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Physicists On Wall Street And Other Essays On Science And Society
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Book Synopsis Physicists on Wall Street and Other Essays on Science and Society by : Jeremy Bernstein
Download or read book Physicists on Wall Street and Other Essays on Science and Society written by Jeremy Bernstein and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-11-02 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the years, Jeremy Bernstein has been in contact with many of the world’s most renowned physicists and other scientists, many of whom were involved in politics, literature, and language. In this diverse collection of essays, he reflects on their work, their personal relationships, their motives, and their contributions. Even for those people he writes about that he did not know personally, he provides important insights into their lives and work, and questions their character, their decisions, and the lives they led. In the first three essays, Professor Bernstein looks at economic theory and how some physicists who developed interesting economic models based on derivatives and hedge funds almost led to the country into bankruptcy. In later essays, he discusses a suspect visit to Poland by the great Heisenberg during the Nazi era, a visit that there is almost nothing written about. Included also are essays on ancient languages and a nuclear weapons program in South Africa that was supposedly dismantled. In one particularly humorous essay, he describes how an ill-conceived manned spaceship to be powered by an atomic bomb was being developed by some of the country’s most powerful intellects. The project never got off the ground. Dipping into these pages is like rummaging around in the mind of a genius who has a potpourri of interests and an abundance of fascinating experiences. Bernstein has not only rubbed elbows with some of the finest minds in world, he has worked and played with them. He has sometimes mourned with them and laughed at them. His sharp wit and even sharper analysis make for a fascinating read.
Book Synopsis The Physics of Wall Street by : James Owen Weatherall
Download or read book The Physics of Wall Street written by James Owen Weatherall and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2013 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young scholar tells the story of the physicists and mathematicians who created the models that have become the basis of modern finance and argues that these models are the "solution" to--not the source of--our current economic woes.
Download or read book Quantum Legacies written by David Kaiser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Physicists have grappled with quantum theory for over a century. They have learned to wring precise answers from the theory's governing equations, and no experiment to date has found compelling evidence to contradict it. Even so, the conceptual apparatus remains stubbornly, famously bizarre. Physicists have tackled these conceptual uncertainties while navigating still larger ones: the rise of fascism, cataclysmic world wars and a new nuclear age, an unsteady Cold War stand-off and its unexpected end. Quantum Legacies introduces readers to physics' still-unfolding quest by treating iconic moments of discovery and debate among well-known figures like Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrèodinger, and Stephen Hawking, and many others whose contributions have indelibly shaped our understanding of nature"--
Book Synopsis The American Political Economy by : Jacob S. Hacker
Download or read book The American Political Economy written by Jacob S. Hacker and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-11-11 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together leading political scientists to explore the distinctive features of the American political economy. The introductory chapter provides a comparatively informed framework for analyzing the interplay of markets and politics in the United States, focusing on three key factors: uniquely fragmented and decentralized political institutions; an interest group landscape characterized by weak labor organizations and powerful, parochial business groups; and an entrenched legacy of ethno-racial divisions embedded in both government and markets. Subsequent chapters look at the fundamental dynamics that result, including the place of the courts in multi-venue politics, the political economy of labor, sectional conflict within and across cities and regions, the consolidation of financial markets and corporate monopoly and monopsony power, and the ongoing rise of the knowledge economy. Together, the chapters provide a revealing new map of the politics of democratic capitalism in the United States.
Book Synopsis A Comprehensible World by : Jeremy Bernstein
Download or read book A Comprehensible World written by Jeremy Bernstein and published by . This book was released on 1955 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Perfect Bet written by Adam Kucharski and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-02-23 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An elegant and amusing account" of how gambling has been reshaped by the application of science and revealed the truth behind a lucky bet (Wall Street Journal). For the past 500 years, gamblers-led by mathematicians and scientists-have been trying to figure out how to pull the rug out from under Lady Luck. In The Perfect Bet, mathematician and award-winning writer Adam Kucharski tells the astonishing story of how the experts have succeeded, revolutionizing mathematics and science in the process. The house can seem unbeatable. Kucharski shows us just why it isn't. Even better, he demonstrates how the search for the perfect bet has been crucial for the scientific pursuit of a better world.
Book Synopsis Physics in the Twentieth Century: Selected Essays by : Victor Frederick Weisskopf
Download or read book Physics in the Twentieth Century: Selected Essays written by Victor Frederick Weisskopf and published by Mit Press. This book was released on 1972 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This selection of essays covers a wide range of subjects connected with the physical sciences and their relation to human affairs. They are broadly conceived and directed to a generally interested audience rather than to specialists in particular areas. Some are written for the initiated, some are broad synopses of a branch of physics and are directed to the scientifically interested layman. Some deal with more philosophic questions such as Niels Bohr's ideas on complementarity, and others deal with the problems of science, ethics, and society. Hans Bethe writes as follows in the Foreword: "His summary articles on special topics are lucid and are 'popular scientific writing' at its best. The subject is made clear to physicists in other branches of physics and to the educated public by simplifying it, but without ever making a compromise with fundamental accuracy, as many popular writers on science do when they get enamored with their own imagery and forget the subject that they really want to explain. Viki's [Weisskopf's] main concern, as of most theoretical physicists, is the correct interpretation of the quantum theory.... This theme is already prominent in 1951 in his article 'Quantity and Quality in Quantum Physics.' Here he makes clear how a quantitative difference, such as the number of electrons of 6 in a carbon and 11 in a sodium atom, makes all the difference in the qualitative behavior of these two chemical elements. He also foresees, at this early time, some of the developments in biology related to DNA. "The summary article about electron theory (1949) is written essentially for physicists. He summarizes the great advances brought about by the renormalization theory which gives finite results for all observable quantities and is fundamental to modern field theory. His own field of nuclear physics is summarized in 'Problems of Nuclear Structure' (1961), in a simpler form in 'Nuclear Models' (1951). Weisskopf is always excited by important developments in physics even if he himself has not contributed. A major one of these [was described in] the 'Fall of Parity.' This article is a beautiful example of his ability to make things understandable without changing the essentials. In the 'Visual Appearance of Rapidly Moving Objects' he explains the discovery of Penrose that a rapidly moving object looks to us as it if had its natural shape and is not distorted by the Lorentz contraction as had previously been believed; in fact, without relativity theory it would look badly distorted. His 'How Light Interacts with Matter' is rich in new insights. "The theme is further developed in 'Physics in the Twentieth Century' and 'The Quantum Ladder.'... I don't know of any other place where the essential solidity of our world as governed by quantum theory is better explained, or the great richness of the phenomena caused by quantitative differences is shown with greater love." In addition to those mentioned above, the book includes a number of other essays. These concern physical theory (articles on the compound nucleus and on elementary particles), the human aspects of scientific research (articles on Niels Bohr and on Marie Curie), and biological theory (considerations of symmetry and function at the macromolecular level and of the quantum basis of organic reproduction). A final group of essays is concerned with such issues as the intrinsic value of science, the contributions of science to society, and scientific ethics. The latter is described by Bethe as "A most beautiful and concise statement of the scientist's creed."
Book Synopsis The Day We Found the Universe by : Marcia Bartusiak
Download or read book The Day We Found the Universe written by Marcia Bartusiak and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-03-09 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The riveting and mesmerizing story behind a watershed period in human history, the discovery of the startling size and true nature of our universe. On New Years Day in 1925, a young Edwin Hubble released his finding that our Universe was far bigger, eventually measured as a thousand trillion times larger than previously believed. Hubble’s proclamation sent shock waves through the scientific community. Six years later, in a series of meetings at Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble and others convinced Albert Einstein that the Universe was not static but in fact expanding. Here Marcia Bartusiak reveals the key players, battles of will, clever insights, incredible technology, ground-breaking research, and wrong turns made by the early investigators of the heavens as they raced to uncover what many consider one of most significant discoveries in scientific history.
Book Synopsis Encounters with Einstein by : Werner Heisenberg
Download or read book Encounters with Einstein written by Werner Heisenberg and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1989-10-21 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In nine essays and lectures composed in the last years of his life, Werner Heisenberg offers a bold appraisal of the scientific method in the twentieth century--and relates its philosophical impact on contemporary society and science to the particulars of molecular biology, astrophysics, and related disciplines. Are the problems we define and pursue freely chosen according to our conscious interests? Or does the historical process itself determine which phenomena merit examination at any one time? Heisenberg discusses these issues in the most far-ranging philosophical terms, while illustrating them with specific examples.
Book Synopsis Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation by : George Musser
Download or read book Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation written by George Musser and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a delightful account of one of the deepest and most fascinating explorations going on today at the frontier of our knowledge." —Carlo Rovelli, bestselling author of The Order of Time and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics A revelatory exploration of how a "theory of everything" depends upon our understanding of the human mind The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed—that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same is true of cosmology: our view of the universe is inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so whether they’re studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists must first explain consciousness—and for that they must turn to neuroscientists and philosophers of mind. Neuroscientists have painstakingly built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? These same physicists, meanwhile, are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects around us. Could their discoveries help explain how neurons produce our conscious experience? Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles the extraordinary interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, human consciousness, and artificial intelligence. Combining vivid descriptive writing with portraits of scientists working on the cutting edge, Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind—and how they might be one and the same.
Download or read book Physics and Society written by V. Stefan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1998-03-24 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The essays in this book are by some of the world's leading physicists, including seven Nobel Prize winners. The essays address topics ranging from Weisskopf's contributions to theoretical physics to more intimate views of his role as a teacher, friend, and humanist."--BOOK JACKET.
Book Synopsis The Physicists by : Daniel J. Kevles
Download or read book The Physicists written by Daniel J. Kevles and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This magnificent account of the coming of age of physics in America has been heralded as the best introduction to the history of science in the United States. Unsurpassed in its breadth and literary style, Kevles's account portrays the brilliant scientists who became a powerful force in bringing the world into a revolutionary new era. The book ranges widely as it links these exciting developments to the social, cultural, and political changes that occurred from the post-Civil War years to the present. Throughout, Kevles keeps his eye on the central question of how an avowedly elitist enterprise grew and prospered in a democratic culture. In this new edition, the author has brought the story up to date by providing an extensive, authoritative, and colorful account of the Superconducting Super Collider, from its origins in the international competition and intellectual needs of high-energy particle physics, through its establishment as a multibillion-dollar project, to its termination, in 1993, as a result of angry opposition within the American physics community and the Congress.
Book Synopsis A Physicist on Madison Avenue by : Tony Rothman
Download or read book A Physicist on Madison Avenue written by Tony Rothman and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "These essays, which bear the mark of Rothman's outspoken humor and dislike for pretense, convey essential ideas to general readers on such topics as the future of the universe, the design of particle accelerators, the intelligent use of statistics, and the making of quality musical instruments. At the same time they provide insight into how the mind of a scientist works, not only in research but also in the "real" world of three-piece suits and mass media. The outlook of physicists, according to the author, often puts them at odds with nonscientists--but Rothman never hides his points of disagreement. In his title essay on being a major magazine editor, he recalls using bell curves and elementary statistics in an attempt to convince the circulation department that fluctuations in sales are unavoidable (despite what they thought). Although Rothman claims that scientists do enjoy playing the role of Faust, the scholar in eternal pursuit of Truth, his essays attest to a scientific interest fully in tune with human concerns"--From publisher description.
Book Synopsis Existential Physics by : Sabine Hossenfelder
Download or read book Existential Physics written by Sabine Hossenfelder and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-08-09 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “An informed and entertaining guide to what science can and cannot tell us.” —The Wall Street Journal “Stimulating . . . encourage[s] readers to push past well-trod assumptions […] and have fun doing so.” —Science Magazine From renowned physicist and creator of the YouTube series “Science without the Gobbledygook,” a book that takes a no-nonsense approach to life’s biggest questions, and wrestles with what physics really says about the human condition Not only can we not currently explain the origin of the universe, it is questionable we will ever be able to explain it. The notion that there are universes within particles, or that particles are conscious, is ascientific, as is the hypothesis that our universe is a computer simulation. On the other hand, the idea that the universe itself is conscious is difficult to rule out entirely. According to Sabine Hossenfelder, it is not a coincidence that quantum entanglement and vacuum energy have become the go-to explanations of alternative healers, or that people believe their deceased grandmother is still alive because of quantum mechanics. Science and religion have the same roots, and they still tackle some of the same questions: Where do we come from? Where do we go to? How much can we know? The area of science that is closest to answering these questions is physics. Over the last century, physicists have learned a lot about which spiritual ideas are still compatible with the laws of nature. Not always, though, have they stayed on the scientific side of the debate. In this lively, thought-provoking book, Hossenfelder takes on the biggest questions in physics: Does the past still exist? Do particles think? Was the universe made for us? Has physics ruled out free will? Will we ever have a theory of everything? She lays out how far physicists are on the way to answering these questions, where the current limits are, and what questions might well remain unanswerable forever. Her book offers a no-nonsense yet entertaining take on some of the toughest riddles in existence, and will give the reader a solid grasp on what we know—and what we don’t know.
Download or read book Third Thoughts written by Steven Weinberg and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the world’s most captivating scientists challenges us to think about nature’s foundations and the entanglement of science and society. Steven Weinberg, author of The First Three Minutes, offers his views on fascinating aspects of physics and the universe, but does not seclude science behind disciplinary walls, or shy away from politics.
Book Synopsis Spiritual Evolution by : John Marks Templeton
Download or read book Spiritual Evolution written by John Marks Templeton and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 1998-06 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These personal essays by esteemed scientists worldwide describe the spiritual journeys they have taken. Autohirs share their own experiences of learning to blend an understanding of the Divine with scientific perspectives.
Book Synopsis The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by : Richard P. Feynman
Download or read book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out written by Richard P. Feynman and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2005-04-06 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection from scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner highlights the achievements of a man whose career reshaped the world's understanding of quantum electrodynamics. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman-from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science-a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will fascinate anyone interested in the world of ideas.
