The concept of time has fascinated humanity throughout recorded history, and it remains one of the biggest mysteries in science and philosophy. Time is clearly one of the fundamental building blocks o
Hard science fiction’s grand master delivers the stunning conclusion to his Orthogonal trilogy.In a universe where the laws of physics and the speed of light are completely alien to our own, the trave
Together for the first time in a single volume, The Complete Arrows Trilogy is the adventure that launched Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey’s expansive fantasy realm beloved by generations of readers.Talia,
Faced with divided advisers, limited options, contradictory evidence, and the profound global consequences of their choices, how do presidents reach a decision in a time of crisis? As a speechwriter a
While experience tells us that time flows from the past to the present and into the future, a number of philosophical and physical objections exist to this commonsense view of dynamic time. In an attempt to make sense of this conundrum, philosophers and physicists are forced to confront fascinating questions, such as: Can effects precede causes? Can one travel in time? Can the expansion of the Universe or the process of measurement in quantum mechanics define a direction in time? In this book, researchers from both physics and philosophy attempt to answer these issues in an interesting, yet rigorous way. This fascinating book will be of interest to physicists and philosophers of science and educated general readers interested in the direction of time.
This exploration of Western attitudes toward time traces these attitudes from ancient Greece through the Christian Middle Ages, with nearly half of the exposition devoted to modern scientific concepts
This book is an introduction to the arrow of time in thermodynamics and cosmology, and develops a new quantum measurement theory in which the foregoing concepts play an essential role. The first chapter is an overview and 'route map' and is followed by an exposition of irreversibility, the expansion of the Universe and other arrows of time. The author examines the thesis that the thermodynamic arrow follows the cosmological one, and in doing so extends traditional statistical mechanics. The second part of the book presents a new theory of quantum measurement and possible experimental tests. This theory incorporates the extended statistical mechanics in an essential way. The last chapter discusses open experimental and theoretical issues. Written in a lively and accessible style, the text is liberally sprinkled with exercises. Each chapter ends with a resources section that includes notes, further reading, and technical appendices.
This book is an introduction to the arrow of time in thermodynamics and cosmology, and develops a new quantum measurement theory in which the foregoing concepts play an essential role. The first chapter is an overview and 'route map' and is followed by an exposition of irreversibility, the expansion of the Universe and other arrows of time. The author examines the thesis that the thermodynamic arrow follows the cosmological one, and in doing so extends traditional statistical mechanics. The second part of the book presents a new theory of quantum measurement and possible experimental tests. This theory incorporates the extended statistical mechanics in an essential way. The last chapter discusses open experimental and theoretical issues. Written in a lively and accessible style, the text is liberally sprinkled with exercises. Each chapter ends with a resources section that includes notes, further reading, and technical appendices.
In the world about us, the past is distinctly different from the future. More precisely, we say that the processes going on in the world about us are asymmetric in time or display an arrow of time. Yet this manifest fact of our experience is particularly difficult to explain in terms of the fundamental laws of physics. Newton's laws, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, Einstein's theory of gravity, etc., make no distinction between past and future - they are time-symmetric. Reconciliation of these profoundly conflicting facts is the topic of this volume. It is an interdisciplinary survey of the variety of interconnected phenomena defining arrows of time, and their possible explanations in terms of underlying time-symmetric laws of physics.
Once upon a time, an Apache story tells us, the trickster called Coyote killed a bear so that he could make a suitable quiver for his magical arrows. You shouldn't have done that, someone warned Coyot
Poetry. "His lines are clouds of love, piercing the sky with enormous empathy, rolling in the azure, torrents of passion, and are arrows at the same time, reaching a peak where they break, crying, cle
Each double spread explores a different ecosystem: the kitchen garden, woodland, seashore, savannah, jungle, polar, and marine systems. On the left-hand page, color-coded diagrams and arrows show the different food chains that exist within each ecosystem. On the right-hand page captivating full-page lifelike illustrations show the ecosystems in all their detail. Readers use a “magic flashlight” (in the form of a piece of card) to “light up” and explore these darkened transparent pages, enabling them to focus on one detail at a time.
Historian Alfred W. Crosby looks at hard, accurate throwing and the manipulation of fire as unique human capabilities. Humans began throwing rocks in prehistory and then progressed to javelins, atlatls, bows and arrows. We learned to make fire by friction and used it to cook, drive game, burn out rivals, and alter landscapes. In historic times we invented catapults, trebuchets, and such flammable liquids as Greek Fire. About 1,000 years ago we invented gunpowder, which accelerated the rise of empires and the advance of European imperialism. In the 20th century, gunpowder weaponry enabled us to wage the most destructive wars of all time, peaking at the end of World War II with the V-2 and atomic bomb. Today, we have turned our projectile talents to space travel which may make it possible for our species to migrate to other bodies of our solar system and even other star systems.
