Lee Smolin offers a new theory of the universe that is at once elegant, comprehensive, and radically different from anything proposed before. Smolin posits that a process of self organization like that of biological evolution shapes the universe, as it develops and eventually reproduces through black holes, each of which may result in a new big bang and a new universe. Natural selection may guide the appearance of the laws of physics, favoring those universes which best reproduce. The result would be a cosmology according to which life is a natural consequence of the fundamental principles on which the universe has been built, and a science that would give us a picture of the universe in which, as the author writes, "the occurrence of novelty, indeed the perpetual birth of novelty, can be understood." Smolin is one of the leading cosmologists at work today, and he writes with an expertise and force of argument that will command attention throughout the world of physics. But it is the humanity and sharp clarity of his prose that offers access for the layperson to the mind bending space at the forefront of today's physics.

Amazing Stories behind the Greatest Discoveries in Physics Set out on the ultimate detective story—the story of how we unravelled the great mysteries of nature through science. From the microscopic world of an electron to the very limits of the universe, scientists have collected the clues left all around us in nature, and constructed a story that best fits all of the evidence. And what a story it is! A tale of explosive beginnings in the big bang, the strange warping of space and time, black holes, quantum uncertainties and elusive particles. How did we come to understand this grand story? This book explains the science and the scientific process that led to the biggest discoveries in physics. Like all great detective stories, it involves careful investigation, surprising discoveries, interesting characters, twists and turns, leaps of imagination and rewarding outcomes. SHOHINI GHOSE is an award-winning theoretical physicist, and a Professor of physics and computer science at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. She and her colleagues were the first to experimentally find a connection between chaos theory and quantum entanglement. Dr. Ghose is an expert in quantum physics and serves as Co-Editor of Canadian Journal of Physics. She is a TED Senior Fellow and TED speaker, featured on TED Talks India. “This award-winning quantum physicist uses the power of storytelling to make complex topics exciting and accessible to all.” DONNA STRICKLAND, Physicist and Nobel Laureate

Paul LaViolette reveals astonishing parallels between cutting edge scientific thought and early creation myths, and how these myths encode a theory of cosmology in which matter is continually growing from seeds of order that emerge spontaneously from chaos. Exposing the contradictions of the Big Bang theory, LaViolette leads us beyond the restrictive metaphors of modern science and into a new science for the 21st century.

A reference source that addresses fundamental questions in the field of nuclear astrophysics.

Presents an illustrated guide to the universe and to Earth's relationship to it, moving from theories of creation to humankind's discovery of the cosmos, to general relativity, to space missions, and beyond.

From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Elegant Universe, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way. Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene has set himself a daunting task: to explain non-intuitive, mathematical concepts like String Theory, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Inflationary Cosmology with analogies drawn from common experience. From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can instantaneously coordinate their behavior, Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.

This study is the first volume in the new Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series. It contains a new English translation of Philo's famous treatise "On the creation of the cosmos" (the first for seventy years), and the first ever commentary in English. In this work the Jewish exegete and philosopher gives a selective exegesis of the Mosaic creation account and the events in Paradise as recorded in Genesis 1-3. It is the first preserved example of Hexaemeral literature, and had a profound influence on early Christian thought. The commentary aims to make Philo's thought accessible to readers such as graduate students who are just beginning to read him, but also contains much material that will be of interest to specialists in Hellenistic Judaism, ancient philosophy and patristic literature.

The first of the pioneering trilogy, The Sirian Revelations, offers cosmic wisdom to help humankind realize its highest potential. The Cosmos of Soul offers a bracing tonic to the shadow of war, disease, and other grim phenomena of contemporary life. The solution, according to noted clairvoyant Patricia Cori, is to awaken into the richer, more meaningful, and empowered existence that is our true fate. Through her psychic contacts with more evolved beings, Cori offers timely insights into the ethics of cloning, the dangers of the Internet, the truth about the AIDS virus, genetic engineering, and other information. Of special interest are the author’s predictions of what to expect after 2012, the closing of the Mayan Calendar—a time of galactic events that may change life forever.

An examination of ancient astronomy looks at the myths and beliefs about the heavens that influenced everyday life in these primitive cultures