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-Title: Seeking Ultimates. An Intuitive Guide to Physics.
-Author:
Peter T. Landsberg.
-Publisher:
IOP Publishing.
-Pages:
12 + 314
-Illustrations:
B & W photos and graphics.
-Language:
English.
-Publication Date:
December 1, 1999.
-ISBN: 0750306572

Front Cover

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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Seeking Ultimates takes us on a journey which explores the limits of our scientific knowledge with an emphasis on the gaps which are left. The book starts with everyday concepts such as temperature, and proceeds to energy, the Periodic Table and then to more advanced ideas. Peter T. Landsberg examines the nature of time and entropy, chaos, quantum theory, cosmology ans some aspects of mathematics, confirming that our understanding is necessarily incomplete.

Using references to historical figures in science and thought-provoking illustrations, the book will encourage you to consider your scientific knowledge in a new light. You will be able to reassess your belief in "truths" as presented, for example, by mathematical theorems and to reconsider philosophical issues of theology and happiness. A comprehensive glossary explains technical terms in clear language so that non-scientists can enjoy the text.

(Extracted from the back cover).

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GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
-Contents.
-Introduction.
-Acknowledgments.
-1. What this Book is About.
-2. There is No Free Lunch. Temperature and Energy: Science for the Environment (Hero: Count Rumford)
-3. Painting By Numbers. Elements and Particles: Science As Prediction (Hero: Dmitri Mendeleev)
-4. Why You Cannot Unscramble an Egg. Time and Entropy: Science and the Unity of Knowledge (Hero: Ludwig Boltzmann)
-5. How a Butterfly Caused a Tornado. Chaos and Life: Science as Synthesis (Hero: Charles Darwin)
-6. Now You See It, Now You Don't. Quantum Theory: Science and the Invention of Concepts (Hero: Max Planck)
-7. The Galactic Highway. Cosmology: Science as History (Hero: Albert Einstein)
-8. Weirdness or Purity. Mathematics: Science as Numbers (Hero: Arthur Eddington)
-9. The Last Question. Does God Exist? (Hero: Blaise Pascal)
10- Love of My Life. Science as Human Activity (Hero: Readers are Invited to Choose Their Own)
-Glossary.
-References.
-Index.
-Name Index.

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