David Layzer

Cosmogenesis (eBook, ePUB)

The Growth of Order in the Universe

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Eminent Harvard astrophysicist David Layzer offers readers a unified theory of natural order and its origins, from the permanence, stability, and orderliness of sub-atomic particles to the evolution of the human mind. Cosmogenesis provides the first extended account of a controversial theory that connects quantum mechanics with the second law of thermodynamics, and presents novel resolutions of longstanding paradoxes in these theories, such as those of Schroedinger's cat and the arrow of time. Layzer's main concerns in the second half of the book are with the philosophical issues surrounding science. He develops a highly original reconciliation of the conflict between traditional scientific determinism and the intuitive notion of individual freedom. He argues that although the elementary processes underlying biological evolution and human development are governed by physical laws, they are nevertheless genuinely creative and unpredictable.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 21. März 1991
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780190281762
• Artikelnr.: 42640453

Autorenporträt

David Layzer is the Donald H. Menzel Professor of Astrophysics at Harvard University. He is the author of Constructing the Universe.

Inhaltsangabe

PART I: A THEORY OF ORDER: Science, philosophy, and truth
Order and randomness
The strong cosmological principle and time's arrow
The importance of being discrete
Seven steps to quantum physics
Alice in quantumland
The strong cosmological principle and quantum theory
PART II: ASPECTS OF TIMEBOUND ORDER: Cosmic evolution: the standard model
Gravitational clustering and structural order
Molecules, genes, and evolution
Evolution and the growth of order
Language, thought, and perception
What is consciousness?
Mind and body
Chance, necessity, and freedom
Notes.