In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have foundit out but…how clever nature is to pay attention to it" and steers his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws. Rather than an essay on the most significant achievements in modern science, The Character of Physical Lawis a statement of what is most remarkable in nature. Feynman’s enlightened approach, his wit, and his enthusiasm make this a memorable exposition of the scientist’s craft. The law of gravitation is the author’s principal example. Relating the details of its discovery and stressing its mathematical character, he uses it to demonstrate the essential interaction of mathematics and physics. He views mathematics as the key to any system of scientific laws, suggesting that if it were possible to fill out the structure of scientific theory completely, the result would be an integrated set of mathematical axioms. The principles of conservation, symmetry, and time irreversibility are then considered in relation to developments in classical and modern physics, and in his final lecture, Feynman develops his own analysis of the process and future of scientific discovery.
Like any set of oral reflections, The Character of Physical Law has special value as a demonstration of the mind in action. The reader is particularly lucky in Richard Feynman - one of the most eminent and imaginative modern physicists.
Duration: 5 hrs and 57 mins
BitRate: 95 kbps
File Format: .Mp3
File Size: 327.08 MB
In this groundbreaking classic, investigative journalist Lynne McTaggart reveals a radical new paradigm - that the human mind and body are not separate from their environment but a packet of pulsating power constantly interacting with this vast energy sea, and that consciousness may be central in shaping our world. The Field is a highly listenable scientific detective story presenting a stunning picture of an interconnected universe and a new scientific theory that makes sense of supernatural phenomena. Documented by distinguished sources, The Field is an audiobook of hope and inspiration for today's world.
Duration: 10 hrs and 13 mins
BitRate: 95 kbps
File Format: .Mp3
File Size: 94.47 MB
Publisher's Summary
The Big Bang is all but dead, and we do not yet know what will replace it. Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us here on Earth? Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken again - as altered as they were with the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.
In About Time, Adam Frank explains how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universe's origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness 50,000 years ago, our lived experience of time - from hunting and gathering to the development of agriculture to the industrial revolution to the invention of Outlook calendars - has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmology - time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflation - are about to send us in a new direction. Time is both our grandest and most intimate conception of the universe. Many books tell the story, recounting the progress of scientific cosmology. Frank tells the story of humanity's deepest question - when and how did everything begin? - alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time. He looks at the way our engagement with the world - our inventions, our habits and more - has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries, in turn, inform our daily experience. This astounding book will change the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.
Duration: 13 hrs and 31 min
BitRate: 95 kbps
File Format: .Mp3
File Size: 558.1 MB
