Hunters of the cosmic plain -- There's something about here -- (In)Significance.
In The Zoomable Universe, the award-winning astrobiologist Caleb Scharf and the acclaimed artist Ron Miller take us on an epic tour through all known scales of reality, from the largest possible magnitude to the smallest. Drawing on cutting-edge science, they begin at the limits of the observable universe, a scale spanning 10 27 metersabout 93 billion light-years. And they end in the subatomic realm, at 10 -35 meters, where the fabric of space-time itself confounds all known rules of physics. In between are galaxies, stars and planets, oceans and continents, plants and animals, microorganisms, atoms, and much, much more.
“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.” —Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Your information has a life of its own, and it’s using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn’t just something we produce; it’s the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.
This book: Provides extensive grounding in key issues of astrophysics, chemistry, biology and geophysics; over 150 images and illustrations; exercises for each chapter, ranging from straightforward calculation problems to more far-ranging research-oriented exercises; an online component for users that includes new exercises and a continually updated blog of late-breaking scientific news items, fully cross referenced with the book; and extensive bibliographies for each chapter."--BOOK JACKET.
Offering a sweeping tour of fantastic physics and cosmic history, a view of the most fearsome places in the universe that finally asks what it will take to see the event horizon of a black hole.
A New Scientist Top Ten Books of 2012. We have long understood black holes to be where the universe as we know it comes to an end - huge bodies so destructive that not even light can escape their deadly power. In Gravity's Engines, however, renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf reveals an entirely new, and crucially important, side to these mysterious chasms. The latest research has located super-sized black holes, often billions of times more massive than the Sun, which have the power to rearrange the cosmos and control entire galaxies of stars. Engaging with our deepest questions about our origins, Scharf shows how, without these black holes, life in the universe could not exist. 'This book should be on your shelf if you want to know why our Universe is the way it is.' Focus 'Caleb Scharf is a lively and eloquent writer as well as a fine scientist. Gravity's Engines presents topics at the frontiers of our understanding which have not hitherto been presented so clearly to a general readership.' Sir Martin Rees 'Using rich language and a brilliant command of metaphor, Scharf weaves a wonderfully detailed tapestry of what modern astronomy is all about.' Nature 'Scharf serves as an appealing tour guide to the eerie, infinite corridors of the cosmos in which we reside.' Prospect
We have long understood black holes to be the points at which the universe as we know it comes to an end - mysterious chasms so destructive and unforgiving that not even light can escape their deadly power. Recent research, however, has led to a cascade of new discoveries that have revealed an entirely new, and crucially important, side to black holes. Super-sized versions, often billions of times more massive than the Sun, lurk in every galaxy in the universe. And these chasms don't just vacuum up everything around them; they also spit out huge clouds of matter and energy. In Gravity's Engines, renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf reveals how these giant black holes profoundly rearrange the cosmos that surrounds them, controlling the number of stars in the galaxies and, in turn, the entire universe. With lucidity and elegance, Scharf traces the two hundred year history of our attempts to discover the nature of black holes, from an English academic turned clergyman in the late 1700's who first identified these 'dark stars' to Einstein and the great revolutions of relativity and quantum mechanics. Engaging with our deepest questions about our origins, he takes us on an intimate journey through our endlessly colourful universe, revealing how the cosmic capacity for life is ultimately governed by - and perhaps could not exist without - black holes.
Embark on a breath-taking, cutting-edge voyage through the enormity of our reality travelling one 'power of ten' or order of magnitude at a time. Inspired by the classic 'Powers of Ten' film and bestselling book by Charles and Ray Eames, the award-winning astrobiologist Caleb Scharf and acclaimed artist Ron Miller guide us from the very edge of the observable universe about 91 billion light years away to the subatomic realm, where the fabric of space-time itself behaves in a way that confounds all the rules of physics we currently know. Gorgeously designed and visually inspiring, The Zoomable Universe takes a truly unique approach toward explaining our place in the universe, charting an unforgettable course through galaxies, black holes, solar systems, stars and planets, oceans and continents, plants and animals, micro-organisms, atoms, quantum fields and much, much more. Stops along the way all enlivened by Scharf's sparkling prose and original insights into the nature of our universe include the surface of a rogue planet, the back of an elephant, and the contours of a DNA strand. With navigational aids that allow readers to track their progress from one scale to the next, and packed with over 100 original full colour illustrations and infographics, The Zoomable Universe is a whimsical celebration of discovery, a testament to our astounding ability to see beyond our own vantage point and chart a course from the farthest-flung edge of the cosmos to its mind-boggling depths an unforgettable journey that will thrill readers of every age who want to discover more about the incredible reality we inhabit.
Offering a sweeping tour of fantastic physics and cosmic history, a view of the most fearsome places in the universe that finally asks what it will take to see the event horizon of a black hole.
“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.” —Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Your information has a life of its own, and it’s using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn’t just something we produce; it’s the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.
In The Right to Be Present at Trial in International Criminal Law Caleb H. Wheeler analyses how the right to be present is understood by international criminal courts and tribunals in the context of the right to a fair trial.
This book: Provides extensive grounding in key issues of astrophysics, chemistry, biology and geophysics; over 150 images and illustrations; exercises for each chapter, ranging from straightforward calculation problems to more far-ranging research-oriented exercises; an online component for users that includes new exercises and a continually updated blog of late-breaking scientific news items, fully cross referenced with the book; and extensive bibliographies for each chapter."--BOOK JACKET.
Chance, Development, and Aging analyzes a subject that has been largelyignored until now: the sources of individual variations in development and agingthat cannot be attributed to genes or the external environment. And by doing so,this book develops new insight on aging and the individual. Gathering andscrutinizing evidence from diverse sources, the authors examine thosedifferences in individuals that arise during development and those that mightinfluence outcomes of aging. Through their research, they pose a new set ofquestions about the contribution of chance events during development, andalthough chance variations during development are well known within thesub-fields of developmental biology, there has been little recognition of theiraffects on variations in adult form and function. Here, the authors confrontthis issue with a fascinating hypothesis: chance variations in form andfunction, arising through development, affect individual base-line functions andindividual responses to the external environment and so modify outcomes ofaging. This book will undoubtedly benefit gerontologists, geneticists,reproductive biologists, and physiologists, and it will fascinate all thoseinterested in the outcomes of aging.
Featuring extensive references, updated for this paperback edition, Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome constitutes a landmark contribution to biomedicine and the evolutionary biology of aging. To enhance gerontology's focus on human age-related dysfunctions, Caleb E. Finch provides a comparative review of all the phyla of organisms, broadening gerontology to intersect with behavioral, developmental, evolutionary, and molecular biology. By comparing species that have different developmental and life spans, Finch proposes an original typology of senescence from rapid to gradual to negligible, and he provides the first multiphyletic calculations of mortality rate constants.
This book presents a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary study into the various goals assigned to international criminal trials. It starts from the proposition that no hierarchy exists amongst the different goals meaning that trials should strive to achieve all of them in equal measure. This is made difficult by the fact that not all of these goals are compatible and the fulfilment of one may lead to others going unmet. Therefore, a balance must be found if the goals of trial are to be achieved at all. The book posits that fairness should serve as the guiding principle when weighing the different trial goals against one another. It is argued that without fairness international and internationalised criminal courts and tribunals lack legitimacy and without legitimacy they lack effectiveness. The book concludes that international criminal trials must adopt procedures that emphasise fairness to all of the parties and trial participants if they wish to accomplish any of the goals set for them. Each chapter is devoted to identifying and explaining a different trial goal, providing analysis of how that particular goal functions in conjunction with the other goals, and discussing the ways in which a fairness-oriented trial model will help achieve those goals. The book provides a dynamic understanding of the different trial goals and the importance of fairness in the trial process by drawing on research from a variety of different legal disciplines while also incorporating scholarship rooted in criminology, political theory, international relations, and psychology. The book will be essential reading for researchers, academics and professionals working in the areas of International Criminal Law, Public International Law and Transitional Justice.
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