Science Sketches: The Universe from Different Angles

Description

This book is the second collection of over 50 articles and essays authored by Sidney Perkowitz. Appearing in diverse outlets such as Discover, Washington Post, Aeon, Los Angeles Review of Books, Nautilus, Museum of the Moving Image, and Physics World, they represent the best of his writing about science and technology, and their links to culture and society, the arts and the media, and the humanities. Written for general readers, the pieces explore the outer and inner universes from cosmic space to the human mind, from the artistic use of science to the impact of technology and AI in the justice system, in medicine, and in dealing with COVID-19. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface: The Universe from Different Angles Acknowledgment List of Illustrations Looking at Nature Without and Within Introduction The invisible universe How to See the Invisible Universe Heat Wave Mood Indigo Black holes, quanta, and gravity A Supermassive Lens on the Constants of Nature The Most Popular Physics Meme Ever Can Space Experiments Solve the Puzzle of Quantum Gravity? Small Wonders The Quantum Random Number Generator Observing our Earth Sunlight, Life, and Time Flash! We and the Earth Breathe Together Peering inside the body and the mind The Better to See You With The Power of Crossed Brain Wires Can Zapping Your Brain Really Make You Smarter? Doing the Math Introduction A Short Take on Mathematics The Poetry and Prose of Math: Part 1, Poetry The Poetry and Prose of Math: Part 2, Prose Infinity on Screen Four Scientists and a Quest Introduction Galileo Through a Lens The Shadow of Enlightenment If Only 19th-Century America Had Listened to a Woman Scientist Romancing the Quantum Technology in Society Introduction Technology: past, present, and future Most Tech Today Would be Frivolous to Ancient Scientists Sociophysics and Econophysics, the Future of Social Science? When Houses Grow on Trees Robots, AI, and synthetic life Representing Robots Frankenstein and Synthetic Life Intelligent Machines Is technology neutral? Confronting the Wall Bad Blood, Worse Ethics The Bias in the Machine Technology and warfare The War Science Waged From Terminator to Black Mirror Radiations Police technology The Physics of Blood Spatter From the Lab to the Courtroom Science, Fiction, and Art Introduction Science and art change each other The Art of Falling Fluid Light in the Woods Paint it Nanoblack Physics and Art in 2½ D Altered States Imagining the pandemic Panic in the Streets Only Disconnect! Documenting science onscreen The Chemical Formula Getting the Film Physics Right Facing Up to Facial Recognition Sunday is Maro Science Cinema Online Fictional science and science fiction Aliens Trapped on Mars Science Advances and Science Fiction Keeps Up Entropy and the End of the World in Tenet Books about science for general readers by Sidney Perkowitz Republishing credits Index