Cosmological Koans

Author : Anthony Aguirre
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393609227
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality written by Anthony Aguirre and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cosmological Koans invites the reader into an intellectual adventure of the highest order. Through more than fifty Koans—pleasingly paradoxical vignettes following the ancient Zen tradition—leading physicist Anthony Aguirre takes the reader across the world from West to East, and through ideas spanning the age, breadth, and depth of the Universe. Using these beguiling Koans (Could there be a civilization on a mote of dust? How much of your fate have you made? Who cleans the universe?) and a flair for explaining complex science, Aguirre covers cosmic questions that scientific giants from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with, from the meaning of quantum theory and the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes. A playful and enlightening book, Cosmological Koans explores the strange hinterland between the deep structure of the physical world and our personal experience of it, giving readers what Einstein himself called “the most beautiful and deepest experience” anyone can have: a sense of the mysterious.

Author : Anthony Aguirre
Publisher : National Geographic Books
ISBN 13 : 0393358313
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cosmological Koans written by Anthony Aguirre and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cosmological Koans invites the reader into an intellectual adventure of the highest order. Through more than fifty Koans—pleasingly paradoxical vignettes following the ancient Zen tradition—leading physicist Anthony Aguirre takes the reader across the world from West to East, and through ideas spanning the age, breadth, and depth of the Universe. Using these beguiling Koans (Could there be a civilization on a mote of dust? How much of your fate have you made? Who cleans the universe?) and a flair for explaining complex science, Aguirre covers cosmic questions that scientific giants from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with, from the meaning of quantum theory and the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes. A playful and enlightening book, Cosmological Koans explores the strange hinterland between the deep structure of the physical world and our personal experience of it, giving readers what Einstein himself called “the most beautiful and deepest experience” anyone can have: a sense of the mysterious.

Author : Anthony Aguirre
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0241422221
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cosmological Koans written by Anthony Aguirre and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2019-09-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A gem of a book' Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics 'A unique and beautifully written masterpiece' Max Tegmark, author of Life 3.0 Could there be a civilization on a mote of dust? How much of your fate have you made? Who cleans the universe? Through more than fifty Koans - pleasingly paradoxical vignettes following the ancient Zen tradition - leading physicist Anthony Aguirre takes us across the world from Japan to Italy, and through ideas spanning the age, breadth and depth of the Universe. Using these beguiling stories and a flair for explaining complex science, he covers cosmic questions that giants from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with - from the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes to the meaning of quantum theory. Playful and enlightening, Cosmological Koans invites the reader into an intellectual adventure of the highest order, giving us what Einstein called 'the most beautiful and deepest experience' anyone can have - a sense of the mysterious.

Author : Steven Heine
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019802780X
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Koan written by Steven Heine and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-04-20 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Koans are enigmatic spiritual formulas used for religious training in the Zen Buddhist tradition. Arguing that our understanding of the koan tradition has been severely limited, contributors to this collection examine previously unrecognized factors in the formation of this tradition, and highlight the rich complexity and diversity of koan practice and literature.

Author : David T. Courtwright
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674737377
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Age of Addiction written by David T. Courtwright and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-06 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an age of addiction, from compulsive gaming and shopping to binge eating and opioid abuse. What can we do to resist temptations that insidiously and deliberately rewire our brains? Nothing, David Courtwright says, unless we understand the global enterprises whose “limbic capitalism” creates and caters to our bad habits.

Author : Anthony Aguirre
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319130455
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Questioning the Foundations of Physics written by Anthony Aguirre and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-01-24 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in this book look at way in which the fundaments of physics might need to be changed in order to make progress towards a unified theory. They are based on the prize-winning essays submitted to the FQXi essay competition “Which of Our Basic Physical Assumptions Are Wrong?”, which drew over 270 entries. As Nobel Laureate physicist Philip W. Anderson realized, the key to understanding nature’s reality is not anything “magical”, but the right attitude, “the focus on asking the right questions, the willingness to try (and to discard) unconventional answers, the sensitive ear for phoniness, self-deception, bombast, and conventional but unproven assumptions.” The authors of the eighteen prize-winning essays have, where necessary, adapted their essays for the present volume so as to (a) incorporate the community feedback generated in the online discussion of the essays, (b) add new material that has come to light since their completion and (c) to ensure accessibility to a broad audience of readers with a basic grounding in physics. The Foundational Questions Institute, FQXi, catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.

Author : Freeman John Dyson
Publisher : World Scientific
ISBN 13 : 9814759090
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dear Professor Dyson written by Freeman John Dyson and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Freeman Dyson has designed nuclear reactors and bomb-powered spacecraft; he has studied the origins of life and the possibilities for the long-term future; he showed quantum mechanics to be consistent with electrodynamics and started cosmological eschatology; he has won international recognition for his work in science and for his work in reconciling science to religion; he has advised generals and congressional committees. An STS (Science, Technology, Society) curriculum or discussion group that engages topics such as nuclear policies, genetic technologies, environmental sustainability, the role of religion in a scientific society, and a hard look towards the future, would count itself privileged to include Professor Dyson as a class participant and mentor. In this book, STS topics are not discussed as objectified abstractions, but through personal stories. The reader is invited to observe Dyson's influence on a generation of young people as they wrestle with issues of science, technology, society, life in general and our place in the universe. The book is filled with personal anecdotes, student questions and responses, honest doubts and passions"--

Author : Parmenides,
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1725229609
Total Pages : 78 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Parmenides and Empedocles written by Parmenides, and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parmenides and Empedocles, along with Heraclitus the most important of the pre-Socratic philosophers, were at the same time among the greatest poets of the ancient world. But their work is rarely treated and still more rarely translated in its original form--as poetry. The complete extant fragments of Parmenides and Empedocles are collected here for the first time in a translation responsive to the original verse texts. Parmenides' philosophical fragments are here given as the poetic remains of the thinker from Elea in Southern Italy whom Socrates wondered at and Plato held in awe. What emerges from the poetry is at once an uncompromising vision of absolute Being and a compassionate understanding of the human cosmos: It is the body grows to Mind. All men desire the same thing, apprehend the same The plenum is thought, and thought preponderates. The poetry of Empedocles--reincarnationist, naturalist, cosmologist, religious leader, physiologist, and a metaphysician--is presented here in the personal idiom of the fifth-century Sicilian who has been called the last of the Greek shamans: I have already been A bush and a bird A boy and a girl A mute fish in the sea.

Author : Kendall Haven
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313090009
Total Pages : 261 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Marvels of Science written by Kendall Haven and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1994-04-15 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These 50 tales take just minutes to read but amply illustrate scientific principles and the evolution of science through history. Discussion questions and additional references are included and stories are cross-indexed by year of occurrence and by scientist. Focusing on the characters, events, and moments of genius that comprise the story of science, these 50 short reads are ideal for both read-alouds and reading assignments. The tales take just minutes to read but amply illustrate scientific principles and the evolution of science through history. Discussion questions and additional references correlate each story with elements of the science curriculum and provide direction for students to pursue their own discoveries. Stories are cross-indexed by year of occurrence and by scientist.

Author : Kenneth Kraft
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 9780824819521
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Eloquent Zen written by Kenneth Kraft and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zen master Daito (1282-1337) played a leading role in the transmission of Zen (Ch'an) from China to Japan. He founded Daitokuji, a major monastery that has been influential for centuries, and he provided interpretations of Chinese texts. Daito's traditional biography is full of vivid episodes, including his years among the beggars of Kyoto and ending with his dramatic death in the meditation posture. Despite his importance, however, Daito has remained virtually unknown in the West. With the publication of Eloquent Zen Kenneth Kraft offers the first comprehensive account of the life and teachings of one of the greatest of Japan's Zen masters. Dr. Kraft begins with the foundations of medieval Japanese Zen. He shows that Daito's predecessors were concerned with clarifying the essentials of Zen as it began to take root in Japan. During this formative phase, the Zen pioneers embraced varied conceptions of enlightenment and divergent notions of authenticity. Kraft places Daito's contributions within this context, offering new insights about early Japanese Zen and about Zen itself. Throughout this study, Kraft looks closely at the complex role of language in Zen--a tradition supposedly distrustful of words. Daito wrote haiku-like poetry, participated in brilliant dialogues, and delivered powerful sermons. His virtuosity in articulating the way of Zen, "beyond words, beyond silence, " is nowhere more apparent than in his use of the capping phrase, an interpretive and commentarial device unique to Zen. Analyzing Daito's use of this device, Kraft elucidates the significance of the literary and aesthetic dimensions of the Zen tradition. Eloquent Zen includes valuable translations of Daito's poetryand other writings. Illustrations include three classic portraits of Daito and rare examples of his calligraphy. This lucid and engaging study will interest scholars and nonspecialists interested in Zen, Japanese culture, and Asian philosophy, poetry, and related fields.