Cosmic Numbers: The Numbers That Define Our Universe
James D. Stein - 2011
We start counting our fingers and toes and end up balancing checkbooks and calculating risk. So powerful is the appeal of numbers that many people ascribe to them a mystical significance. Other numbers go beyond the supernatural, working to explain our universe and how it behaves. In Cosmic Numbers, mathematics professor James D. Stein traces the discovery, evolution, and interrelationships of the numbers that define our world. Everyone knows about the speed of light and absolute zero, but numbers like Boltzmann’s constant and the Chandrasekhar limit are not as well known, and they do far more than one might imagine: They tell us how this world began and what the future holds. Much more than a gee-whiz collection of facts and figures, Cosmic Numbers illuminates why particular numbers are so importantboth to the scientist and to the rest of us.
Complexity: A Guided Tour
Melanie Mitchell - 2009
Based on her work at the Santa Fe Institute and drawing on its interdisciplinary strategies, Mitchell brings clarity to the workings of complexity across a broad range of biological, technological, and social phenomena, seeking out the general principles or laws that apply to all of them. Richly illustrated, Complexity: A Guided Tour--winner of the 2010 Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science--offers a wide-ranging overview of the ideas underlying complex systems science, the current research at the forefront of this field, and the prospects for its contribution to solving some of the most important scientific questions of our time.
Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness
Bruce Rosenblum - 2006
Can you believe that physical reality is created by our observation of it? Physicists were forced to this conclusion, the quantum enigma, by what they observed in their laboratories.Trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics and found, to their embarrassment, that their theory intimately connects consciousness with the physical world. Quantum Enigma explores what that implies and why some founders of the theory became the foremost objectors to it. Schr�dinger showed that it absurdly allowed a cat to be in a superposition simultaneously dead and alive. Einstein derided the theory's spooky interactions. With Bell's Theorem, we now know Schr�dinger's superpositions and Einstein's spooky interactions indeed exist.Authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain all of this in non-technical terms with help from some fanciful stories and bits about the theory's developers. They present the quantum mystery honestly, with an emphasis on what is and what is not speculation.Physics' encounter with consciousness is its skeleton in the closet. Because the authors open the closet and examine the skeleton, theirs is a controversial book. Quantum Enigma's description of the experimental quantum facts, and the quantum theory explaining them, is undisputed. Interpreting what it all means, however, is controversial.Every interpretation of quantum physics encounters consciousness. Rosenblum and Kuttner therefore turn to exploring consciousness itself--and encounter quantum physics. Free will and anthropic principles become crucial issues, and the connection of consciousness with the cosmos suggested by some leading quantum cosmologists is mind-blowing.Readers are brought to a boundary where the particular expertise of physicists is no longer a sure guide. They will find, instead, the facts and hints provided by quantum mechanics and the ability to speculate for themselves.
Signals and Systems
A. Anand Kumar - 2011
Written with student centred, pedagogically driven approach, the text provides a self-contained introduction to the theory of signals and systems. This book looks at the concepts of systems, and also examines signals and the way that signals interact with physical systems. It covers topics ranging from basic signals and systems to signal analysis, properties of continuous-time Fourier transforms including Fourier transforms of standard signals, signal transmission through linear systems, relation between convolution and correlation of signals, sampling theorems and techniques, and transform analysis of LTI systems. All the solved and unsolved problems in this book are designed to illustrate the topics in a clear way.
Electrical Engineering 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in School...but Probably Didn't
Darren Ashby - 2005
Sections on tools and troubleshooting give ...Download Link : readbux.com/download?i=0123860016 0123860016Electrical Engineering 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in School...but Probably Didn't PDF by Darren AshbyRead Electrical Engineering 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in School...but Probably Didn't PDF from Newnes,Darren AshbyDownload Darren Ashby's PDF E-book Electrical Engineering 101: Everything You Should Have Learned in School...but Probably Didn't
Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life
Albert-László Barabási - 2002
Albert-László Barabási, the nation’s foremost expert in the new science of networks and author of Bursts, takes us on an intellectual adventure to prove that social networks, corporations, and living organisms are more similar than previously thought. Grasping a full understanding of network science will someday allow us to design blue-chip businesses, stop the outbreak of deadly diseases, and influence the exchange of ideas and information. Just as James Gleick and the Erdos–Rényi model brought the discovery of chaos theory to the general public, Linked tells the story of the true science of the future and of experiments in statistical mechanics on the internet, all vital parts of what would eventually be called the Barabási–Albert model.
Great Formulas Explained - Physics, Mathematics, Economics
Metin Bektas - 2013
Each formula is explained gently and in great detail, including a discussion of all the quanitites involved and examples that will make clear how and where to apply it. On top of that, there are plenty of illustrations that support the explanations and make the reading experience even more vivid.The book covers a wide range of diverse topics: acoustics, explosions, hurricanes, pipe flow, car traffic, gravity, satellites, roller coasters, flight, conservation laws, trigonometry, equations, inflation, loans, and many more. From the author of "Statistical Snacks" and "Business Math Basics - Practical and Simple".
Calculus: The Classic Edition
Earl W. Swokowski - 1991
Groundbreaking in every way when first published, this book is a simple, straightforward, direct calculus text. It's popularity is directly due to its broad use of applications, the easy-to-understand writing style, and the wealth of examples and exercises which reinforce conceptualization of the subject matter. The author wrote this text with three objectives in mind. The first was to make the book more student-oriented by expanding discussions and providing more examples and figures to help clarify concepts. To further aid students, guidelines for solving problems were added in many sections of the text. The second objective was to stress the usefulness of calculus by means of modern applications of derivatives and integrals. The third objective, to make the text as accurate and error-free as possible, was accomplished by a careful examination of the exposition, combined with a thorough checking of each example and exercise.
A Shortcut Through Time: The Path to the Quantum Computer
George Johnson - 2003
Such a device would operate under a different set of physical laws: The laws of quantum mechanics. Johnson gently leads the curious outsider through the surprisingly simple ideas needed to understand this dream, discussing the current state of the revolution, and ultimately assessing the awesome power these machines could have to change our world.
Astronomy
Andrew Fraknoi - 2012
The book begins with relevant scientific fundamentals and progresses through an exploration of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. The Astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and non-technical explanations, and rich illustrations. Mathematics is included in a flexible manner to meet the needs of individual instructors.
Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
David A. Mindell - 2008
Neil Armstrong responded by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control. He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft, relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph of human over machine. In Digital Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship between humans and computers in the Apollo program. In each of the six Apollo landings, the astronaut in command seized control from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Mindell recounts the story of astronauts' desire to control their spacecraft in parallel with the history of the Apollo Guidance Computer. From the early days of aviation through the birth of spaceflight, test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than "spam in a can" despite the automatic controls, digital computers, and software developed by engineers.Digital Apollo examines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut interviews, and NASA's extensive archives. Mindell's exploration of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight -- a lunar landing -- traces and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation in space. The results have implications for any venture in which human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.
The Nature of Space and Time
Stephen Hawking - 1996
But was he right? Can the quantum theory of fields and Einstein's general theory of relativity, the two most accurate and successful theories in all of physics, be united in a single quantum theory of gravity? Can quantum and cosmos ever be combined? On this issue, two of the world's most famous physicists--Stephen Hawking ("A Brief History of Time") and Roger Penrose ("The Emperor's New Mind" and "Shadows of the Mind")--disagree. Here they explain their positions in a work based on six lectures with a final debate, all originally presented at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge.How could quantum gravity, a theory that could explain the earlier moments of the big bang and the physics of the enigmatic objects known as black holes, be constructed? Why does our patch of the universe look just as Einstein predicted, with no hint of quantum effects in sight? What strange quantum processes can cause black holes to evaporate, and what happens to all the information that they swallow? Why does time go forward, not backward?In this book, the two opponents touch on all these questions. Penrose, like Einstein, refuses to believe that quantum mechanics is a final theory. Hawking thinks otherwise, and argues that general relativity simply cannot account for how the universe began. Only a quantum theory of gravity, coupled with the no-boundary hypothesis, can ever hope to explain adequately what little we can observe about our universe. Penrose, playing the realist to Hawking's positivist, thinks that the universe is unbounded and will expand forever. The universe can be understood, he argues, in terms of the geometry of light cones, the compression and distortion of spacetime, and by the use of twistor theory. With the final debate, the reader will come to realize how much Hawking and Penrose diverge in their opinions of the ultimate quest to combine quantum mechanics and relativity, and how differently they have tried to comprehend the incomprehensible.
Computational Complexity
Sanjeev Arora - 2007
Requiring essentially no background apart from mathematical maturity, the book can be used as a reference for self-study for anyone interested in complexity, including physicists, mathematicians, and other scientists, as well as a textbook for a variety of courses and seminars. More than 300 exercises are included with a selected hint set.
Fluid Mechanics
Pijush K. Kundu - 1990
New to this third edition are expanded coverage of such important topics as surface boundary interfaces, improved discussions of such physical and mathematical laws as the Law of Biot and Savart and the Euler Momentum Integral. A very important new section on Computational Fluid Dynamics has been added for the very first time to this edition. Expanded and improved end-of-chapter problems will facilitate the teaching experience for students and instrutors alike. This book remains one of the most comprehensive and useful texts on fluid mechanics available today, with applications going from engineering to geophysics, and beyond to biology and general science. * Ample, useful end-of-chapter problems.* Excellent Coverage of Computational Fluid Dynamics.* Coverage of Turbulent Flows.* Solutions Manual available.
The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos
Robert P. Kirshner - 2002
One of the world's leading astronomers, Robert Kirshner, takes readers inside a lively research team on the quest that led them to an extraordinary cosmological discovery: the expansion of the universe is accelerating under the influence of a dark energy that makes space itself expand. In addition to sharing the story of this exciting discovery, Kirshner also brings the science up-to-date in a new epilogue. He explains how the idea of an accelerating universe--once a daring interpretation of sketchy data--is now the standard assumption in cosmology today.This measurement of dark energy--a quality of space itself that causes cosmic acceleration--points to a gaping hole in our understanding of fundamental physics. In 1917, Einstein proposed the cosmological constant to explain a static universe. When observations proved that the universe was expanding, he cast this early form of dark energy aside. But recent observations described first-hand in this book show that the cosmological constant--or something just like it--dominates the universe's mass and energy budget and determines its fate and shape.Warned by Einstein's blunder, and contradicted by the initial results of a competing research team, Kirshner and his colleagues were reluctant to accept their own result. But, convinced by evidence built on their hard-earned understanding of exploding stars, they announced their conclusion that the universe is accelerating in February 1998. Other lines of inquiry and parallel supernova research now support a new synthesis of a cosmos dominated by dark energy but also containing several forms of dark matter. We live in an extravagant universe with a surprising number of essential ingredients: the real universe we measure is not the simplest one we could imagine.