Helge Stjernholm Kragh is a Danish historian of science whose scholarship focuses on the history of physics from the mid-19th century onwards, as well as the history of astronomy, cosmology, and chemistry. His work delves into pivotal moments and the evolution of these scientific fields. Kragh examines not only the scientific discoveries themselves but also the broader historical and intellectual contexts in which they emerged. His analyses provide profound insights into the transformations of scientific thought and methodologies.
This book offers an episodic exploration of modern physical sciences, tracing the evolution of physics, chemistry, and astronomy since around 1860. Each chapter presents independent cases that highlight the intriguing connections between laboratory science and observational science. By blending historical authenticity with contemporary scientific insights, it reveals surprising relationships that have shaped our understanding of the natural world.
Focusing on the intriguing narrative of superheavy elements, this work explores the efforts of physicists and chemists to create and discover elements beyond uranium. It highlights the controversies surrounding their synthesis and naming, delving into the criteria that define the discovery of new elements, suggesting that creation may be a more fitting term. The book aims to engage not only scientists but also historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science, providing a comprehensive view of a lesser-known yet fascinating aspect of modern scientific inquiry.
1. How Consciousness Becomes the Physical Universe. Menas Kafatos, Rudolph E. Tanzi, and Deepak Chopra 2. Cosmological Foundations of Consciousness. Chris King 3. The Origin of the Modern Anthropic Principle. Helge Kragh 4. Consciousness in the Universe: Neuroscience, Quantum Space-Time Geometry. Roger Penrose, and Stuart Hameroff 5. What Consciousness Does: A Quantum Cosmology of Mind. Chris J. S. Clarke 6. Quantum Physics & the Multiplicity of Mind: Split-Brains, Fragmented Minds, Dissociation, Quantum Consciousness. R. Joseph 7. Logic of Quantum Mechanics and Phenomenon of Consciousness. Michael B. Mensky 8. Evolution of Paleolithic Cosmology and Spiritual Consciousness. R. Joseph 9. Alien Life and Quantum Consciousness, Randy D. Allen 10. Evolution of Consciousness in the Ancient Corners of the Cosmos. R. Joseph 11. How Consciousness Became the Universe R. Joseph 12. Cosmology and Psyche in the Classical World: Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Ptolemy, Nicholas Campion 13. Was There A Ptolemaic Revolution in Ancient Egyptian Astronomy? Nicholas Campion
The book offers an engaging exploration of Paul Dirac's life and his significant contributions to Quantum Mechanics, highlighting his role as a pioneering figure in the field. It features a cast of influential scientists, making it both entertaining and informative, providing insights into the development of modern physics.
Julius Thomsen, a notable Danish chemist, gained recognition for his detailed and systematic measurements of thermal effects in chemical processes. His work significantly contributed to the field of chemistry, showcasing his expertise and dedication to understanding the intricate relationships between heat and chemical reactions.
The main focus of this book is on the interconnection of two unorthodox scientific ideas, the varying-gravity hypothesis and the expanding-earth hypothesis. As such, it provides a fascinating insight into a nearly forgotten chapter in both the history of cosmology and the history of the earth sciences. The hypothesis that the force of gravity decreases over cosmic time was first proposed by Paul Dirac in 1937. In this book the author examines in detail the historical development of Dirac’s hypothesis and its consequences for the structure and history of the earth, the most important of which was that the earth must have been smaller in the past.
This book tells the fascinating history of cosmology using a series of fictitious interview transcripts with the field's leading scientists, including giants such as Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble, and George Gamow, to give the reader a lively and "almost authentic" impression of the problems that faced this early generation of cosmologists.
A historical account of highly ambitious attempts to understand all of nature
in terms of fundamental physics. Presenting old and new 'theories of
everything' in their historical contexts, the book discusses the nature and
limits of scientific explanation in connection with concrete case studies.
The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the discovery of cosmic acceleration due to dark energy, a discovery that is all the more perplexing as nobody knows what dark energy actually is. We put the modern concept of cosmological vacuum energy into historical context and show how it grew out of disparate roots in quantum mechanics (zero-point energy) and relativity theory (the cosmological constant, Einstein's “greatest blunder”). These two influences have remained strangely aloof and still co-exist in an uneasy alliance that is at the heart of the greatest crisis in theoretical physics, the cosmological-constant problem.
The planet Venus is the closest neighbour to the Earth and in several respects similar to our globe. It revolves around the Sun at an average distance of 0. 72 astronomical units, in an elliptical orbit of eccentricity 0. 007. The corresponding 3 numbers for the Earth are 1 and 0. 017. The mean density of Venus is 5. 2 g/cm , 3 that of the Earth 5. 5 g/cm . Venus’ acceleration of gravity at its equator is 8. 9 2 2 m/s , compared with 9. 8 m/s at the Earth. The escape velocity is 10. 4 km/s, while the corresponding ? gure of the Earth is 11. 2 km/s. Although the mass of Venus is somewhat smaller than that of the Earth – the ratio is M /M =0. 815 V E – the diameters of the two planets are almost the same. In other words, Venus is indeed a sister planet of the Earth. In earlier times, when almost nothing was known about the physical con- tions of Venus, the similarity appeared even stronger than today. Not only was Venus’ period of rotation thought to be close to that of the Earth, it wasalso p- sible (and indeed common) to imagine intelligent life on Venus.
