The Constants Of Nature by John D. Barrow Paperback Book

Description: The Constants Of Nature by John D. Barrow The constants of nature are the numbers that define the essence of the Universe. For the first time astronomical observations are suggesting that some of the constants of Nature were different when the Universe was younger. FORMAT Paperback CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Fascinating - The major strength of the book lies in the diversity of topics discussed NatureThe constants of nature are the numbers that define the essence of the Universe. They tell us how strong its forces are, and what its fundamental laws can do- the strength of gravity, of magnetism, the speed of light, and the masses of the smallest particles of matter. They encode the deepest secrets of the Universe and express at once our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Their existence has taught us the profound truth that Nature abounds with unseen regularities. Yet, while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constants, our frustrating inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we still have to learn about the inner workings of the Universe.What is the ultimate status of these constants of Nature? Are they truly constant? Could life have evolved and persisted if they were even slightly different? And are there other Universes where they are different?These are some of the issues that this book grapples with. It looks back to the discoveries of the first constants of Nature and the impact they had on scientists like Einstein. This book also tells the story of a tantalising new development in astronomy. For the first time astronomical observations are suggesting that some of the constants of Nature were different when the Universe was younger. So are our laws of Nature slowly changing? Is anything about our Universe immune from the ravages of time? Are there any constants of Nature at all? Notes Popular science investigation into the laws of nature. "Fascinating" Nature. Author Biography John D. Barrow is Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University, Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the current Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London. His principal area of scientific research is cosmology, and he is the author of many highly acclaimed books about the nature and significance of modern developments in physics, astronomy, and mathematics, including The Origin of the Universe, The Universe that Discovered Itself; The Book of Nothing, The Infinite Book- a Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless, The Artful Universe Expanded, New Theories of Everything, Cosmic Imagery and, most recently, The Book of Universes. Review His appeal lies in a winning way with historical anecdote and apt quotation and a forceful eloquence * Sunday Telegraph *A distinguished cosmologist * Sunday Times *Barrow is a fantastic storyteller. The book is full of wonderful moments, vignettes that you will want to remember * Guardian * Promotional Fascinating-The major strength of the book lies in the diversity of topics discussed Nature Kirkus UK Review This book deals with mind-boggling questions about how the universe works, whether there are other universes besides our own, and even whether the laws of physics are really immutable. The constants referred to in the title are the numbers that define the universe. A constant, says Barrow, is a pure number; something that has a dimension, such as speed or length, cannot be a constant because its numerical value changes with the units in which it is expressed. The speed of light, which might seem like a constant to the layperson, is not really a constant at all because it could be expressed as 186,000 miles per hour or 300,000 kilometres per hour. On the other hand, the number of photons per proton, and the ratio of dark to luminous matter densities, are constants. Barrow, a professor of physics, leads us through a history of modern physics and its attempts to define and understand constants, outlining the work of theorists such as Planck, Einstein and Dirac. He does his very best to make the text accessible, peppering it with quotations from Oscar Wilde and Douglas Adams, using analogies with readily understandable ideas (such as traffic flow) and including lots of diagrams and pictures. Unfortunately, the subject matter itself is so difficult that it is almost impossible to follow the argument in all its detail unless you have a good grounding in mathematics or physics. As a lay reader, even if you grasp the basic ideas - the importance of constants, the search for a Theory of Everything, the possibility of different universes - you are very unlikely to understand the mathematics that illustrate Barrows argument. Nonetheless, this is a book worth persevering with, because even if your brain aches at the end of it, you will have discovered what modern physicists are thinking about - and some of their current theories about the way the universe works are truly startling. (Kirkus UK) Review Text His appeal lies in a winning way with historical anecdote and apt quotation and a forceful eloquence Review Quote "Fascinating…. The major strength of the book lies in the diversity of topics discussed." --Nature Promotional "Headline" Fascinating-The major strength of the book lies in the diversity of topics discussed Nature Excerpt from Book Chapter One Before the Beginning What happens first is not necessarily the beginning. Henning Mankell SAMELINESS There is nothing that God hath established in a constant cause of nature, and which therefore is done everyday, but would seem a miracle, and exercise our admiration, if it were done but once. John Donne Change is a challenge. We live in the fastest moving period of human history. The world around us is driven by forces that make our lives increasingly sensitive to small changes and sudden responses. The elaboration of the Internet and the tentacles of the Worldwide Web have put us in instantaneous contact with computers and their owners all round the world. The threats from unchecked industrial progress have brought about ecological damage and environmental change that appears to be happening faster than even the gloomiest prophets of doom had predicted. Children seem to grow up faster. Political systems realign in new and unexpected ways more quickly and more often than ever before. Even human beings and the information they embody are facing editorial intervention by more ambitious spare-part surgery or the re-programming of parts of our genetic code. Most forms of progress are accelerating and more and more parts of our experience have become entwined in the surge to explore all that is possible. In the world of scientific exploration the recognition of the impact of change is not so new. By the end of the nineteenth century it had been appreciated that once upon a time the Earth and our solar system had not existed; that the human species must have changed in appearance and average mental capability over huge spans of time; and that in some broad and general way the Universe should be winding down, becoming a less hospitable and ordered place. During the twentieth century we have fleshed out this skeletal picture of a changing Universe. The climate and topography of our planet is continually changing and so are the species that live upon it. Most dramatically of all, we have discovered that the entire universe of stars and galaxies is in a state of dynamic change, with great clusters of galaxies flying away from one another into a future that will be very different from the present. We have begun to appreciate that we are living on borrowed time. Cataclysmic astronomical events are common; worlds collide. Planet Earth has been hit in the past by comets and asteroids. One day its luck will run out, the shield provided so fortuitously by the vast planet Jupiter, guarding the outer reaches of our solar system, will not be able to save us. Eventually, even our Sun will die. Our Milky Way galaxy will be drawn into a vast black hole deep in its centre. Life like our own will end. Survivors will need to have changed their form, their homes and their nature to such an extent that we would be challenged to call their continued existence living by our own standards today. We have recognised the simple secrets of chaos and unpredictability which beset so many parts of the world around us. We under-stand our changing weather but we cannot predict it. We have appreciated the similarities between complexities like this and those that emerge from systems of human interaction - societies, economies, choices, ecosystems - and from within the human mind itself. All these perplexing complexities rush along and seek to convince us that the world is like a runaway roller-coaster, rocking and rolling; that everything we once held to be true might one day be overthrown. Some even see such a prospect as a reason to be suspicious of science 3 as a corrosive effect upon the foundations of human nature and certainty, as though the construction of the physical Universe and the vast schema of its laws should have been set up with our psychological fragility in mind. But there is a sense in which all this change and unpredictability is an illusion. It is not the whole story about the nature of the Universe. There is both a conservative and a progressive side to the deep structure of reality. Despite the incessant change and dynamic of the visible world, there are aspects of the fabric of the Universe which are mysterious in their unshakeable constancy . It is these mysterious unchanging things that make our Universe what it is and distinguish it from other worlds that we might imagine. There is a golden thread that weaves a continuity through Nature. It leads us to expect that certain things elsewhere in space will be the same as they are here on Earth; that they were and will be the same at other times as they are today; that for some things neither history nor geography matter. Indeed, perhaps without such a substratum of unchanging realities there could be no surface currents of change or any complexities of mind and matter at all. These bedrock ingredients of our Universe are what this book is about. Their existence is one of the last mysteries of science that has challenged a succession of great physicists to come up with an explanation for why they are as they are. Our quest is to discover what they are but we have long known only what to call them. They are the constants of Nature . They lie at the root of sameliness in the Universe: why every electron seems to be the same as every other electron. The constants of Nature encode the deepest secrets of the Universe. They express at once our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Their existence has taught us the profound truth that Nature abounds with unseen regularities. Yet, while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constant quantities, our inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we have still to learn about the inner workings of the Universe. What is the ultimate status of the constants of Nature? Are they truly constant? Are they everywhere the same? Are they all linked? Could life have evolved and persisted if they were even slightly different? These are some of the issues that this book will grapple with. It will look back to the discoveries of the first constants of Nature and the impact they had on scientists and theologians looking for Mind, purpose and design in Nature. It will show what frontier science now believes constants of Nature to be and whether a future Theory of Everything, if it exists, will one day reveal the true secret of the constants of Nature. And most important of all, it will ask whether they are truly constant. Details ISBN0099286475 Year 2003 ISBN-10 0099286475 ISBN-13 9780099286479 Format Paperback Publication Date 2003-08-07 Imprint Vintage Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Media Book Pages 368 Author John D. Barrow Birth 1952 Publisher Vintage Publishing DEWEY 113 UK Release Date 2003-08-07 AU Release Date 2003-08-07 NZ Release Date 2003-08-07 Alternative 9781407072715 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:1124029;

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