Astronomer John Barrow takes an intriguing look at the limits of science, who argues that there are things that are ultimately unknowable, undoable, or unreachable.
What conceptual blind spot kept the ancient Greeks (unlike the Indians and Maya) from developing a concept of zero? Why did St. Augustine equate nothingness with the Devil? What tortuous means did 17th-century scientists employ in their attempts to create a vacuum? And why do contemporary quantum physicists believe that the void is actually seething with subatomic activity? You’ll find the answers in this dizzyingly erudite and elegantly explained book by the English cosmologist John D. Barrow. Ranging through mathematics, theology, philosophy, literature, particle physics, and cosmology, The Book of Nothing explores the enduring hold that vacuity has exercised on the human imagination. Combining high-wire speculation with a wealth of reference that takes in Freddy Mercury and Shakespeare alongside Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, the result is a fascinating excursion to the vanishing point of our knowledge.
The Holy Grail of modern scientists is “The Theory of Everything,” which will contain all that can be known about the Universe — the magic formula that Einstein spent his life searching for and failed to find. In this elegant and exciting book, first published in 1990, John Barrow challenges the quest for ultimate explanation. The New Scientist says of The Theory of Everything: [It is] “an exhilarating journey that cuts across a vast terrain of conceptual landmarks: from physics to metaphysics, mathematics to philosophy, and from mythology to theology . . . without a doubt an important, engaging and highly literate book.”
In The Artful Universe (OUP, 1995) John D. Barrow explored the close ties between our aesthetic appreciation and the basic nature of the Universe, challenging the commonly held view that our sense of beauty is entirely free and unfettered. It looked at some of the unexpected ways in which the structure of the Universe, its laws, its environments, and above all its underlying mathematical structure imprints itself on our thoughts, our aesthetic preferences, and our views about the nature of things. The exploration embraced topics such as perspective; the size of things and the origins of aesthetics; computer art (posing the question: is it art?); and the origins of our susceptibility to music. Life sales of the hardback totalled just over 25,000 copies. The study of the evolutionary and mathematical underpinnings of our aesthetic sense, and our understanding of the nature and scale of the universe has grown over the past decade, with developments in evolutionary psychology, and in cosmology. This paperback of the revised edition (OUP, 2005) contains eight new sections covering the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets, fashionable postmodernist rejection of science as uncovering objective reality, growing understanding of key ratios appearing in biological relationships, and studies of the underlying mathematical structure of a Pollock painting.
For a thousand years, infinity has proven to be a difficult and illuminating challenge for mathematicians and theologians. It certainly is the strangest idea that humans have ever thought. Where did it come from and what is it telling us about our Universe? Can there actually be infinities? Is matter infinitely divisible into ever-smaller pieces? But infinity is also the place where things happen that don't. All manner of strange paradoxes and fantasies characterize an infinite universe. If our Universe is infinite then an infinite number of exact copies of you are, at this very moment, reading an identical sentence on an identical planet somewhere else in the Universe. Now Infinity is the darling of cutting edge research, the measuring stick used by physicists, cosmologists, and mathematicians to determine the accuracy of their theories. From the paradox of Zeno’s arrow to string theory, Cambridge professor John Barrow takes us on a grand tour of this most elusive of ideas and describes with clarifying subtlety how this subject has shaped, and continues to shape, our very sense of the world in which we live. The Infinite Book is a thoroughly entertaining and completely accessible account of the biggest subject of them all–infinity.
Reality as we know it is bound by a set of constants—numbers and values that dictate the strengths of forces like gravity, the speed of light, and the masses of elementary particles. In The Constants of Nature, Cambridge Professor and bestselling author John D.Barrow takes us on an exploration of these governing principles. Drawing on physicists such as Einstein and Planck, Barrow illustrates with stunning clarity our dependence on the steadfastness of these principles. But he also suggests that the basic forces may have been radically different during the universe’s infancy, and suggests that they may continue a deeply hidden evolution. Perhaps most tantalizingly, Barrow theorizes about the realities that might one day be found in a universe with different parameters than our own.
There is no more profound, enduring or fascinating question in all of science than that of how time, space, and matter began. Now John Barrow, who has been at the cutting edge of research in this area and has written extensively about it, guides us on a journey to the beginning of time, into a world of temperatures and densities so high that we cannot recreate them in a laboratory. With new insights, Barrow draws us into the latest speculative theories about the nature of time and the “inflationary universe,” explains “wormholes,” showing how they bear upon the fact of our own existence, and considers whether there was a “singularity” at the inception of the universe. Here is a treatment so up-to-date and intellectually rich, deaing with ideas and speculation at the farthest frontier of science, that neither novice nor expert will want to miss what Barrow has to say. The Origin of the Universe is ”In the Beginning” for beginners—the latest information from a first-rate scientist and science writer.
A major contribution to our understanding of the basic laws of the universe -- from the author of The Book of Nothing. The constants of nature are the fundamental laws of physics that apply throughout the universe: gravity, velocity of light, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. They encode the deepest secrets of the universe, and express at once our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Their existence has taught us the profound truth that nature abounds with unseen regularities. Yet while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constants, our frustrating inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we have still to learn about inner workings of the universe. What is the ultimate status of these constants of nature? Are they truly constant? And are there other universes where they are different? John D. Barrow, one of our foremost mathematicians and cosmologists, discusses the latest thinking about these and many more dramatic issues in this accessible and thought-provoking book. "From the Hardcover edition.
Barrow's wonderfully informative book should charm both lovers and haters of mathematics."-Sheldon Lee Glashow, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics --
A math professor shows how math and physics can offer unexpected insights into the world of sports, from the g-forces experienced by gymnasts during the "giant swing" maneuver to an explanation as to why left-handed boxers have a strategic advantage.
An entertaining and illuminating collection of 100 surprising connections between math and the arts. At first glance, the worlds of math and the arts might not seem like comfortable neighbors. But as mathematician John D. Barrow points out, they have a strong and natural affinity—after all, math is the study of all patterns, and the world of the arts is rich with pattern. Barrow whisks us through 100 thought-provoking and often whimsical intersections between math and many arts, from the golden ratios of Mondrian’s rectangles and the curious fractal-like nature of Pollock’s drip paintings to ballerinas’ gravity-defying leaps and the next generation of monkeys on typewriters tackling Shakespeare. For those of us with our feet planted more firmly on the ground, Barrow also wields everyday equations to reveal how many guards are needed in an art gallery or where you should stand to look at sculptures. From music and drama to literature and the visual arts, Barrow’s witty and accessible observations are sure to spark the imaginations of math nerds and art aficionados alike.
Eminent cosmologist Professor John D. Barrow uses simple mathematics to explain one hundred of life's most perplexing questions. What can maths tell us about art? Professor John Barrow sheds light on the mysteries of the world of the arts. At the very heart, he tells us, mathematics and the arts are not so far removed. He takes us on a tour of the world of the arts through 100 steps, guiding us through art forms as various as sculpture, literature, architecture and dance, and revealing what maths can tell us about them. Find out: * Why diamonds sparkle * How many words Shakespeare knew * Why the shower is the best place to sing * Why an egg is egg-shapped * How to shatter a wine glass with your singing voice * Why Charles Dickens led a crusade against maths Enlivening the everyday with a new way of looking at the world, this book will enrich your understanding of the maths and the arts that we are surrounded by in our day-to-day lives.
* How can sprinter Usain Bolt break his world record without running any faster? * Why do high-jumpers use the Fosbury Flop? * What's the best strategy for taking penalties in football? * What statistical advantage do left-handed boxers have over their right-handed opponents? * And did you know that gymnasts can experience stronger g-forces than roller-coaster designers are allowed to create? John D. Barrow shows how maths can give us surprising and enlivening insights into the world of sports - essential reading for competitors, armchair enthusiasts and maths-lovers alike.
If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is.' John von Neumann Mathematics can tell you things about the world that can't be learned in any other way. This hugely informative and wonderfully entertaining Brain Shot answers a few essential questions about existence. It unravels the knotty, clarifies the conundrums and sheds light into dark corners. From winning the lottery, financial investment with Time Travellers and the weirdest football match ever to Sherlock Holmes, Elections, game theory, drunks, packing for your holiday and the madness of crowds; from chaos to infinity and everything in between, Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know has all the answers! BRAIN SHOTS: The byte-sized guide to all the things you didn't know you didn't know...
Barrow is emerging as the Stephen Jay Gould of the mathematical sciences. These fluent and erudite essays should further enhance his reputation. Professor Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal
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