Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality

Description

"A leading physicist unravels the mysteries of the universe through pleasingly paradoxical Zen- style vignettes. Cosmological Koans takes a fresh approach to explaining the most mind- bending concepts in physics and cosmology by invoking the ancient Zen tradition of the Koan. Anthony Aguirre presents more than fifty beguiling Koans (Could there be a civilization in a mote of dust? How much of your fate have you made? Who cleans the universe?) that explore the strange hinterland between the deep structure of the physical world and our personal experience of it. Aguirre covers cosmic questions from the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes, and shows how scientific giants from Aristotle to Galileo to Heisenberg have grappled with them. A playful and enlightening book, Cosmological Koans gives readers what Einstein himself called 'the most beautiful and deepest experience' anyone can have: a sense of the mysterious"--;Part 1. The path laid out before us -- Part 2. An uncertain trail through treacherous terrain -- Part 3. Torn apart and reassembled -- Part 4. Loft peaks with endless views -- Part 5. Who am I? Don't know! -- Part 6. Form is emptiness; emptiness is form. Part 1. The path laid out before us -- Part 2. An uncertain trail through treacherous terrain -- Part 3. Torn apart and reassembled -- Part 4. Loft peaks with endless views -- Part 5. Who am I? Don't know! -- Part 6. Form is emptiness emptiness is form.