But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.  Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive colour. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.   Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. ‘Maxwell’s demon’ is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.

    And the beauty of it is that it's all approximate!Using Enrico Fermi's theory of approximation, Santos brings the world of numbers into perspective. For puzzle junkies and trivia fanatics, these 70 word puzzles will show the reader how to take a bit of information, add what they already know, and extrapolate an answer.Santos has done the impossible: make math and the multiple possibilities of numbers fun and informative. Can you really cry a river? Is it possible to dig your way out of jail with just a teaspoon and before your life sentence is up?Taking an academic subject and using it as the prism to view everyday off-the-wall questions as math problems to be solved is a natural step for the lovers of sudoku, cryptograms, word puzzles, and other thought-provoking games.

    This title provides essential practice in all four modules of the IELTS examination: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

    Find the best of the magazine's writing in Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey, a collection of the strongest, most interesting, and often most controversial articles covering 24 years of changes in technology, all from a hacker's perspective. Included are stories about the creation of the infamous tone dialer "red box" that allowed hackers to make free phone calls from payphones, the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the insecurity of modern locks.

    This book can be cut, drawn in, folded into shapes and will even take you to the fourth dimension. So join stand-up mathematician Matt Parker on a journey through narcissistic numbers, optimal dating algorithms, at least two different kinds of infinity and more.

    This entertaining examination of everyday science from the fanciful to the factual covers topics ranging from pesticides and environmental estrogens to lipsticks and garlic.

    Shere began his journey with a tour of a traditional coal-fueled power plant in his home state of Indiana, but continued on, traveling from coast to coast as he spoke to scientists, scholars and innovators. Immersing himself in the green energy world, he installed solar panels, drove through a wind farm, investigated turbines deep in the East River, and interviewed scientists who create fuel from algae and grass. He also examined the role of renewable energy in history, including surprising and entertaining stories of innovations—like plant-based fuels and giant windmills—and the curious involvement of great thinkers like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nicola Tesla. Jeremy Shere's natural curiosity and serious research of energy technology in history and of today is leavened by lively writing and a Michael Pollan-esque approach, to create an intriguing vision of the future.

    Radical Frugality tells the story of 5 people who did it: Paul, 27, discovering how to overcome student loan debt; David and Winona, late 40's, living their retirement dream today; and Dan and Charlotte, family of 4, with an underwater mortgage. Waking up every morning debt-free with cash in your pocket helps your brain feel safe, secure, and smart. Embracing the concepts in this book frees you from the overwhelming anxiety of the consumer lifestyle by showing you how to take control. You can start today. What if you could spend 66% less money than you spend today setting yourself up to live a self-determined lifestyle doing exactly what you love to do regardless of financial compensation? Radical Frugality shows you exactly how to achieve those goals within one to five years. Using our step-by-step common sense plan, we teach you what to do (break the spell of the consumer credit con), when to do it (planning and preparation), and most importantly where to do it (discover the 5 top cities for living frugally). We'll help you evaluate your financial situation. Are you in the Yellow Zone, the Orange Zone, the Red Zone, or even the Dead Zone (paying debt with debt)? This book lays out a plan for how to pay off your debt and get into the Neutral Zone (getting back to monthly break-even), the Green Zone (debt free with $1,000 a month free cash-flow) or even the Golden Zone (living a self-determined life). Whether you are desperate right now about your financial situation, facing retirement, just starting out, or just plain tired and worn-out from struggling to pay bills, Radical Frugality can show you over 100 tips for feeling better today. Radical Frugality offers a soup to nuts plan for living a self-determined life that will leave you happier and healthier than ever before. CHAPTER ONE: IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU EARN—IT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU SPEND. HOW TO TAKE CONTROL CHAPTER TWO: THE CONSUMER CREDIT CON. HOW MARKETERS PLAY TRICKS ON YOUR BRAIN CHAPTER THREE: WHY FRUGALITY? GETTING STRAIGHT ABOUT WHY YOU'RE ON THE PLANET CHAPTER FOUR: WHO ARE YOU TODAY? EVALUATE YOUR SPENDING PROFILE CHAPTER FIVE: HOW TO DO IT. YOUR STEP BY STEP PLAN TO GAIN CONTROL CHAPTER SIX: GOING GREEN AND NEVER LOOKING BACK. THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON CASH CHAPTER SEVEN: WHEN WILL YOU BE READY? LEARNING TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS CHAPTER EIGHT: LIVING THE DREAM. WHERE YOU LIVE DETERMINES HOW YOU LIVE

    Going to a Disney theme park? Your creepy new “MagicBand” will alert Minnie Mouse so she’ll know your kid’s name when you approach her. Thinking about sending your DNA to Ancestry.com for some “genetic genealogy”? Careful: your genetic information could be used against you.

    Featuring all-new 3D models built using data gathered by NASA and the European Space Agency, The Planets is an awe-inspiring journey through the Solar System, from Earth to Mars and beyond.Viewed layer by layer, planets and other objects in the Solar System are taken out of the night sky and presented on a white background, revealing every detail of their surface and internal anatomy in astonishing detail.Looking at planets, the Sun, hundreds of moons and thousands of asteroids and comets, The Planets includes timelines that chronicle all major Space missions, right up to the latest Mars rovers, and infographics that present fascinating facts about all planets and the Solar System in a fresh new way.

    An indispensable resource for every home, office, dorm room, and library, this new edition of The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge offers in-depth explorations of art, astronomy, biology, business, economics, the environment, film, geography, history, the Internet, literature, mathematics, music, mythology, philosophy, photography, sports, theater, film, and many other subjects.   This one volume is designed to offer more information than any other book on the most important subjects, as well as provide easy-to-access data critical to everyday life. It is the only universal reference book to include authoritative and engaging essays from New York Times experts in almost every field of endeavor.

    This guidebook is aimed clearly at the needs of the student, with a thorough understanding of, and provision for, the potential conceptual difficulties he or she is likely to encounter.

    'The i Diet' combines simple, fresh ingredients for an easy way to shed pounds.

    Although it presents the main ideas of quantum theory essentially in nonmathematical terms, it follows these with a broad range of specific applications that are worked out in considerable mathematical detail. Addressed primarily to advanced undergraduate students, the text begins with a study of the physical formulation of the quantum theory, from its origin and early development through an analysis of wave vs. particle properties of matter. In Part II, Professor Bohm addresses the mathematical formulation of the quantum theory, examining wave functions, operators, Schrödinger's equation, fluctuations, correlations, and eigenfunctions.Part III takes up applications to simple systems and further extensions of quantum theory formulation, including matrix formulation and spin and angular momentum. Parts IV and V explore the methods of approximate solution of Schrödinger's equation and the theory of scattering. In Part VI, the process of measurement is examined along with the relationship between quantum and classical concepts.Throughout the text, Professor Bohm places strong emphasis on showing how the quantum theory can be developed in a natural way, starting from the previously existing classical theory and going step by step through the experimental facts and theoretical lines of reasoning which led to replacement of the classical theory by the quantum theory.

    Louis P. Pojman has carefully organized the essays in each section so that they present pro/con dialogues that allow students to compare and contrast the philosophers' positions. Topics covered include the nature of philosophy, the existence of God, immortality, knowledge, the mind-body question, personal identity, free will and determinism, ethics, political philosophy, and the meaning of life. The sixth edition offers selections from Plato, Ren� Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, William James, Bertrand Russell, John Hick, John Hospers, and James Rachels--as well as essays by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, Thomas Hobbes, George Berkeley, Immanuel Kant, Gilbert Ryle, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Alvin Plantinga, and many others. In Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, Sixth Edition, Pojman offers substantial introductions to each of the nineteen philosophical problems. In addition, each of the seventy-six readings is accompanied by an individual introduction with a biographical sketch of the philosopher, study questions, and reflective questions that challenge students to analyze and critique the material. Short bibliographies following each major section and a detailed glossary further enhance the text's pedagogical value. Invaluable for introductory courses in philosophy, this highly acclaimed text inspires and guides students' quest for wisdom.New to the Sixth Edition: : * Six selections: William Lane Craig: The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the Anthropic Principle William Rowe: An Analysis of the Ontological Argument Daniel Dennett: Postmodernism and Truth William James: The Dilemma of Determinism Harry Frankfurt: Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer * More exercises in the excursus on logic