Ebook Info
- Published: 2010
- Number of pages: 228 pages
- Format: PDF
- File Size: 1.47 MB
- Authors: Michael Heller
Description
We humans are collectively driven by a powerful – yet not fully explained – instinct to understand. We would like to see everything established, proven, laid bare. The more important an issue, the more we desire to see it clarified, stripped of all secrets, all shades of gray. What could be more important than to understand the Universe and ourselves as a part of it? To find a window onto our origin and our destiny? This book examines how far our modern cosmological theories – with their sometimes audacious models, such as inflation, cyclic histories, quantum creation, parallel universes – can take us towards answering these questions. Can such theories lead us to ultimate truths, leaving nothing unexplained? Last, but not least, Heller addresses the thorny problem of why and whether we should expect to find theories with all-encompassing explicative power.
User’s Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Review From the reviews:“This reviewer was surprised to find an entire book devoted to ‘ultimate explanations,’ but understood more after learning about the author’s credentials. … The modern physics contributions are appropriate and up-to-date, e.g., inflation and the big bang. … A valuable book for all college libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic, general, and professional audiences, all levels.” (K. L. Schick, Choice, Vol. 47 (11), July, 2010) From the Back Cover We humans are collectively driven by a powerful – yet not fully explained – instinct to understand. We would like to see everything established, proven, laid bare. The more important an issue, the more we desire to see it clarified, stripped of all secrets, all shades of gray. What could be more important than to understand the Universe and ourselves as a part of it? To find a window onto our origin and our destiny? This book examines how far our modern cosmological theories – with their sometimes audacious models, such as inflation, cyclic histories, quantum creation, parallel universes – can take us towards answering these questions. Can such theories lead us to ultimate truths, leaving nothing unexplained? Last, but not least, Heller addresses the thorny problem of why and whether we should expect to find theories with all-encompassing explicative power. About the Author Prof. Michael HellerBirth date and place: March 12 1936, Tarnów, Poland.1966 Ph.D. – Catholic University of Lublin, Thesis in relativistic cosmology.1969 docent degree (assistant professorship), Catholic University of Lublin.1985 extraordinary professorship (professor extraordinarius), Pontifical Academy of Theology, Faculty of Philosophy, Cracow.1990 Ordinary Professorship (professor ordinarius), Pontifical Academy of Theology, Faculty of Philosophy, Cracow.1996 Doctor honoris causa – Thechnological University A.G.H. in Cracow.At present: professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, Cracow, Poland and the adjoined member of the Vatican Observatory (which is an astronomical observatory). Ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Rome), elected in 1991.Membership of: International Astronomical Union, International Society for General Relativity and Gravitation, European Physical Society, International Society for the Study of Time, Polskie Towarzystwo Fizyczne, Polskie Towarzystwo Astronomiczne and other societiesFields of scientific research: Relativistic physics, in particular relativistic cosmology; geometric methods in relativistic physics, Philosophy and history of science, Science and theologyResearch visits: Visiting professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (1977, 1982), Oxford University, United Kingdom (1982), Leicester University, United Kingdom (1982), Ruhr University, Germany, The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C, USA (1986), University of Arizona (Vatican Research Group), Tucson, USA (1986), Licge University, Belgium (1996), Gregorian University, Rome (2004, 2006) and othersWinner of 2008 Templeton Prize Read more
Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:
⭐This is a very satisfying book, even if it falls short of actually providing a “better” ultimate explanation than those you can already find scattered in the literature. What it does is summarize (very eloquently, I might add) the various explanations that have been ventured by philosophers and scientists over the years (up to 2009), and which typically can only be found by reading a dozen different books. This short volume contains an up-to-date synopsis of what is known, focusing on the more recent theories, and mercifully bypassing the historical surveys and obscure semantic tangles that make other texts so boring. It is philosophical in style, rather than mathematical (it contains virtually no equations or explicit models, which is perhaps the only aspect of the text that I found a bit disappointing). The prose is precise and even witty at times, and the translation from the original Polish does an excellent job of making the reader believe that it was written by a native English speaker.
⭐Good Read
⭐I am very interested in the subject matter and Heller’s mind. But i can’t afford it. Printing and distriibuting hardcover books is costly. But when an ebook is priced at $45, I’m puzzled. I have heard the bizarre argument that it’s to cover the losses on paper books.Springer is a leading publisher of the scientific journals that are crucial in distributing the results of research. Unless you are subsidized, meaning that your university pays Springer’s exhorbitant fees, for a private party reading the full articles is prohibitive, typically over $25 per article. For the common folk the sensational and slanted summaries in the newspapers are apparently more appropriate. The problem is serious. Two-tiered knowledge: the real thing for the rich and well-connected, and b.s. for the masses.Scientists who publish are largely employed by state institutions. We the taxpayers pay their salaries and fund their laboratories. We make the research possible. Why on earth should we pay again to access the results? And why should a private company like Springer benefit?In Heller’s case he is affiliated with the Vatican and multiple universities. I have no objection to an author earning a living. And I’m proud we sponsor his work. But since he cogitates largely on our nickel, paying Springer $45 to download a file is abusive, part of the economics of the very rich vs. the vanishing middle class. I suppose that when the mob comes to break the windows of the universities that they can no longer afford to attend, their ignorance will make them all the more brutish and vindictive.
⭐Ein höchst interessantes Buch über “Gott und die Welt”: Entstehung des Universums, Verlauf der Geschichte “im Großen” usw. Das beste Buch, das ich je gelesen habe.
⭐
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