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ISSN
1729-5254
Book Reviews
Visions of Discovery
New Light
on Physics, Cosmology, and Consciousness
Edited by:
- Raymond Y. Chiao, University of California,
Merced
- Marvin L. Cohen, University
of California, Berkeley
- Anthony J. Leggett, University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign
- William D. Phillips, Joint Quantum Institute
- Charles L. Harper, Jr., American University
System and Vision-Five.com Consulting
- Cambridge University Press
World-leading researchers, including
Nobel Laureates and rising young stars, examine some of the most important
and fundamental questions at the forefronts of modern science, philosophy,
and theology, taking into account recent discoveries from a range of fields.
This fascinating book is ideal for anyone seeking answers to deep questions
about the universe and human life. The remarkable career of Charles H.
Townes, inventor of the maser and laser for which he shared the 1964 Nobel
Prize in Physics, has spanned seven decades. His interests have ranged from
the origin of the Universe to the structure of molecules, always focusing on
the nature of human life. Honouring his work, this book explores the most
basic questions of science, philosophy, and the nature of existence: How did
the Universe begin? Why do the fundamental constants of nature have the
values they do? What is human consciousness, and do we have free will?
It is an unmissible book to make the point on what the
physicists? conception of nature means today. In addition to the traditional
expected topics, also: formal aspects of the ?Everything Theory?, Mesoscopic Middle-Way, New Directions for Observational
Cosmology, Complexity and Emergence, Life, Brai and
Consciousness. Ignazio Licata
Information and the Nature of Reality
From Physics to Metaphysics
Edited by:
- Paul Davies, Arizona State University
- Niels Henrik Gregersen, University of Copenhagen
Cambridge University Press
Many scientists regard mass and energy as
the primary currency of nature. In recent years, however, the concept of
information has gained importance. Why? In this book, eminent scientists,
philosophers and theologians chart various aspects of information, from
quantum information to biological and digital information, in order to
understand how nature works. Beginning with an historical treatment of the
topic, the book also examines physical and biological approaches to
information, and its philosophical, theological and ethical implications.
MORE AND DIFFERENT
Notes from a Thoughtful Curmudgeon
by P W Anderson (Princeton
University, USA)
400 pp.
Us 78/ £ 51, may 2011
World Scientific
This is that rare book which may stimulate the reader into seeing the
future, present and past of science in a new light. Philip Anderson is not
only the most influential and original scientist in the second half of the
20th century in condensed matter physics, but also happens to be one who
thinks deeply and broadly, and writes beautifully and vividly. It is of
inestimable value especially to those curious about the scientific enterprise
and possibly interested in contributing to it. The book title is a twist on
an Andersonian phrase which has become a modern
mantra.?
T V Ramakrishnan
Banaras Hindu University, India
From Current Algebra to Quantum Chromodynamics
A
Case for Structural Realism
- Tian Yu Cao,
Boston University
The advent of quantum chromodynamics
(QCD) in the early 1970s was one of the most important events in
twentieth-century science. This book examines the conceptual steps that were
crucial to the rise of QCD, placing them in historical context against the
background of debates that were ongoing between the bootstrap approach and
composite modeling, and between mathematical and
realistic conceptions of quarks. It explains the origins of QCD in current
algebra and its development through high-energy experiments, model-building,
mathematical analysis and conceptual synthesis. Addressing a range of complex
physical, philosophical and historiographical
issues in detail, this book will interest graduate students and researchers
in physics and in the history and philosophy of science.
Advances in Classical Field Theory
eISBN: 978-1-60805-195-3, 2011
Editor:
Asher Yahalom, Ariel
University Center of Samaria
Classical field theory is employed by
physicists to describe a wide variety of physical phenomena. These include
electromagnetism, fluid dynamics, gravitation and quantum mechanics. The
central entity of field theory is the field which is usually a multi component
function of space and time. Those multi component functions are usually
grouped together as vector fields as in the case in electromagnetic theory
and fluid dynamics, in other cases they are grouped as tensors as in theories
of gravitation and yet in other cases they are grouped as complex functions
as in the case of quantum mechanics. In order to know the value of the field
one needs to solve a set of coupled partial differential equations with given
boundary and initial conditions.
The book covers a selection of recent
advances in classical field theory involving electromagnetism, fluid
dynamics, gravitation and quantum mechanics.
Advances in Classical Field Theory will
benefit readers by saving them the effort to read through numerous journal
articles which would be needed to obtain a coherent picture of classical
field theory otherwise. The book is unique in its aim and scope and is not
similar to any existing publication.
Copyright
© 2003-2011 Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics (EJTP)
All
rights reserved
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