Peter V. Coveney Books

Referring to "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, " H. L. Mencken noted that his discovery of this classic American novel was "the most stupendous event of my whole life"; Ernest Hemingway declared that "all modern American literature stems from this one book," while T. S. Eliot called Huck "one of the permanent symbolic figures of fiction, not unworthy to take a place with Ulysses, Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan, Hamlet." The novel's preeminence derives from its wonderfully imaginative re-creation of boyhood adventures along the mighty Mississippi River, its inspired characterization, the author's remarkable ear for dialogue, and the book's understated development of serious underlying themes: "natural" man versus "civilized" society, the evils of slavery, the innate value and dignity of human beings, the stultifying effects of convention, and other topics. But most of all, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a wonderful story filled with high adventure and unforgettable characters (including the great river itself) that no one who has read it will ever forget. Unabridged Dover (1994) republication of the text of the first American edition, published by Charles L. Webster and Company, New York, 1885. New introductory Note."

Explores how complexity, a new way of thinking about the behaviour of interacting units, is transforming the way we think, and the assumptions that underlie conventional science. Examines the rise of the electronic computer as key and catalyst to the study of complexity; explores current innovations such as fuzzy logic, and computers which exploit quantum mechanics and run on light; and reveals cyberspace universes where organisms compete for resources as they reproduce, mutate and evolve

In this book physical chemist Dr Peter Coveney and award-winning science journalist Dr Roger Highfield have questioned our understanding of science with their humorous reinterpretation of the most profound aspect of time - why it points from the past to the future. The author's challenge to scientific preconceptions about the irreversibility of time is designed to link apparently irreconcilable features of science, from Einstein's obsession with causality to chaos theory, from the cause of jet lag to the Monday morning feeling.

This book explores the groundbreaking efforts to create virtual humans, encompassing everything from cells and organs to entire populations. The technology behind virtual humans holds immense promise for personalized medicine, enabling virtual drug trials on thousands of digital twins and offering insights into how lifestyle changes could affect individual health. This "virtual you" could revolutionize healthcare and potentially extend lifespans, while also raising important philosophical and ethical questions. However, significant computational challenges must be addressed to realize these virtual representations and achieve truly personalized and predictive medicine. The focus is on the intricate problems within computer and physical sciences, such as the necessary detail in models, current modeling capabilities, and the complexities of simulating chaotic systems. The book discusses the integration of various mathematical models, the potential of new computing technologies like quantum computation, and the limitations of digital simulation. It concludes with a thought-provoking assertion that while advancements in exascale and quantum computing will take us far, we may need to revisit analog technologies and leverage special metamaterials to effectively simulate the human body's complexity and solve intricate equations through light manipulation.

¿Se puede viajar a través del tiempo? ¿Es irrecuperable el pasado? ¿Cuál es la verdadera naturaleza del devenir? Los diversos significados del tiempo en las actuales teorías científicas.

Podtitul: Hranice komplexity - Hledání řádu v chaotickém světě Průkopnická práce ukazující nové obzory vědy. Komplexita, hlavní téma knihy, je moderní interdisciplinární záležitostí, zabývající se souborem témat z takových vědních oborů, jako je umělá inteligence, statistická fyzika, neurobiologie, či dokonce sociologie. Komplexita je všude tam, kde hraničí chaos s řádem. Z vědeckého hlediska je složitější a zajímavější než chaos, jemuž bylo věnováno mnoho vědeckého úsilí a o němž už byla napsána řada knih. Právě tam, kde se chaos setkává s řádem, se totiž odehrávají tak úžasné věci, jako je život či myšlení. Autoři navazují na práce takových velikánů vědy, jako byl Richard Feynman, Kurt Gödel, John von Neumann, Ilya Prigogine a Alan Turing, kteří otevřeli cestu od redukcionismu ke komplexitě. S předmluvou Barucha Blumberga.

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