Physics

Fall ’08 Reading List

November 3, 2008
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I’ve compiled quite a list for the rest of this year. I’ve actually finished a few of these but I wanted to write them down so that I can keep the list up to date. Not that anyone really cares what I’m reading, but I go back to these lists to find conscious and unconscious themes in my interests. I’m still tackling a lot of religious themes and also took a detour last month to read a few books by Barack Obama.

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Inconvenient Facts in Physics

April 14, 2008

There is an interesting article on Suppressed Science about the bizarre belief that science has just about gotten it all wrapped up. Many scientists believe that they are somehow on the verge of knowing everything. I know that sounds laughable but this is a real position taken by many within the scientific community. Here is an excerpt from the article:

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The Physics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations

July 27, 2007

The late Carl Sagan once asked this question, “What does it mean for a civilization to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilization is a few hundred years old… an advanced civilization millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bush baby or a macaque.”

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String Theory for Dummies

March 7, 2005
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I make reference to M Theory (or String Theory) here quite often – unless you’re really up on the latest in theoretical physics you might not understand these concepts. Last year PBS produced an awesome introduction to this topic called The Elegant Universe. The program is based on the best-seller of the same name by physicist, Brian Greene. Greene is also the show’s host and does an excellent job of bringing us up to speed on the past 100 years of physics. Most of what we learned in the classroom is hopelessly out of date. Though the old stuff is still true in many senses – it’s not half as exciting or interesting as many of the new developments in physics today. Watch a preview video clip here.

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