To achieve this goal, they focuses on two central questions: "What Are We?" which highlights your place as a planet dweller in an evolving universe, guiding you to better understand where we came from and how we formed; and "How Do We Know?" which provides insights into how the process of science can teach us more about what we are.

    "Everyone has talked about science and religion . . . but Mitchell has really dug into the main paradoxical issues and comes up with a resolving viewpoint".--Harold E. Puthoff, Ph.D.

    On that day, astronomer Arthur Eddington and his team observed a solar eclipse and found something extraordinary: gravity bends light, just as Einstein predicted. The finding confirmed the theory of general relativity, fundamentally changing our understanding of space and time.A century later, another group of astronomers is performing a similar experiment on a much larger scale. The Event Horizon Telescope, a globe-spanning array of radio dishes, is examining space surrounding Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. As Ron Cowen recounts, the foremost goal of the experiment is to determine whether Einstein was right on the details. Gravity lies at the heart of what we don't know about quantum mechanics, but tantalizing possibilities for deeper insight are offered by black holes. By observing starlight wrapping around Sagittarius A*, the telescope will not only provide the first direct view of an event horizon--a black hole's point of no return--but will also enable scientists to test Einstein's theory under the most extreme conditions.Gravity's Century shows how we got from the pivotal observations of the 1919 eclipse to the Event Horizon Telescope, and what is at stake today. Breaking down the physics in clear and approachable language, Cowen makes vivid how the quest to understand gravity is really the quest to comprehend the universe.

    Buzz Aldrin, one of the first moonwalkers, has no shortage of these ideas. And in Mission to Mars he treats us to how, when, and why we should travel there." -Neil deGrasse TysonLegendary "space statesman" Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind's first landing of Apollo 11--and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings--Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035.Foreword by Andrew AldrinChapter 1: The View from Air Force OneChapter 2: Time for Decision-makingChapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business CaseChapter 4: Dreams of My MoonChapter 5: Voyage to ArmageddonChapter 6: The March to MarsChapter 7: Homesteading the Red PlanetChapter 8: The Clarion Call

    You'll learn how to overcome the unique issues that confront nighttime photographers and capture images of which you'll be proud. Co-author Jennifer Wu, an elite Canon "Explorer of Light" professional photographer, has become renowned for her ability to capture nighttime phenomena, from quarter-phase moon rises to shooting stars to the ephemeral Milky Way. this new guide reveals her methods and concentrates on photographing four principal subjects: stars as points of light, star trails, the moon, and twilight. these subjects share common photo techniques and considerations, but each also requires a distinct approach. Once captured, your digital images must be fi nished on the computer; coauthor and author of the bestselling Photography: Outdoors, James Martin, delves into the settings and procedures that elevate an image from mundane to striking. This clear and practical guide will help photographers of all levels portray the stunning spectacle of the night sky, preserving those special memories and moments from a life outdoors.

    Beginning at Stonehenge and ending with the current crisis in String Theory, the story of this eternal question to uncover the mysteries of the universe describes a narrative that includes some of the greatest discoveries of all time and leading personalities, including Aristotle, Copernicus, and Isaac Newton, and the rise to the modern era of Einstein, Eddington, and Hawking.

    After growing up in an Irish Catholic household, he was sent to a grammar school run by priests, from which he eventually emerged unscathed. A combination of O Levels and rock ’n’ roll led him into the bowels of Manchester’s club land, where he worked alongside strippers and Chinese strongman acts while revising the War of Jenkin’s Ear.Testosterone and guilt struggled for mastery in his lapsing Catholic chest and trousers until testosterone won and, with guilt still on his back like Quasimodo’s hump, he toured the dancehalls of Northern England in a VW panel van, taking rock ’n’ roll to one-horse towns where the horse had bolted.Warm, nostalgic and very funny, Mike Harding’s memoir of his early life in post-war Manchester is as idiosyncratic and engaging as the man himself.

    This book, which greatly expands the companion PBS series, tell the stories of the visionaries--based on eyewitness accounts and newly discovered archival material--who helped America win the space race with the first lunar landing fifty years ago. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed the nation spend twenty billion dollars to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. For the first time, Chasing the Moon reveals the unknown stories of the fascinating individuals whose imaginative work across several decades culminated in America's momentous achievement. More than a story of engineers and astronauts, the Moon landing--now celebrating its 50th anniversary--grew out of the dreams of science fiction writers, filmmakers, military geniuses and rule-breaking scientists. Going in depth to explore their stories beyond the PBS series, writer/producer Robert Stone--called "one of our most important documentary film makers" by Entertainment Weekly--brings these important figures to brilliant life. They include: * Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, whose writing inspired some of the key players in the Moon race. A scientific paper he wrote in his twenties led to the U.S. beating Russia in one area of space: communications satellites.* Wernher von Braun, the Nazi military genius who oversaw Hitler's rocket weapons program. After working on ballistic missiles for the U.S. Army, he was recruited by NASA to manage the creation of the Saturn V Moon rocket. * Astronaut Frank Borman, commander of the first mission to circumnavigate the Moon, whose powerful testimony before Congress in 1967 decisively saved the U.S. lunar program from being cancelled. * Poppy Northcutt, a young mathematician who was the first woman to work in Mission Control. Her media exposure as a unique presence in this all-male world allowed her to stand up for equal rights for women and minorities.* Ed Dwight, an African-American astronaut candidate, recruited at the urging of the Kennedy White House to further the administration's civil rights agenda. But not everyone welcomed his inclusion.Setting these key players in the political, social, and cultural climate of the time, and including captivating photos throughout, Chasing the Moon focuses on the science and the history, but most importantly, the extraordinary individuals behind what was undoubtedly the greatest human achievement of the twentieth century.

    November 2015 is the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s discovery of the General Theory of Relativity.Levenson, head of MIT’s Science Writing Program, tells the captivating, unusual, and nearly-forgotten backstory behind Einstein’s invention of the Theory of Relativity, which completely changed the course of science forever. For over 50 years before Einstein developed his theory, the world’s top astronomers spent countless hours and energy searching for a planet, which came to be named Vulcan, that had to exist, it was thought, given Isaac Newton’s theories of gravity. Indeed, in the two centuries since Newton’s death, his theory had essentially become accepted as fact. It took Einstein’s genius to realize the mystery of the missing planet wasn’t a problem of measurements or math but of Newton’s theory of gravity itself. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity proved that Vulcan did not and could not exist, and that the decades-long search for it had merely been a quirk of operating under the wrong set of assumptions about the universe. Thomas Levenson tells this unique story, one of the strangest episodes in the history of science, with elegant simplicity, fast-paced drama, and lively characters sure to capture the attention of a wide group of readers.

    Taking in 440 sextillion kilometres of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: we will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology, on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct. The map contains anomalies that challenge our understanding of the universe. It will force us to revisit what is known and what is unknown, to construct a new model of our universe. This is the first book to address what will be an epoch-defining scientific paradigm shift. Stuart Clark will ask if Newton's famous laws of gravity need to be rewritten; if dark matter and dark energy are just celestial phantoms? Can we ever know what happened before the Big Bang? What’s at the bottom of a black hole? Are there universes beyond our own? Does time exist? Are the once immutable laws of physics changing?

    But more than this, there was gravity. After that, all hell broke loose… In A Universe from Nothing, Krauss revealed how our entire universe could arise from nothing. Now, he reveals what that something—reality—is. And, reality is not what we think or sense—it’s weird, wild, and counterintuitive; it’s hidden beneath everyday experience; and its inner workings seem even stranger than the idea that something can come from nothing. In a landmark, unprecedented work of scientific history, Krauss leads us to the furthest reaches of space and time, to scales so small they are invisible to microscopes, to the birth and rebirth of light, and into the natural forces that govern our existence. His unique blend of rigorous research and engaging storytelling invites us into the lives and minds of the remarkable, creative scientists who have helped to unravel the unexpected fabric of reality—with reason rather than superstition and dogma. Krauss has himself been an active participant in this effort, and he knows many of them well. The Greatest Story challenges us to re-envision ourselves and our place within the universe, as it appears that “God” does play dice with the universe. In the incisive style of his scintillating essays for The New Yorker, Krauss celebrates the greatest intellectual adventure ever undertaken—to understand why we are here in a universe where fact is stranger than fiction.

    He looks at the difficult dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world; and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws. And behind all of these considerations is the suggestion—at once haunting and exhilarating—that what we see and understand of the world is only a tiny piece of the extraordinary, perhaps unfathomable whole.

    Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space documents the making of Nolan's latest masterpiece in fascinating detail and features interviews with the acclaimed director, along with screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, producer Emma Thomas, and other key members of the production team. Delving into the science and philosophy behind the film, Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space dynamically showcases its incredible concept art, including costume designs, storyboards, and other fascinating preproduction elements. Also featuring interviews with the exceptional cast, including Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space tells the full story of the making of the film, with candid pictures illustrating its elaborate set pieces and reliance on classic special effects techniques. Visually enthralling and engrossing in its in-depth exploration of the themes and ideas at the heart of Interstellar, this book is the perfect accompaniment to one of the most anticipated films of 2014. Based on the film from Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures. From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight" films, "Inception"), "Interstellar" stars Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Oscar winner Anne Hathaway ("Les Misébles"), Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Bill Irwin ("Rachel Getting Married"), Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn ("Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"), and Oscar winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules"). The main cast also includes Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy and Topher Grace. Christopher Nolan directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jonathan Nolan. Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Lynda Obst produced "Interstellar," with Jordan Goldberg, Jake Myers, Kip Thorne and Thomas Tull serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures present, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy/Lynda Obst Productions production, a film by Christopher Nolan, "Interstellar."

    Frizzle were a physics student of Stephen Hawking, she might have written THE UNIVERSE IN YOUR HAND, a wild tour through the reaches of time and space, from the interior of a proton to the Big Bang to the rough suburbs of a black hole. It's friendly, excitable, erudite, and cosmic."—Jordan Ellenberg, New York Times besteselling author of How Not To Be WrongQuantum physics, black holes, string theory, the Big Bang, dark matter, dark energy, parallel universes: even if we are interested in these fundamental concepts of our world, their language is the language of math. Which means that despite our best intentions of finally grasping, say, Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, most of us are quickly brought up short by a snarl of nasty equations or an incomprehensible graph.Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe. To understand what happens to a dying star, we are asked to picture ourselves floating in space in front of it. To get acquainted with the quantum world, we are shrunk to the size of an atom and then taken on a journey. Employing everyday similes and metaphors, addressing the reader directly, and writing stories rather than equations renders these astoundingly complex ideas in an immediate and visceral way.Utterly captivating and entirely unique, The Universe in Your Hand will find its place among other classics in the field.

    Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries. Fom Aristotle to Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday to the Higgs boson, he takes us on a wondrous journey to show us that beyond our ever-changing idea of reality is a whole new world that has yet to be discovered.