If you move at high speed, time slows down, space squashes up and you get heavier. Travel fast enough and you could weigh as much as a jumbo jet, be flattened thinner than a CD without feeling a thing-and live forever! As for the angles of a triangle, they do not always have to add up to 180 degrees. And then, of course, there are black holes. These are but a few of the extraordinary consequences of Einstein's theory of relativity. It is now over a hundred years since he made these discoveries, and yet the general public is still largely unaware of them. Filled with illuminating anecdotes and fascinating accounts of experiments, this book aims to introduce the interested lay person to the subject of relativity in a way which is accessible and engaging and at the same time scientifically rigorous. With relatively few mathematical equations--nothing more complicated than the Pythagoras's Theorem--this VSI packs a lot time into very little space, and for anyone who has felt intimidated by Einstein's groundbreaking theory, it offers the perfect place to start. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Relativity: A Very Short Introduction

Science & Math

Stannard, Russell

Mathematics

Oxford University Press

The End of Discovery: Are We Approaching the Boundaries of the Knowable?

Many scientists make extravagant claims as to the scope and power of scientific thinking, claiming that ultimately it will provide a complete understanding of everything. But Russell Stannard, himself an eminent high-energy physicist, strongly disagrees with this grandiose claim. Indeed, in The End of Discovery, Stannard argues that eventually--perhaps in a few decades, perhaps in a few centuries--fundamental science will reach the limit of what it can explain. On that day, the scientific age, like the stone age and the iron age before it, will come to an end. To highlight the boundaries of scientific understanding, Stannard takes readers on an engaging tour of some of the deepest questions facing science today--questions to do with consciousness, free will, the nature of space, time, and matter, the existence of extraterrestrial life, and much more. For instance, from his own research field, he points out that to understand the subatomic world, scientists depend of particle accelerators, but to understand the very smallest units of nature, it has been calculated that we would need an accelerator the size of a galaxy. Clearly, unless a new approach comes along, we might never understand fully the most basic building blocks of the universe. As a scientist, Stannard remains hopeful that several of the questions addressed will one day be answered. But other puzzles will remain for all time--and we may never even realize it when we have hit an insuperable barrier in those directions. He assures us that there will always be new uses of scientific knowledge. Technology will continue. But fundamental science itself--the making of fresh discoveries as to how the world works--must ultimately grind to a halt.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Praised as "lucid and provocative" (New Statesman) and "a tour of some of the deepest questions facing science" (The Independent), this fascinating book highlights the outer limits of scientific understanding, taking readers on an engaging tour of some of the most perplexing issues facing science today--questions to do with consciousness, free will, the nature of space, time, and matter, the existence of extraterrestrial life, and much more. Stannard argues that eventually--perhaps in a few decades, perhaps in a few centuries--fundamental science will reach the limit of what it can explain. As a scientist, Stannard remains hopeful that several of the questions he addresses here will one day be answered. But other puzzles will remain for all time--and we may never even realize it when we have hit an insuperable barrier in those directions. He assures us that there will always be new uses of scientific knowledge. Technology will continue. But fundamental science itself--the making of fresh discoveries as to how the world works--must ultimately grind to a halt.

History & Philosophy

The so-called New Atheists receive much publicity, but their demand to be provided with incontrovertible evidence for the existence of God, and that such evidence must come from a scientific examination of the physical world, is the wrong approach. As many theologians and philosophers have claimed, the search for God begins by looking inwards into oneself. But what does that mean? Surely looking inwards we find nothing but the contents of one's own mind. Where does God come in? It is by the examination of the contents of the mind and trying to understand how they got there that one seeks clues about God's influence on the mind. Our consciousness bears a resemblance to that consciousness from which it is directly derived. It bears his imprint. It is from the characteristics of that imprint we get to know what kind of God we are dealing with. Only then can we be open to realizing how that other creation of his, the physical world, also bears his imprint.

The Divine Imprint: Finding God In The Human Mind

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

SPCK Publishing

Illustrated in full color. "First of all, there was God. That's all there was--just God. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. God made the universe!" Children can follow the story of God's creation as they flip through the bright, colorful pages of this unique flap book. From the creation of light and stars to the creation of the earth, planets, animals, and, finally, humans, here's a playful and informative look at the beginning of the world and how we came to be a part of it.

A Short History of God, Me and the Universe

Children's Books

Random House, Inc.

Doing Away With God?: Creation and the New Cosmology

Harpercollins

Uncle Albert, the famous scientist, has got stuck. To unlock the deep mysteries of space and time someone must agree to be beamed up into the unknown world of the thought bubble. His brave niece, Gadanken, decides to risk it. So begin her exciting and astonishing adventures.

Time And Space of Uncle Albert

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Faber&Faber

Published as a companion to "The Time and Space of Uncle Albert", this book follows Uncle Albert and his niece Gedanken as they make more astonishing discoveries: the exploding universe, wonky jelly space, black holes, shrinking tape measures and how it is that we are made of stardust.

Black Holes and Uncle Albert

illustrations by John Levers

Literature & Fiction

Sam starts to get strange messages through his new computer from a hacker who calls himself "I Am" and who says he is everywhere and knows everything. By exploring Old and New Testament teaching in relation to modern scientific theory, the author encourages young people to consider religious faith.

Here I Am

In conversations with British and American scientists and theologians such as the biologist Steven Rose, the psychiatrist Montague Barker, and the Archbishop of York, the author addresses questions about science and belief. The topics discussed include how we should view ourselves in the light of modern science, how scientists react to the vastness of the universe, whether the universe was created by the Big Bang and the idea of a creator is thereby ruled out, how mankind might continue to evolve, and what Einstein meant when to he said that "God does not play dice". The book ties in with a BBC Radio 4 series.

Science and Wonders : Conversations About Science and Belief

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stannard, Russell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stannard, Russell

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stannard, Russell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Relativity: A Very Short Introduction

The End of Discovery: Are We Approaching the Boundaries of the Knowable?

The End of Discovery: Are We Approaching the Boundaries of the Knowable?

The Divine Imprint: Finding God In The Human Mind

A Short History of God, Me and the Universe

Doing Away With God?: Creation and the New Cosmology

Time And Space of Uncle Albert

Black Holes and Uncle Albert

Here I Am

Science and Wonders : Conversations About Science and Belief