The Physical Universe

The Physical Universe

Author: Frank Shu

Publisher: University Science Books

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 610

ISBN-13: 9780935702057

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"This is a truly astonishing book, invaluable for anyone with an interest in astronomy." Physics Bulletin "Just the thing for a first year university science course." Nature "This is a beautiful book in both concept and execution." Sky & Telescope


The Physical Universe

The Physical Universe

Author: Konrad Bates Krauskopf

Publisher:

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 755

ISBN-13: 9780070357396

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-The aim of this text is to present, as simply and clearly as possible, the essentials of physics, chemistry, geology, and astronomy.


Fine-Tuning in the Physical Universe

Fine-Tuning in the Physical Universe

Author: David Sloan

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-10-29

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 1108484549

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An overview of fine-tuning arguments in physics, for students and researchers in physics and philosophy.


How Can the Human Mind Occur in the Physical Universe?

How Can the Human Mind Occur in the Physical Universe?

Author: John R. Anderson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-08-28

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 0199741263

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"The question for me is how can the human mind occur in the physical universe. We now know that the world is governed by physics. We now understand the way biology nestles comfortably within that. The issue is how will the mind do that as well."--Allen Newell, December 4, 1991, Carnegie Mellon University The argument John Anderson gives in this book was inspired by the passage above, from the last lecture by one of the pioneers of cognitive science. Newell describes what, for him, is the pivotal question of scientific inquiry, and Anderson gives an answer that is emerging from the study of brain and behavior. Humans share the same basic cognitive architecture with all primates, but they have evolved abilities to exercise abstract control over cognition and process more complex relational patterns. The human cognitive architecture consists of a set of largely independent modules associated with different brain regions. In this book, Anderson discusses in detail how these various modules can combine to produce behaviors as varied as driving a car and solving an algebraic equation, but focuses principally on two of the modules: the declarative and procedural. The declarative module involves a memory system that, moment by moment, attempts to give each person the most appropriate possible window into his or her past. The procedural module involves a central system that strives to develop a set of productions that will enable the most adaptive response from any state of the modules. Newell argued that the answer to his question must take the form of a cognitive architecture, and Anderson organizes his answer around the ACT-R architecture, but broadens it by bringing in research from all areas of cognitive science, including how recent work in brain imaging maps onto the cognitive architecture.


A History of the Circle

A History of the Circle

Author: Ernest Zebrowski

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9780813528984

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Ranging from ancient times to twentieth-century theories of time and space, looks at how exploring the circle has lead to increased knowledge about the physical universe.


Understanding the Universe

Understanding the Universe

Author: James B. Seaborn

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780387982953

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Intended for undergraduate non-science majors, satisfying a general education requirement or seeking an elective in natural science, this is a physics text, but with the emphasis on topics and applications in astronomy. The perspective is thus different from most undergraduate astronomy courses: rather than discussing what is known about the heavens, this text develops the principles of physics so as to illuminate what we see in the heavens. The fundamental principles governing the behaviour of matter and energy are thus used to study the solar system, the structure and evolution of stars, and the early universe. The first part of the book develops Newtonian mechanics towards an understanding of celestial mechanics, while chapters on electromagnetism and elementary quantum theory lay the foundation of the modern theory of the structure of matter and the role of radiation in the constitution of stars. Kinetic theory and nuclear physics provide the basis for a discussion of stellar structure and evolution, and an examination of red shifts and other observational data provide a basis for discussions of cosmology and cosmogony.


Questioning the Universe

Questioning the Universe

Author: Ahren Sadoff

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2008-12-16

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1420082590

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WINNER 2009 CHOICE AWARD OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE! The typical introduction to physics leaves readers with the impression that physics is about 30 different, unconnected topics such as motion, forces, gravity, electricity, light, heat, energy, and atoms. More often than not, these readers are left to conclude that physics is mostly about boring,


A Different Universe

A Different Universe

Author: Robert B Laughlin

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2008-07-31

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0786722185

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A Nobel-winning physicist argues that fundamental physical laws are found not in the world of atoms, but in the macroscopic world around us In this age of superstring theories and Big Bang cosmology, we're used to thinking of the unknown as impossibly distant from our everyday lives. But in A Different Universe, Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin argues that the scientific frontier is right under our fingers. Instead of looking for ultimate theories, Laughlin considers the world of emergent properties-meaning the properties, such as the hardness and shape of a crystal, that result from the organization of large numbers of atoms. Laughlin shows us how the most fundamental laws of physics are in fact emergent. A Different Universe is a truly mind-bending book that shows us why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change.


Unifying the Universe

Unifying the Universe

Author: Hasan S. Padamsee

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2002-11-05

Total Pages: 708

ISBN-13: 9780750307581

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Unifying the Universe: The Physics of Heaven and Earth provides a solid background in basic physics. With a humanistic perspective, it shows how science is significant for more than its technological consequences. The book includes clear and well-planned links to the arts and philosophies of relevant historical periods to bring science and the humanities together.


The Human World in the Physical Universe

The Human World in the Physical Universe

Author: Nicholas Maxwell

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 9780742512269

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How is it possible for the world as we experience it to exist embedded in the physical universe? How can there be sensory qualities, consciousness, freedom, science and art, friendship, love, justice--all that which gives meaning and value to life--if the world really is more or less as modern science tells us it is? This is the problem that is tackled by this book. The solution proposed is that physics describes only a selected aspect of all that exists--that aspect which determines the way events unfold. Sensory qualities, inner experiences, consciousness, meaning and value, all these exist but lie beyond the scope of physics, and of that part of science that can be reduced to physics. Furthermore, these human features of the world are to be explained and understood, not scientifically, but "personalistically," a kind of understanding distinct from, and not reducible to, science. This view that the world is riddled with what may be called "double comprehensibility" leads to a proposed solution to the philosophical mind/body problem, and to the problem of free will; it leads to a reinterpretation of Darwin's theory of evolution, and to an account of the evolution of consciousness and free will. After a discussion of the location of consciousness in the brain, the book concludes with a proposal as to how academic inquiry might be changed so that it becomes a kind of inquiry rationally designed to help humanity create a more civilized human world in the physical universe.