DOCSLIB.ORG

Brian Green: the Fabric of the Cosmos. Space Time and the Texture Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Brian Green: the Fabric of the Cosmos. Space Time and the Texture Of Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF Copyright © 2004 by Brian R. Greene All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York. www.aaknopf.com Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Greene, B. (Brian). The fabric of the cosmos : space, time, and the texture of reality / Brian Greene. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (pp. 543-44). ISBN 0-375-41288-3 1. Cosmology—Popular works. I. Title. QB982.G74 2004 523.1—dc22 2003058918 Manufactured in the United States of America First Edition file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (1 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm To Tracy file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (2 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm Contents file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (3 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm Preface ix Parti REALITY'S ARENA 1. Roads to Reality 3 Space, Time, and Why Things Are as They Are 2. The Universe and the Bucket 23 Is Space a Human Abstraction or a Physical Entity? 3. Relativity and the Absolute 39 Is Spacetime an Einstemian Abstraction or a Physical Entity? 4. Entangling Space 77 What Does It Mean to Be Separate in a Quantum Universe? Part II TIME AND EXPERIENCE 5. The Frozen River 127 Does Time Flow? 6. Chance and the Arrow 143 Does Time Have a Direction? 7. Time and the Quantum 177 Insights into Time's Nature from the Quantum Realm file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (4 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm viii Contents Part III SPACETIMEAND COSMOLOGY 8. Of Snowflakes and Spacetime 219 Symmetry and the Evolution of the Cosmos 9, Vaporizing the Vacuum 251 Heat, Nothingness, and Unification 10. Deconstructing the Bang 272 What Banged? 11. Quanta in the Sky with Diamonds 304 Inflation, Quantum fitters, and the Arrow of Time Part IV ORIGINS AND UNIFICATION 12. The World on a String 327 The Fabric According to String Theory 13. The Universe on a Brane 376 Speculations on Space and Time in M-Theory PartV REALITY AND IMAGINATION 14. Up in the Heavens and Down in the Earth 415 Experimenting with Space and Time 15. Teleporters and Time Machines 437 Traveling Through Space and Time 16. The Future of an Allusion 470 Prospects for Space and Time Notes 495 Glossary 537 Suggestions for Further Reading 543 Index 545 file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (5 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm Preface Space and time capture the imagination like no other scientific subject. For good reason. They form the arena of reality, the very fabric of the cos- mos. Our entire existence —everything we do, think, and experience — takes place in some region of space during some interval of time. Yet science is still struggling to understand what space and time actually are. Are they real physical entities or simply useful ideas? If they're real, are they fundamental, or do they emerge from more basic constituents? What does it mean for space to be empty? Does time have a beginning? Does it have an arrow, flowing inexorably from past to future, as common ex- perience would indicate? Can we manipulate space and time? In this book, we follow three hundred years of passionate scientific investigation seeking answers, or at least glimpses of answers, to such basic but deep questions about the nature of the universe. Our journey also brings us repeatedly to another, tightly related ques- tion, as encompassing as it is elusive: What is reality'? We humans only file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (6 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm have access to the internal experiences of perception and thought, so how can we be sure they truly reflect an external world? Philosophers have long recognized this problem. Filmmakers have popularized it through story lines involving artificial worlds, generated by finely tuned neurolog- ical stimulation that exist solely within the minds of their protagonists. And physicists such as myself are acutely aware that the reality we observe —matter evolving on the stage of space and time —may have little to do with the reality, if any, that's out there. Nevertheless, because obser- vations are all we have, we take them seriously. We choose hard data and the framework of mathematics as our guides, not unrestrained imagina- tion or unrelenting skepticism, and seek the simplest yet most wide-reach- ing theories capable of explaining and predicting the outcome of today's and future experiments. This severely restricts the theories we pursue. (In this book, for example, we won't find a hint that I'm floating in a tank, x Preface connected to thousands of brain-stimulating wires, making me merely think that I'm now writing this text.) But during the last hundred years, discoveries in physics have suggested revisions to our everyday sense of reality that are as dramatic, as mind-bending, and as paradigm-shaking as the most imaginative science fiction. These revolutionary upheavals will frame our passage through the pages that follow. Many of the questions we explore are the same ones that, in various guises, furrowed the brows of Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and countless others through the ages. And because this book seeks to convey science in the making, we follow these questions as they've been declared answered by one generation, overturned by their successors, and refined and reinterpreted by scientists in the centuries that followed. For example, on the perplexing question of whether completely empty space is, like a blank canvas, a real entity or merely an abstract idea, we follow the pendulum of scientific opinion as it swings between Isaac Newton's seventeenth-century declaration that space is real, Ernst file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (7 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm Mach's conclusion in the nineteenth century that it isn't, and Einstein's twentieth-century dramatic reformulation of the question itself, in which he merged space and time, and largely refuted Mach. We then encounter subsequent discoveries that transformed the question once again by redefining the meaning of "empty," envisioning that space is unavoidably suffused with what are called quantum fields and possibly a diffuse uni- form energy called a cosmological constant—modern echoes of the old and discredited notion of a space-filling aether. What's more, we then describe how upcoming space-based experiments may confirm particular features of Mach's conclusions that happen to agree with Einstein's gen- eral relativity, illustrating well the fascinating and tangled web of scien- tific development. In our own era we encounter inflationary cosmology's gratifying insights into time's arrow, string theory's rich assortment of extra spatial dimensions, M-theory's radical suggestion that the space we inhabit may be but a sliver floating in a grander cosmos, and the current wild specula- tion that the universe we see may be nothing more than a cosmic holo- gram. We don't yet know if the more recent of these theoretical proposals are right. But outrageous as they sound, we take them seriously because they are where our dogged search for the deepest laws of the universe leads. Not only can a strange and unfamiliar reality arise from the fertile imagination of science fiction, but one may also emerge from the cutting- edge findings of modem physics. file:///E|/temp/greene/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos-htm/Brian%20Greene%20-%20The%20Fabric%20Of%20The%20Cosmos.htm (8 de 740)24/05/2005 21:29:47 Brian Greene - The Fabric Of The Cosmos.htm Preface xi The Fabric of the Cosmos is intended primarily for the general reader who has little or no formal training in the sciences but whose desire to understand the workings of the universe provides incentive to grapple with a number of complex and challenging concepts. As in my first book, The Elegant Universe, I've stayed close to the core scientific ideas throughout, while stripping away the mathematical details in favor of metaphors, analogies, stories, and illustrations. When we reach the book's most difficult sections, I forewarn the reader and provide brief summaries for those who decide to skip or skim these more involved discussions. In this way, the reader should be able to walk the path of discovery and gain not just knowledge of physics' current worldview, but an understanding of how and why that worldview has gained prominence.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Multiverse: Conjecture, Proof, and Science
    The multiverse: conjecture, proof, and science George Ellis Talk at Nicolai Fest Golm 2012 Does the Multiverse Really Exist ? Scientific American: July 2011 1 The idea The idea of a multiverse -- an ensemble of universes or of universe domains – has received increasing attention in cosmology - separate places [Vilenkin, Linde, Guth] - separate times [Smolin, cyclic universes] - the Everett quantum multi-universe: other branches of the wavefunction [Deutsch] - the cosmic landscape of string theory, imbedded in a chaotic cosmology [Susskind] - totally disjoint [Sciama, Tegmark] 2 Our Cosmic Habitat Martin Rees Rees explores the notion that our universe is just a part of a vast ''multiverse,'' or ensemble of universes, in which most of the other universes are lifeless. What we call the laws of nature would then be no more than local bylaws, imposed in the aftermath of our own Big Bang. In this scenario, our cosmic habitat would be a special, possibly unique universe where the prevailing laws of physics allowed life to emerge. 3 Scientific American May 2003 issue COSMOLOGY “Parallel Universes: Not just a staple of science fiction, other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations” By Max Tegmark 4 Brian Greene: The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and The Deep Laws of the Cosmos 5 Varieties of Multiverse Brian Greene (The Hidden Reality) advocates nine different types of multiverse: 1. Invisible parts of our universe 2. Chaotic inflation 3. Brane worlds 4. Cyclic universes 5. Landscape of string theory 6. Branches of the Quantum mechanics wave function 7. Holographic projections 8. Computer simulations 9. All that can exist must exist – “grandest of all multiverses” They can’t all be true! – they conflict with each other.
    [Show full text]
  • Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research Communication Studies, Department of Spring 4-12-2011 Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement Brent Yergensen University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Yergensen, Brent, "Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement" (2011). Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT by Brent Yergensen A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Communication Studies Under the Supervision of Dr. Ronald Lee Lincoln, Nebraska April, 2011 ii SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT Brent Yergensen, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2011 Advisor: Ronald Lee String theory is argued by its proponents to be the Theory of Everything. It achieves this status in physics because it provides unification for contradictory laws of physics, namely quantum mechanics and general relativity. While based on advanced theoretical mathematics, its public discourse is growing in prevalence and its rhetorical power is leading to a scientific revolution, even among the public.
    [Show full text]
  • The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
    [PDF] The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Shing-Tung Yau, Steve Nadis - download pdf free book The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions PDF, The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Download PDF, Read Online The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions E-Books, Read The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Full Collection Shing-Tung Yau, Steve Nadis, I Was So Mad The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Shing- Tung Yau, Steve Nadis Ebook Download, PDF The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Free Download, Read Online The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Ebook Popular, online free The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions, Download Online The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions Book, Download PDF The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions, Download pdf The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions, Read Best Book Online The Shape Of Inner Space: String Theory And The Geometry Of The Universe's Hidden Dimensions, Read Online The
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Physics 436: Course Outline
    Modern Physics 436: Course Outline 1. The book that I'm going to use for most part of the course will be • Modern Physics: J. Bernstein, P. Fishbane, S. Gasiorowicz (Prentice Hall) (It will be available at the Paragraphe Bookstore) 2. The course generally assumes that you are familiar with basics of integrations, differen- tiations, classical and quantum mechanics. Your pre-requisite are Phys 446, Phys 333. In this course I plan to cover the following topics: • Single particle atom: Basic review of Phys 446 • Multi-particle atoms: Molecules, molecular bondings • Statistical mechanics: Classical and quantum aspects, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, Fermi-Dirac distribution, Bose-Einstein distribution, Bose-Einstein condensation • Lasers: Induced radiations, coherent and squeezed states of light • Condensed matter Physics: Band structure, semiconductors, superconductivity, BCS theory, Hall effects (classical and quantum), Laughlin function • Nuclear Physics: Nuclear structure, nuclear interactions, nuclear models • Elementary Particle Physics: Quantum field theory (QFT), virtual particles, Feynman path-integrals, Feynman diagrams, Quantum electrodynamics (QED), particle zoo, weak interactions, leptons, hadrons, Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), quarks Wish-list: • General Relativity and Cosmology: Basic GTR, cosmological inflation, big-bang nucle- osynthesis • Superstring Theory: Very basic ideas, types of string theories, supersymmetry, super- gravity 3. Although I'll try to stick with one book, you're always advised to read other books for more details. A few other important books on the above topics are: • Quantum Mechanics: You may have already been using the book by David Griffiths. Another very good book is by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Bernard Diu and Frank Laloe. It comes in two volumes and does everything in full details.
    [Show full text]
  • Dear Brian Greene, When Friends Come to Visit at My House, They See
    Dear Brian Greene, When friends come to visit at my house, they see warning signs on my door saying “High Voltage! Neutron Radiation!” This is because last spring, I took on the task of building a fusion reactor which is now operational and in a research phase. Thanks to the inspiration that I received from reading your book, The Elegant Universe, I have committed my life to a future in nuclear physics. Last year, I was searching for informational books on particle physics since this was an interest of mine; however, I found it difficult to find higher level materials that didn’t require college mathematics knowledge. The solution was your book, which I quickly read and have since been fascinated by the subject. The way that advanced topics are portrayed in a simple to understand and intriguing fashion make the book a brilliant piece of work that any aspiring physicist should read. I vividly recall two nights regarding my fascination with high energy physics. The first of those was the evening that I obtained a copy of The Elegant Universe after it was suggested to me as an excellent resource in string theory and quantum mechanics. I don’t think I ever went to bed that night while I devoured as much literature as I could. Within a week, I had completed the book and realized that my future was in this field. The other event that I recall was when I was searching for a science project online and stumbled upon fusor.net, a research consortium dedicated to amateur nuclear fusion.
    [Show full text]
  • At NYC Sci Fest, Asking 'What If We're Holograms?' 30 May 2010, by SAMANTHA GROSS , Associated Press Writer
    At NYC sci fest, asking 'What if we're holograms?' 30 May 2010, By SAMANTHA GROSS , Associated Press Writer of the universe to scores of non-geniuses through his book "The Elegant Universe" and the PBS specials by the same name. The physicist founded the festival in 2008 with his wife, Tracy Day. In a way, they say, it's an extension of his work translating into layman's terms the fundamentals of string theory - the idea that the universe and its most fundamental forces could be best explained if everything around us were made up of minuscule, vibrating strings. Brian Greene, a string theorist known for bringing his Greene is not the only scientist working to show complex field of science to the masses, and Tracy Day, Americans the relevance of the field, and hoping to his wife and organizing partner behind World Science make it cooler for U.S. youth. Despite the recent Festival, pose in Times Square, New York, Wednesday murmurings about the era of "geek chic," many May 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) teenagers still largely see science as a dorky pursuit, says Michio Kaku, a presenter at the festival and another string theorist who's built a career bringing his science to the public. (AP) -- Brian Greene works in a world where scientific reasoning rules all and imagination leads The numbers in the National Science Board's to the most unlikely truths. Greene and other yearly examination of science and engineering "string theorists" are exploring a possible scenario indicators paint a mixed picture for American in which people and the world around us are students.
    [Show full text]
  • String Theory, Einstein, and the Identity of Physics: Theory Assessment in Absence of the Empirical
    String theory, Einstein, and the identity of physics: Theory assessment in absence of the empirical Jeroen van Dongen Institute for Theoretical Physics Vossius Center for History of the Humanities and Sciences University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Abstract String theorists are certain that they are practicing physicists. Yet, some of their recent critics deny this. This paper argues that this conflict is really about who holds authority in making rational judgment in theoretical physics. At bottom, the conflict centers on the question: who is a proper physicist? To illustrate and understand the differing opinions about proper practice and identity, we discuss different appreciations of epistemic virtues and explanation among string theorists and their critics, and how these have been sourced in accounts of Einstein’s biography. Just as Einstein is claimed by both sides, historiography offers examples of both successful and unsuccessful non-empirical science. History of science also teaches that times of conflict are often times of innovation, in which novel scholarly identities may come into being. At the same time, since the contributions of Thomas Kuhn historians have developed a critical attitude towards formal attempts and methodological recipes for epistemic demarcation and justification of scientific practice. These are now, however, being considered in the debate on non-empirical physics. Introduction Theoretical high energy physics is in crisis. Many physicists may wish to deny this, but it is richly illustrated by the heated exchanges, charged manifestos and exclamations of despair in highly visible publications. For example, three prominent cosmologists, Anna Ijjas, Paul Steinhardt and Abraham Loeb, argued in the February 2017 issue of Scientific American that the long favoured model for the early universe, inflationary cosmology, has no data to support it and has gone through so many patch-ups that it is now beyond testability.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence the FRONTIERS COLLECTION
    THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION James B. Glattfelder INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION Series editors Avshalom C. Elitzur, Iyar, Israel Institute of Advanced Research, Rehovot, Israel Zeeya Merali, Foundational Questions Institute, Decatur, GA, USA Thanu Padmanabhan, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India Maximilian Schlosshauer, Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR, USA Mark P. Silverman, Department of Physics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA Jack A. Tuszynski, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Rüdiger Vaas, Redaktion Astronomie, Physik, bild der wissenschaft, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION The books in this collection are devoted to challenging and open problems at the forefront of modern science and scholarship, including related philosophical debates. In contrast to typical research monographs, however, they strive to present their topics in a manner accessible also to scientifically literate non-specialists wishing to gain insight into the deeper implications and fascinating questions involved. Taken as a whole, the series reflects the need for a fundamental and interdisciplinary approach to modern science and research. Furthermore, it is intended to encourage active academics in all fields to ponder over important and perhaps controversial issues beyond their own speciality. Extending from quantum physics and relativity to entropy, conscious- ness, language and complex systems—the Frontiers Collection will inspire readers to push back the frontiers of their own knowledge. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5342 For a full list of published titles, please see back of book or springer.com/series/5342 James B.
    [Show full text]
  • String Theory and Our Relationship with Nature: the Convergence of Science, Curriculum Theory, and the Environment
    Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Fall 2010 String Theory and Our Relationship with Nature: The Convergence of Science, Curriculum Theory, and the Environment Virginia Therese Bennett Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Bennett, Virginia Therese, "String Theory and Our Relationship with Nature: The Convergence of Science, Curriculum Theory, and the Environment" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 530. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/530 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STRING THEORY AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE: THE CONVERGENCE OF SCIENCE, CURRICULUM THEORY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT by VIRGINIA THERESE BENNETT (Under the Direction of John A. Weaver) ABSTRACT Curriculum Theory affords us the opportunity to examine education from a multitude of directions. This work takes advantage of that opportunity to explore the relationships between science, nature, and curriculum using string theory and our ideas about the environment as a backdrop. Both the energy and multiple possibilities created by strings and the rich history leading up to the theory help to illustrate the many opportunities we have to advance discussions in alternative ways of looking at science. By considering the multiple dimensions inherent in string theory as multiple pathways and interweaving metaphors from Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Serres, and Donna Haraway, our approach to environmental issues and environmental education allow us to include alternative ways of looking at the world.
    [Show full text]
  • John C. Haughey Ilia Delio
    Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series VIII, Christian Philosophical Studies, Volume 6 General Editor George F. McLean Humanity on the Threshold Religious Perspectives on Transhumanism Christian Philosophical Studies, VI Edited by John C. Haughey Ilia Delio The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2014 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Humanity on the threshold : religious perspectives on transhumanism / edited by John C. Haughey, Ilia Delio -- first [edition]. pages cm. -- (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series VIII, Christian philosophical studies ; Volume 6) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Humanism, Religious. 2. Theological anthropology. 3. Technology-- Religious aspects. I. Haughey, John C., editor of compilation. BL2747.6.H87 2013 2013034662 202'.2--dc23 CIP ISBN 978-1-56518-288-2 (pbk.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface v George F. McLean Introduction: Are We Aspiring to “Matters beyond Our Scope?” 1 John C. Haughey Part I. Transhumanism Chapter I. “Transhumanism and the Anticipatory Universe” 7 John F. Haught Chapter II. Human Worth on the Threshold of Its Technological Transformation 21 Ana Bazac Chapter III. “Transhumanism Critically Assessed” 41 G. Auletta, I. Colagè and P. D’Ambrosio Part II. The Human in Transhumanism Chapter IV. “Human Betterment: A Case Analysis” 63 Kevin Fitzgerald Chapter V. “Teilhard de Chardin’s Ultrahumanist Worldview” 77 Ilia Delio Chapter VI. “Putting the Human into Transhumanism” 97 Howard Gray Part III. Human Practice and New Creation Chapter VII. “A Preferential Option for the Earth” 113 Nancy C.
    [Show full text]
  • Brian Greene
    BOOK REVIEW Staff undergraduate Editor-in-Chief BRIAN GREENE James Stankowicz physics The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality Layout Director George CB Ling newsletter Brian Greene is a string theorist The final part of the book focuses Volume VI, Issue #1, September 2008 U P at Colombia University. His first on the experimental efforts (with Online Editor UP News Online: http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~upnews general public book, The Elegant many references to the LHC) Universe, was a Pulitzer Prize ongoing, the possibility of time Harold Rodriguez finalist, and served as the basis travel, and what might be waiting Production Manager as we delve ever further down LARGE HADRON who we are for a three hour PBS TV program Steven Hochman of the same name. into the fabric of reality. Assistant Editor COLLIDER UNVEILED! The Fabric of the Cosmos in some As The Fabric of the Cosmos is UP is a monthly undergraduate Alicia Swift It’s the world’s biggest and most in huge caves, track and analyze ways picks up where The Elegant written for the general public, physics newsletter sponsored ambitious scientific experiment exactly what happens. With more there are no mathematical Universe left off, but it is also a Staff Writers in human history. From revealing than 600 million collisions every by the University of Florida’s stand-alone book that doesn’t formulas in the main text, Arthur Ianuzzi what happened in the moments second, staggering volumes of chapter of the Society of Physics require any knowledge of The although the notes in the back of Bryce Bolin after the Big Bang, to probing the data are generated, hundreds of Elegant Universe.
    [Show full text]
  • The Elegant Universe
    The Elegant Universe Teacher’s Guide On the Web It’s the holy grail of physics—the search for the ultimate explanation of how the universe works. And in the past few years, excitement has grown among NOVA has developed a companion scientists in pursuit of a revolutionary approach to unify nature’s four Web site to accompany “The Elegant fundamental forces through a set of ideas known as superstring theory. NOVA Universe.” The site features interviews unravels this intriguing theory in its three-part series “The Elegant Universe,” with string theorists, online activities based on physicist Brian Greene’s best-selling book of the same name. to help clarify the concepts of this revolutionary theory, ways to view the The first episode introduces string theory, traces human understanding of the program online, and more. Find it at universe from Newton’s laws to quantum mechanics, and outlines the quest www.pbs.org/nova/elegant/ for and challenges of unification. The second episode traces the development of string theory and the Standard Model and details string theory’s potential to bridge the gap between quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity. The final episode explores what the universe might be like if string theory is correct and discusses experimental avenues for testing the theory. Throughout the series, scientists who have made advances in the field share personal stories, enabling viewers to experience the thrills and frustrations of physicists’ search for the “theory of everything.” Program Host Brian Greene, a physicist who has made string theory widely accessible to public audiences, hosts NOVA’s three-part series “The Elegant Universe.” A professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University in New York, Greene received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
    [Show full text]