h echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, this is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale. "As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe." So begins Alan Lightman's playful and pro[...]
With passion and curiosity, Alan Lightman explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by recent discoveries in science. He looks at the dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our u[...]
A critical overview of some of the great scientific discoveries of the twentieth century examines the impact of each breakthrough, the personalities and human drama involved, and its meaning in terms of the pattern of scientific discovery, drawing on the original papers of Einstein, Bohr, McClintock[...]
A group of leading physicists--Stephen Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, Igor Novikov, Timothy Ferris, and Alan Lightman--paints a vivid portrait of the possible future of black holes, gravity holes, and time travel in six readable essays that explore the deepest mysteries of the universe. Reprint. 15,000 fir[...]
The author of Einstein's Dreams now presents a collection of essays, written over the past 20 years, that displays his genius for bringing literary and scientific concerns into ringing harmony. Sometimes provocative, sometimes fanciful, always elegantly conceived and written, these meditations offer[...]
An imaginary re-creation of Einstein's discovery of the nature of time, this novel takes readers through the young patent clerk's many dreams depicting compelling conceptions of time. New signed, boxed edition.[...]
The author of Einstein's Dreams presents a deeply personal and insightful collection of essays exploring the human dimensions of science, furnishing vivid portraits of seminal scientists Richard Feynman, Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, and Vera Rubin, as well as reflections on science and art, imagi[...]
"Alan Lightman brings a light touch to heavy questions. Here is a book about nesting ospreys, multiple universes, atheism, spiritualism, and the arrow of time. Throughout, Lightman takes us back and forth between ordinary occurrences--old shoes and entropy, sailing far out at sea and the infinite ex[...]
In their solutions, the authors have attempted to convey a mode of approach to these kinds of problems, revealing procedures that can reduce the labor of calculations while avoiding the pitfall of too much or too powerful formalism. Although well suited for individual use, the volume may also be use[...]
Explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in science, focusing most intently on the human condition and the needs of humankind. This title offers a collection of essays that shows us our own universe from a series of diverse perspectives.[...]
With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, this is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale. "As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe." So begins Alan Lightman's playful and [...]
A modern classic, "Einstein's Dreams" is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In[...]