The Copernicus Complex
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The Copernicus Complex
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Author : Caleb Scharf
language : en
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Release Date : 2014-09-09
The Copernicus Complex written by Caleb Scharf and has been published by Macmillan + ORM this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-09-09 with Science categories.
Longlisted for the 2015 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Short-listed for Physics World's Book of the Year The Sunday Times (UK) Best Science Book of 2014 A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Science Book of Fall 2014 An NBC News Top Science and Tech Book of 2014 A Politics & Prose 2014 Staff Pick In the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus dared to go against the establishment by proposing that Earth rotates around the Sun. Having demoted Earth from its unique position in the cosmos to one of mediocrity, Copernicus set in motion a revolution in scientific thought. This perspective has influenced our thinking for centuries. However, recent evidence challenges the Copernican Principle, hinting that we do in fact live in a special place, at a special time, as the product of a chain of unlikely events. But can we be significant if the Sun is still just one of a billion trillion stars in the observable universe? And what if our universe is just one of a multitude of others-a single slice of an infinity of parallel realities? In The Copernicus Complex, the renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf takes us on a scientific adventure, from tiny microbes within the Earth to distant exoplanets, probability theory, and beyond, arguing that there is a solution to this contradiction, a third way of viewing our place in the cosmos, if we weigh the evidence properly. As Scharf explains, we do occupy an unusual time in a 14-billion-year-old universe, in a somewhat unusual type of solar system surrounded by an ocean of unimaginable planetary diversity: hot Jupiters with orbits of less than a day, planet-size rocks spinning around dead stars, and a wealth of alien super-Earths. Yet life here is built from the most common chemistry in the universe, and we are a snapshot taken from billions of years of biological evolution. Bringing us to the cutting edge of scientific discovery, Scharf shows how the answers to fundamental questions of existence will come from embracing the peculiarity of our circumstance without denying the Copernican vision. With characteristic verve, Scharf uses the latest scientific findings to reconsider where we stand in the balance between cosmic significance and mediocrity, order and chaos. Presenting a compelling and bold view of our true status, The Copernicus Complex proposes a way forward in the ultimate quest: determining life's abundance, not just across this universe but across all realities.
The Copernicus Complex
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Author : Caleb Scharf
language : en
Publisher: Penguin UK
Release Date : 2014-09-04
The Copernicus Complex written by Caleb Scharf and has been published by Penguin UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-09-04 with Science categories.
Though the concept of "the universe" suggests the containment of everything, the latest ideas in cosmology hint that our universe may be just one of a multitude of others-a single slice of an infinity of parallel realities. In The Copernicus Complex, the renowned astrophysicist and author Caleb Scharf takes us on a cosmic adventure like no other, from tiny microbes within the Earth to distant exoplanets and beyond, asserting that the age-old Copernican principle is in need of updating. As Scharf argues, when Copernicus proposed that the Earth was not the fixed point at the center of the known universe (and therefore we are not unique), he set in motion a colossal scientific juggernaut, forever changing our vision of nature. But the principle has never been entirely true-we do live at a particular time, in a particular location, under particular circumstances. To solve this conundrum we must put aside our Copernican worldview and embrace the possibility that we are in a delicate balance between mediocrity and significance, order and chaos. Weaving together cutting-edge science and classic storytelling, historical accounts and speculations on what the future holds, The Copernicus Complex presents a compelling argument for what our true cosmic status is, and proposes a way forward for the ultimate quest: to determine life's abundance not just across this universe but across all realities.
The Copernicus Complex
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Author : Caleb Scharf
language : en
Publisher: Allen Lane
Release Date : 2014
The Copernicus Complex written by Caleb Scharf and has been published by Allen Lane this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014 with Astronomy categories.
Though the concept of "the universe" suggests the containment of everything, the latest ideas in cosmology hint that our universe may be just one of a multitude of others-a single slice of an infinity of parallel realities.In The Copernicus Complex, the renowned astrophysicist and author Caleb Scharf takes us on a cosmic adventure like no other, from tiny microbes within the Earth to distant exoplanets and beyond, asserting that the age-old Copernican principle is in need of updating. As Scharf argues, when Copernicus proposed that the Earth was not the fixed point at the center of the known universe (and therefore we are not unique), he set in motion a colossal scientific juggernaut, forever changing our vision of nature. But the principle has never been entirely true-we do live at a particular time, in a particular location, under particular circumstances. To solve this conundrum we must put aside our Copernican worldview and embrace the possibility that we are in a delicate balance between mediocrity and significance, order and chaos.Weaving together cutting-edge science and classic storytelling, historical accounts and speculations on what the future holds, The Copernicus Complex presents a compelling argument for what our true cosmic status is, and proposes a way forward for the ultimate quest: to determine life's abundance not just across this universe but across all realities.
Rare Earth
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Author : Peter D. Ward
language : en
Publisher: Springer
Release Date : 2007-05-08
Rare Earth written by Peter D. Ward and has been published by Springer this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2007-05-08 with Science categories.
In November 12, 2002, Dr. John Chambers of the NASA Ames Research Center gave a seminar to the Astrobiology Group at the University of Washington. The audience of about 100 listened with rapt attention as Chambers described results from a computer study of how planetary systems form. The goal of his research was to answer a deceptively simple question: How often would newly forming planetary systems produce Earth-like planets, given a star the size of our own sun? By “Earth-like” Chambers meant a rocky planet with water on its surface, orbiting within a star’s “habitable zone. ” This not-too-hot and not-too-cold inner region, relatively close to the star, supports the presence of liquid water on a planet surface for hundreds of million of years—the time-span probably necessary for the evolution of life. To answer the question of just how many Earth-like planets might be spawned in such a planetary system, Chambers had spent thousands of hours running highly sophisticated modeling programs through arrays of powerful computers. The results presented at the meeting were startling. The simulations showed that rocky planets orbiting at the “right” distances from the central star are easily formed, but they can end up with a wide range of water content. Earth seems to be quite a gem—a rocky planet where not only can liquid water exist for long periods of time, but where water can be found as a heathy oceanful—not too little and not too much. Our planet seems to reside in a benign region of the Galaxy, where comet and asteroid bombardment is tolerable and habitable-zone planets can commonly grow to Earth size. Such real estate in our galaxy—perhaps in any galaxy—is prime for life. And rare as well.
The Ascent Of Information
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Author : Caleb Scharf
language : en
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date : 2022-06-14
The Ascent Of Information written by Caleb Scharf and has been published by Penguin this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022-06-14 with Computers categories.
“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.” —Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Your information has a life of its own, and it’s using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we’ve failed to ask exactly why we’re expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create—all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos—amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it’s an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn’t just something we produce; it’s the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future.
Finding Our Place In The Solar System
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Author : Todd Timberlake
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2019-03-28
Finding Our Place In The Solar System written by Todd Timberlake and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2019-03-28 with Nature categories.
Details the science behind the Copernican Revolution, the transition from the Earth-centered cosmos to a modern understanding of planetary orbits.
Once Upon A Universe
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Author : Robert Gilmore
language : en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2003-11-11
Once Upon A Universe written by Robert Gilmore and has been published by Springer Science & Business Media this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2003-11-11 with Science categories.
First Snow White encounters one of the Little People, then one of the Even Smaller People, and finally one of the Truly Infinitesimal People. And no matter how diligently she searches, the only dwarves she can find are collapsed stars! Clearly, she's not at home in her well-known Brothers Grimm fairy tale, but instead in a strange new landscape that features quantum behavior, the wavelike properties of particles, and the Uncertainty Principle. She (and we) must have entered, in short, one of the worlds created by Robert Gilmore, physicist and fabulist.
Magic Science And Religion In Early Modern Europe
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Author : Mark A. Waddell
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2021-01-28
Magic Science And Religion In Early Modern Europe written by Mark A. Waddell and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2021-01-28 with History categories.
An accessible new exploration of the vibrant world of early modern Europe through a focus on magic, science, and religion.
The Cambridge History Of Philosophy Of The Scientific Revolution
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Author : David Marshall Miller
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2022
The Cambridge History Of Philosophy Of The Scientific Revolution written by David Marshall Miller and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2022 with PHILOSOPHY categories.
"Here is a well-known story. Before sometime in the early modern period, Europeans believed that knowledge of nature came solely from reading books, above all those of Aristotle. Then the humanist re-discovery and translation of various ancient philosophical works led the number of "authorities" to grow, and alongside a monolithic "Aristotelianism" emerged any number of "-isms": Stoicism, Epicureanism, Platonism, Skepticism, and so on. Gradually, philosophers realized that they need not need rely on authorities at all, and began to use their own reason, coupled with experience and experiment. Scholasticism and humanism were dead, and the "Age of Reason" had begun, with Descartes as its iconoclastic father (perhaps with a little help from Bacon)"--
Nicolaus Copernicus
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Author : Barbara A. Somervill
language : en
Publisher: Capstone
Release Date : 2008-02
Nicolaus Copernicus written by Barbara A. Somervill and has been published by Capstone this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008-02 with Juvenile Nonfiction categories.
Profiles the life and work of the Polish astronomer who believed that the planets revolved around the Sun and the Earth was not the center of the universe.