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Title: The Matter Myth: Dramatic Discoveries That Challenge Our Understanding of Physical Reality by Paul Davies, John Gribbin ISBN: 0-671-72841-5 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 January, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great book!
Comment: Simply an awesome book. Only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because some explanations are not as straightforward as they should be. Overall: VERY GOOD!
Rating: 5
Summary: Matter and substance.
Comment: If somebody is interested in modern physical theories about 'matter', he should read this book. It is written in a clear and very understandable vocabulary.
The main items in this book are the transformation of matter in waves and/or particles in the quantum theory, or its replacement by weird excitations and vibrations in the quantum field theory.
But he will also find good explanations of other phenomena, like the Kaluza-Klein space, the mathematical foundation of anti-matter, the not so empty empty space, the not so present present, the flowing or not flowing time, the disappearance of time, superstrings and chaos theory.
A further must read is the book of Brian Greene 'The elegant universe'.
Not to be missed.
Rating: 4
Summary: Aging paradigms crumble beneath the 'new' physics.
Comment: Issues regarding nonlinear phenomena and systems, as well as quantum physics, string theory, and philosophy of science are examined.
Physicists Davies and Gribbin, two of sciences most prolific writers, discuss the reasons for the impending death of the materialist paradigm which took an almost absolute grip on the philosophy of science immediately after the publication of Newton's Principia. In fact they state that (whether or not it is widely recognized) the reductionists' "mechanistic" paradigm is now dead. "It is fitting that physics -- the science that gave rise to materialism -- should also signal the demise of materialism. ...the new physics has blown apart the central tenets of materialist doctrine in a sequence of stunning developments. ...in the abstract wonderland of the new physics it seems that only mathematics can help us to make sense of nature."
The problem is not that mechanistic Newtonian science is "wrong" but rather that it addresses only a limited representation of actual truth. The book also contains excellent descriptions of things like white dwarfs, neutron stars, and the difficulties in developing a quantum theory of gravity. Theories of wormholes, strings, and GUTs are well presented. The final chapter indulges in speculation about "exotic (non-carbon based, non-DNA based) biologies" -- which the authors concede should not be taken seriously -- and about the difficulties with ideas of "spontaneous generation" and "extra-terrestrial intelligence". The authors proceed to set aside their own cautions and speculate on these ideas, making the final chapter an exercise in science fiction. Otherwise a very good book.
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Title: ABOUT TIME: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution by P. C. W. Davies ISBN: 0684818221 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 April, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: MIND OF GOD: THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR A RATIONAL WORLD by Paul Davies ISBN: 0671797182 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 March, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The FIFTH MIRACLE: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life by P. C. W. Davies, Paul Davies ISBN: 068486309X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics (Canto S.) by P. C. W. Davies, J. R. Brown ISBN: 0521457289 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: GOD AND THE NEW PHYSICS by Paul Davies ISBN: 0671528068 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 October, 1984 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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