Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, ...
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This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson; and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, form a constellation of scientists who have become public intellectuals, influencing millions of people around the world. All six have made major and highly original contributions to science, and all six have stepped onto the public stage, articulating a much larger vision for science, how it should work, and what role it should play in the worldview of the modern world. In so doing, they have challenged many traditional ideas, such as belief in God. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions exert an enormous influence on modern intellectual conversation, both inside and outside science. The book carefully distinguishes science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles, and invites readers to a respectful dialogue with some of the greatest minds of our time.Less
This book examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping perceptions of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson; and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, form a constellation of scientists who have become public intellectuals, influencing millions of people around the world. All six have made major and highly original contributions to science, and all six have stepped onto the public stage, articulating a much larger vision for science, how it should work, and what role it should play in the worldview of the modern world. In so doing, they have challenged many traditional ideas, such as belief in God. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions exert an enormous influence on modern intellectual conversation, both inside and outside science. The book carefully distinguishes science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles, and invites readers to a respectful dialogue with some of the greatest minds of our time.
Charles D. Bailyn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148823
- eISBN:
- 9781400850563
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
Emitting no radiation or any other kind of information, black holes mark the edge of the universe—both physically and in our scientific understanding. Yet astronomers have found clear evidence for ...
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Emitting no radiation or any other kind of information, black holes mark the edge of the universe—both physically and in our scientific understanding. Yet astronomers have found clear evidence for the existence of black holes, employing the same tools and techniques used to explore other celestial objects. This book goes behind the theory and physics of black holes to describe how astronomers are observing these enigmatic objects and developing a remarkably detailed picture of what they look like and how they interact with their surroundings. Accessible to undergraduates and others with some knowledge of introductory college-level physics, this book presents the techniques used to identify and measure the mass and spin of celestial black holes. These key measurements demonstrate the existence of two kinds of black holes, those with masses a few times that of a typical star, and those with masses comparable to whole galaxies—supermassive black holes. The book provides a detailed account of the nature, formation, and growth of both kinds of black holes. The book also describes the possibility of observing theoretically predicted phenomena such as gravitational waves, wormholes, and Hawking radiation. A cutting-edge introduction to a subject that was once on the border between physics and science fiction, this book shows how black holes are becoming routine objects of empirical scientific study.Less
Emitting no radiation or any other kind of information, black holes mark the edge of the universe—both physically and in our scientific understanding. Yet astronomers have found clear evidence for the existence of black holes, employing the same tools and techniques used to explore other celestial objects. This book goes behind the theory and physics of black holes to describe how astronomers are observing these enigmatic objects and developing a remarkably detailed picture of what they look like and how they interact with their surroundings. Accessible to undergraduates and others with some knowledge of introductory college-level physics, this book presents the techniques used to identify and measure the mass and spin of celestial black holes. These key measurements demonstrate the existence of two kinds of black holes, those with masses a few times that of a typical star, and those with masses comparable to whole galaxies—supermassive black holes. The book provides a detailed account of the nature, formation, and growth of both kinds of black holes. The book also describes the possibility of observing theoretically predicted phenomena such as gravitational waves, wormholes, and Hawking radiation. A cutting-edge introduction to a subject that was once on the border between physics and science fiction, this book shows how black holes are becoming routine objects of empirical scientific study.
William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263838
- eISBN:
- 9780191682650
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263838.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of ...
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Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who defend opposing positions. Craig argues that the Big Bang that began the universe was created by God, while Smith argues that the Big Bang has no cause. The book consists of alternating chapters by Craig and Smith, with each chapter being either a criticism of a preceding chapter or being criticized by a subsequent chapter. Part One consists of Craig's arguments that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the Big Bang, and Smith's criticisms of these arguments. Part Two presents Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. The authors' arguments are based on Einstein's theory of relativity, and there is also a discussion of Stephen Hawking's new quantum cosmology.Less
Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who defend opposing positions. Craig argues that the Big Bang that began the universe was created by God, while Smith argues that the Big Bang has no cause. The book consists of alternating chapters by Craig and Smith, with each chapter being either a criticism of a preceding chapter or being criticized by a subsequent chapter. Part One consists of Craig's arguments that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the Big Bang, and Smith's criticisms of these arguments. Part Two presents Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. The authors' arguments are based on Einstein's theory of relativity, and there is also a discussion of Stephen Hawking's new quantum cosmology.
Stephen Hawking
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen ...
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Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.Less
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.
Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The oracles of science: Carl Sagan, Stephen Weinberg, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Edward O. Wilson, and Stephen Jay Gould make connections between science and culture, and they particularly ...
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The oracles of science: Carl Sagan, Stephen Weinberg, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Edward O. Wilson, and Stephen Jay Gould make connections between science and culture, and they particularly voice their ideas about religion. Like all great scientists, they have done important work in specific areas, but unlike most scientists, they have a grand view of reality and have elected to engage the deeper cultural and worldview issues of our time. The oracles of science, for the most part, create the impression that science is hostile to religion. Their writings produce the impression that science supersedes religion, and even explains it away. As history has shown, science is all too frequently enlisted in the service of propaganda and we must be on guard against intellectual nonsense masquerading as science.Less
The oracles of science: Carl Sagan, Stephen Weinberg, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Edward O. Wilson, and Stephen Jay Gould make connections between science and culture, and they particularly voice their ideas about religion. Like all great scientists, they have done important work in specific areas, but unlike most scientists, they have a grand view of reality and have elected to engage the deeper cultural and worldview issues of our time. The oracles of science, for the most part, create the impression that science is hostile to religion. Their writings produce the impression that science supersedes religion, and even explains it away. As history has shown, science is all too frequently enlisted in the service of propaganda and we must be on guard against intellectual nonsense masquerading as science.
Claus Kiefer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199585205
- eISBN:
- 9780191739378
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199585205.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This book is concerned with the attempts to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory into a theory of quantum gravity. It presents, for the first time, most of the approaches ...
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This book is concerned with the attempts to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory into a theory of quantum gravity. It presents, for the first time, most of the approaches in a single textbook. Among them are canonical quantum gravity (including loop quantum gravity), covariant quantum gravity, and string theory. The book also discusses the relevance of these theories for cosmology and the physics of black holes. The first chapter gives a general introduction to the problem of quantizing the gravitational field. The second chapter then presents the main covariant approaches - perturbation theory and Feynman diagrammes, path integrals, and supergravity. The third chapter discusses the important concept of reparametrization invariance in the framework of simple systems: particle models, bosonic string, and parametrized field theory. This concept plays a crucial role in the Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity, which is the topic of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents the canonical quantization in the metric variables, leading to the central Wheeler-DeWitt equation, while the sixth chapter presents loop quantum gravity. The next two chapters 7 and 8 then discuss the major applications - quantization of black holes and quantum cosmology. Chapter 9 gives an introduction to string theory by focusing on its quantum gravitational aspects. Chapter 10 contains a discussion of interpretational issues: the relevance of quantum gravity for the foundations of quantum theory and the arrow of time. It also contains a brief review of quantum-gravity phenomenology. The emphasis throughout is on conceptual and formal clarity. Wherever possible, connections between the various approaches are examined.Less
This book is concerned with the attempts to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory into a theory of quantum gravity. It presents, for the first time, most of the approaches in a single textbook. Among them are canonical quantum gravity (including loop quantum gravity), covariant quantum gravity, and string theory. The book also discusses the relevance of these theories for cosmology and the physics of black holes. The first chapter gives a general introduction to the problem of quantizing the gravitational field. The second chapter then presents the main covariant approaches - perturbation theory and Feynman diagrammes, path integrals, and supergravity. The third chapter discusses the important concept of reparametrization invariance in the framework of simple systems: particle models, bosonic string, and parametrized field theory. This concept plays a crucial role in the Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity, which is the topic of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents the canonical quantization in the metric variables, leading to the central Wheeler-DeWitt equation, while the sixth chapter presents loop quantum gravity. The next two chapters 7 and 8 then discuss the major applications - quantization of black holes and quantum cosmology. Chapter 9 gives an introduction to string theory by focusing on its quantum gravitational aspects. Chapter 10 contains a discussion of interpretational issues: the relevance of quantum gravity for the foundations of quantum theory and the arrow of time. It also contains a brief review of quantum-gravity phenomenology. The emphasis throughout is on conceptual and formal clarity. Wherever possible, connections between the various approaches are examined.
Valeri P. Frolov and Andrei Zelnikov
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199692293
- eISBN:
- 9780191731860
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692293.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
This book is a thorough and up‐to‐date introduction to black hole physics. It provides a modern and unified overview of all their aspects, physical, mathematical, astrophysical, classical, and ...
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This book is a thorough and up‐to‐date introduction to black hole physics. It provides a modern and unified overview of all their aspects, physical, mathematical, astrophysical, classical, and quantum. Black holes are the most intriguing objects in the Universe. For many years they have been considered just as interesting solutions of the General Relativity with a number of amusing mathematical properties. But now, after discovery of astrophysical black holes, the Einstein gravity has become a practical tool for their study. In this book we present the theory of black holes in the form which might be useful for students and young scientists. This is a self‐contained textbook. It includes pedagogically presented `standard' material on black holes and also quite new subjects such as black holes in spacetimes with large extra dimensions and a role of hidden symmetries in black hole physics.Less
This book is a thorough and up‐to‐date introduction to black hole physics. It provides a modern and unified overview of all their aspects, physical, mathematical, astrophysical, classical, and quantum. Black holes are the most intriguing objects in the Universe. For many years they have been considered just as interesting solutions of the General Relativity with a number of amusing mathematical properties. But now, after discovery of astrophysical black holes, the Einstein gravity has become a practical tool for their study. In this book we present the theory of black holes in the form which might be useful for students and young scientists. This is a self‐contained textbook. It includes pedagogically presented `standard' material on black holes and also quite new subjects such as black holes in spacetimes with large extra dimensions and a role of hidden symmetries in black hole physics.
Charles D. Bailyn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148823
- eISBN:
- 9781400850563
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148823.003.0010
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
This chapter explores some of the predicted effects of black holes on people's lives and the possibility that they might someday be explored in fact as well as in fiction. These predicted effects ...
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This chapter explores some of the predicted effects of black holes on people's lives and the possibility that they might someday be explored in fact as well as in fiction. These predicted effects include the Hawking radiation, wormholes, and multiverses. The Hawking radiation—in which the interaction between quantum mechanics and relativity has been explored with some success—is a process through which black holes are expected to emit energy and ultimately evaporate. Meanwhile, one of the most enticing possible effects associated with black holes is that they might form wormholes through which widely separated parts of the Universe can be closely connected. Lastly, one final suggestion that might be contemplated is that a separate universe might exist inside the event horizon of a black hole. This is one version of the multiverse concept, in which a variety of universes with a variety of characteristics exist.Less
This chapter explores some of the predicted effects of black holes on people's lives and the possibility that they might someday be explored in fact as well as in fiction. These predicted effects include the Hawking radiation, wormholes, and multiverses. The Hawking radiation—in which the interaction between quantum mechanics and relativity has been explored with some success—is a process through which black holes are expected to emit energy and ultimately evaporate. Meanwhile, one of the most enticing possible effects associated with black holes is that they might form wormholes through which widely separated parts of the Universe can be closely connected. Lastly, one final suggestion that might be contemplated is that a separate universe might exist inside the event horizon of a black hole. This is one version of the multiverse concept, in which a variety of universes with a variety of characteristics exist.
Graham Bell
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198569725
- eISBN:
- 9780191717741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198569725.003.0010
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Selection is often generated by interaction with other organisms: neighbours, partners, or antagonists. The force and direction of selection in these social contexts is very generally influenced by ...
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Selection is often generated by interaction with other organisms: neighbours, partners, or antagonists. The force and direction of selection in these social contexts is very generally influenced by the density and composition of the population. It may result in some degree of cooperation or helpfulness, rather than unrestricted competition among individuals. The first section here is called Selection within a single uniform population: density-dependent selection and details density regulation; density-dependent fitness; the principle of frugality; resource competition in continuous culture; r-K selection; r-K selection experiments; and selection in seasonal environments. The second section is called Selection within a single diverse population: frequency-dependent selection and describes GxG; frequency-dependent fitness; and also frequency-dependence in complex environments. The third section is about social behaviour and describes the phenotypic theory of aggression and exploitation; cross-feeding; selfish cooperation; the prisoners' dilemmas; intransitive social interactions; and time-lagged social interactions. The final section is called Kin selection and group selection and describes kin selection; kin proximity and kin choice; spite; group selection in structured populations; productivity and diversity; artificial group selection; and cultural evolution.Less
Selection is often generated by interaction with other organisms: neighbours, partners, or antagonists. The force and direction of selection in these social contexts is very generally influenced by the density and composition of the population. It may result in some degree of cooperation or helpfulness, rather than unrestricted competition among individuals. The first section here is called Selection within a single uniform population: density-dependent selection and details density regulation; density-dependent fitness; the principle of frugality; resource competition in continuous culture; r-K selection; r-K selection experiments; and selection in seasonal environments. The second section is called Selection within a single diverse population: frequency-dependent selection and describes GxG; frequency-dependent fitness; and also frequency-dependence in complex environments. The third section is about social behaviour and describes the phenotypic theory of aggression and exploitation; cross-feeding; selfish cooperation; the prisoners' dilemmas; intransitive social interactions; and time-lagged social interactions. The final section is called Kin selection and group selection and describes kin selection; kin proximity and kin choice; spite; group selection in structured populations; productivity and diversity; artificial group selection; and cultural evolution.
Ken Binmore
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195300574
- eISBN:
- 9780199783748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300574.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
This chapter develops the idea of a mixed strategy using the entry into a sealed-bid auction as a non-trivial example. Reaction curves are first illustrated for the case of pure strategies and then ...
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This chapter develops the idea of a mixed strategy using the entry into a sealed-bid auction as a non-trivial example. Reaction curves are first illustrated for the case of pure strategies and then applied to computing mixed Nash equilibria. The Hawk-Dove Game is equivalent either to the Prisoner's Dilemma or Chicken, depending on parameter values. The mixed-strategy reaction curves are plotted in each case. The interpretation of mixed Nash equilibria as polymorphic equilibria in a game played by a large population is considered. The matrix algebra necessary for handling mixed strategies is reviewed and illustrated with O'Neill's Card Game. Convexity ideas are reviewed and applied to the geometric representation of mixed strategies. Cooperative and noncooperative payoff regions are introduced and illustrated using Chicken and the Battle of the Sexes. Correlated equilibria are introduced after a discussion of self-policing agreements, cheap talk, and preplay randomization. The possibility of correlation without a referee using techniques from cryptography is discussed.Less
This chapter develops the idea of a mixed strategy using the entry into a sealed-bid auction as a non-trivial example. Reaction curves are first illustrated for the case of pure strategies and then applied to computing mixed Nash equilibria. The Hawk-Dove Game is equivalent either to the Prisoner's Dilemma or Chicken, depending on parameter values. The mixed-strategy reaction curves are plotted in each case. The interpretation of mixed Nash equilibria as polymorphic equilibria in a game played by a large population is considered. The matrix algebra necessary for handling mixed strategies is reviewed and illustrated with O'Neill's Card Game. Convexity ideas are reviewed and applied to the geometric representation of mixed strategies. Cooperative and noncooperative payoff regions are introduced and illustrated using Chicken and the Battle of the Sexes. Correlated equilibria are introduced after a discussion of self-policing agreements, cheap talk, and preplay randomization. The possibility of correlation without a referee using techniques from cryptography is discussed.
Mark Rifkin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195387179
- eISBN:
- 9780199866786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387179.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This chapter examines Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk (1833), demonstrating how the text challenges official U.S. accounts of native politics in the western Great Lakes. It shows how ...
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This chapter examines Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk (1833), demonstrating how the text challenges official U.S. accounts of native politics in the western Great Lakes. It shows how the exertion of U.S. authority in the region depended on breaking up longstanding patterns of diplomacy, warfare, and land use-described as trans-tribal networks-in order to create individual relations between the U.S. and each native people in which U.S. legal principles would serve as the de facto basis for negotiation. Narrated by a Sauk warrior after his defeat in the "war" that bears his name, the text consistently exposes the geopolitical assumptions underlying the documentary record of the treaty-system and its discourse of consent. The chapter closes with a discussion of the ways Black Hawk's narrative suggests longstanding shared regional principles displaced by the U.S. by invoking the memory of large-scale prior prophet movements in the region.Less
This chapter examines Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk (1833), demonstrating how the text challenges official U.S. accounts of native politics in the western Great Lakes. It shows how the exertion of U.S. authority in the region depended on breaking up longstanding patterns of diplomacy, warfare, and land use-described as trans-tribal networks-in order to create individual relations between the U.S. and each native people in which U.S. legal principles would serve as the de facto basis for negotiation. Narrated by a Sauk warrior after his defeat in the "war" that bears his name, the text consistently exposes the geopolitical assumptions underlying the documentary record of the treaty-system and its discourse of consent. The chapter closes with a discussion of the ways Black Hawk's narrative suggests longstanding shared regional principles displaced by the U.S. by invoking the memory of large-scale prior prophet movements in the region.
Nick Huggett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379518
- eISBN:
- 9780199776559
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379518.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same ...
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The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.Less
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.
Nick Huggett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379518
- eISBN:
- 9780199776559
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379518.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same ...
More
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.Less
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.
Nick Huggett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379518
- eISBN:
- 9780199776559
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379518.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same ...
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The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.Less
The question of the ‘shape’ of space can be approached in two ways: whether space is ‘curved’ or ‘flat’ is discussed later, these chapters address ‘topology’, the properties that would stay the same if space were stretched, squashed or twisted (like a rubber sheet): for instance, whether it has an edge and its dimensionality. Since antiquity is seemed that unless space had an edge it must be infinite, which many found problematic. It took advances in the mathematical understanding of space to address this otherwise philosophical issue (explaining space can be finite without an end). Modern physics, especially string theory, makes important the question of whether space has more than three dimensions; the book explains what worlds of different dimensionality would be like. It criticizes some physicists' (such as Hawking) philosophical invocation of ‘anthropic arguments’: for instance, that there are three dimensions because otherwise intelligent life would be impossible.
Richard Gray
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263518
- eISBN:
- 9780191734021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263518.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This lecture discusses William Faulkner's experiences in Hollywood, which he described as a place that worships death and not money. It shows that nearly all of his experiences in Hollywood were bad, ...
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This lecture discusses William Faulkner's experiences in Hollywood, which he described as a place that worships death and not money. It shows that nearly all of his experiences in Hollywood were bad, but were eventually redeemed in part by friendships, most notably with director Howard Hawks. Faulkner also had a passionate affair with Meta Carpenter, Hawks' script clerk. Faulkner is shown to have never fully settled down or felt secure in Hollywood, and eventually things became worse for him as time went on. However, Faulkner was able to recognise the determining significance of Hollywood in his time and culture, and subsequently penned a number of novels and written works, including The Wild Palms. The lecture examines several of Faulkner's works that were written during his stay in Hollywood, most particularly Sanctuary, a notorious and controversial novel during that time.Less
This lecture discusses William Faulkner's experiences in Hollywood, which he described as a place that worships death and not money. It shows that nearly all of his experiences in Hollywood were bad, but were eventually redeemed in part by friendships, most notably with director Howard Hawks. Faulkner also had a passionate affair with Meta Carpenter, Hawks' script clerk. Faulkner is shown to have never fully settled down or felt secure in Hollywood, and eventually things became worse for him as time went on. However, Faulkner was able to recognise the determining significance of Hollywood in his time and culture, and subsequently penned a number of novels and written works, including The Wild Palms. The lecture examines several of Faulkner's works that were written during his stay in Hollywood, most particularly Sanctuary, a notorious and controversial novel during that time.
Eyal Peretz
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781503600720
- eISBN:
- 9781503601611
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503600720.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
The Off-Screen offers a comprehensive theory of film, a concise history of American cinema from Griffith to Tarantino, and a reflection on the place and significance of film within the general ...
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The Off-Screen offers a comprehensive theory of film, a concise history of American cinema from Griffith to Tarantino, and a reflection on the place and significance of film within the general context of the arts of modernity. It does this by focusing on an element at the very heart not only of film but of modern art in general (meaning here the various artistic media of modernity as they have been developed from the Renaissance onward). This element is a new kind of frame, with which the modern work of art is fascinated, and around the investigation of which it organizes itself. Two main things characterize this frame. First, it decontextualizes, meaning a frame is achieved by creating a zone that cuts itself off from the continuity of the world, a zone constituting the realm of fiction. The modern theatrical stage, the framed painting, the cinematic screen, the work of narrative fiction--all are modern framed-out zones. Second, the modern artistic frame, like any frame, creates a separation between “inside” and “outside,” yet the “outside” of the artistic frame is particularly mysterious and constitutes the main enigma of the work of art of the modern age. It is this “outside” of the artistic frame, a new kind of “outside,” that the book calls the “off” (as in off-stage, or off-screen). It is to the exploration of the historical and conceptual significance of this “off” that this book is dedicated.Less
The Off-Screen offers a comprehensive theory of film, a concise history of American cinema from Griffith to Tarantino, and a reflection on the place and significance of film within the general context of the arts of modernity. It does this by focusing on an element at the very heart not only of film but of modern art in general (meaning here the various artistic media of modernity as they have been developed from the Renaissance onward). This element is a new kind of frame, with which the modern work of art is fascinated, and around the investigation of which it organizes itself. Two main things characterize this frame. First, it decontextualizes, meaning a frame is achieved by creating a zone that cuts itself off from the continuity of the world, a zone constituting the realm of fiction. The modern theatrical stage, the framed painting, the cinematic screen, the work of narrative fiction--all are modern framed-out zones. Second, the modern artistic frame, like any frame, creates a separation between “inside” and “outside,” yet the “outside” of the artistic frame is particularly mysterious and constitutes the main enigma of the work of art of the modern age. It is this “outside” of the artistic frame, a new kind of “outside,” that the book calls the “off” (as in off-stage, or off-screen). It is to the exploration of the historical and conceptual significance of this “off” that this book is dedicated.
Robert Lawrence Gunn
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479842582
- eISBN:
- 9781479812516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479842582.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Chapters 4 compares the U.S. borderlands of Canada and Mexico to illuminate the threat that icons of intertribal Native resistance such as Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, and Black Hawk (and the “intellectual ...
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Chapters 4 compares the U.S. borderlands of Canada and Mexico to illuminate the threat that icons of intertribal Native resistance such as Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, and Black Hawk (and the “intellectual trade routes” upon which they relied) embodied for Harrison, Cass, McKenney, and Hall within the national dialogue surrounding Indian Removal. Emphasizing the confrontation of Tecumseh and Harrison at Vincennes in 1810, this chapter considers evidence that Tecumseh knew American Indian Sign Language and may have incorporated elements of it into his oratory—a possibility that has significant implications for the linguistic and cultural histories of intertribal resistance movements and the politics of Pan-Indianism. The chapter closes with the Fredonian Rebellion, Hunter, and Téran in the wake of the Colonization Laws and the widespread displacement of Native peoples into Texas, highlighting the shifting national and racial loyalties of a U.S./Mexico borderlands region undergoing political and demographic upheaval.Less
Chapters 4 compares the U.S. borderlands of Canada and Mexico to illuminate the threat that icons of intertribal Native resistance such as Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, and Black Hawk (and the “intellectual trade routes” upon which they relied) embodied for Harrison, Cass, McKenney, and Hall within the national dialogue surrounding Indian Removal. Emphasizing the confrontation of Tecumseh and Harrison at Vincennes in 1810, this chapter considers evidence that Tecumseh knew American Indian Sign Language and may have incorporated elements of it into his oratory—a possibility that has significant implications for the linguistic and cultural histories of intertribal resistance movements and the politics of Pan-Indianism. The chapter closes with the Fredonian Rebellion, Hunter, and Téran in the wake of the Colonization Laws and the widespread displacement of Native peoples into Texas, highlighting the shifting national and racial loyalties of a U.S./Mexico borderlands region undergoing political and demographic upheaval.
R. J. Overy
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202905
- eISBN:
- 9780191675584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202905.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Economic History
Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical ...
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Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical context which gives primacy to neither. There is a widely held explanation for the origins of World War II, and indeed this has been so since these ideas were first formulated some twenty years ago. In the complex politics of the Third Reich two key elements have been observed: first, the effort to push through a programme of rearmament in a short period of time to satisfy the demands of the military elites, the party hawks, secondly, the desire that rearmament should not be compromised by provoking the masses into political opposition by reducing living standards and courting economic crisis.Less
Tim Mason has argued that there is a half-way house, that Adolf Hitler's declared intentions and their flawed realisation are evidence of a dialectical relationship between actors and historical context which gives primacy to neither. There is a widely held explanation for the origins of World War II, and indeed this has been so since these ideas were first formulated some twenty years ago. In the complex politics of the Third Reich two key elements have been observed: first, the effort to push through a programme of rearmament in a short period of time to satisfy the demands of the military elites, the party hawks, secondly, the desire that rearmament should not be compromised by provoking the masses into political opposition by reducing living standards and courting economic crisis.
Kirsten Day
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474402460
- eISBN:
- 9781474422055
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474402460.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
In the American cultural imagination, the Wild West is a mythic-historical place where our nation’s values and ideologies were formed. The heroes of this dangerous world, most familiar to us through ...
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In the American cultural imagination, the Wild West is a mythic-historical place where our nation’s values and ideologies were formed. The heroes of this dangerous world, most familiar to us through film, are men of violence who fight the bad guys as they build the foundations of civilization out of wilderness, forging notions of justice, manhood, and honor in the process. In the Greco-Roman societies that are America’s cultural ancestors, epics provided similar narratives: like Western film, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid focus on the mythic-historical past and its warriors, men who helped shape the ideological frameworks of their respective civilizations. At the same time, the best works from both genres are far from simplistic, but instead, call the assumptions underlying society’s core beliefs and value systems into question even as they promote them. Cowboy Classics examines the connections between these seemingly disparate yet closely related genres by first establishing the broad generic parallels and then providing deeper analysis through case-studies of five critically acclaimed Golden Age Westerns: Howard Hawks’s Red River, Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, George Stevens’s Shane, and John Ford’s The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In the end, this important comparison allows the American Western to serve as a lens through which to better understand the more remote works of antiquity, while identifying epic patterns in film provides the distance that allows us to see Westerns, in whose ideological undercurrents we are more directly implicated, in a more objective light.Less
In the American cultural imagination, the Wild West is a mythic-historical place where our nation’s values and ideologies were formed. The heroes of this dangerous world, most familiar to us through film, are men of violence who fight the bad guys as they build the foundations of civilization out of wilderness, forging notions of justice, manhood, and honor in the process. In the Greco-Roman societies that are America’s cultural ancestors, epics provided similar narratives: like Western film, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid focus on the mythic-historical past and its warriors, men who helped shape the ideological frameworks of their respective civilizations. At the same time, the best works from both genres are far from simplistic, but instead, call the assumptions underlying society’s core beliefs and value systems into question even as they promote them. Cowboy Classics examines the connections between these seemingly disparate yet closely related genres by first establishing the broad generic parallels and then providing deeper analysis through case-studies of five critically acclaimed Golden Age Westerns: Howard Hawks’s Red River, Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, George Stevens’s Shane, and John Ford’s The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In the end, this important comparison allows the American Western to serve as a lens through which to better understand the more remote works of antiquity, while identifying epic patterns in film provides the distance that allows us to see Westerns, in whose ideological undercurrents we are more directly implicated, in a more objective light.
Harold Holzer
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195139211
- eISBN:
- 9780199848799
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195139211.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Confederate President Jefferson Davis gained an enduring military image after he lost the war. This chapter portrays how the medium of popular prints made a powerful influence on creating Davis's ...
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Confederate President Jefferson Davis gained an enduring military image after he lost the war. This chapter portrays how the medium of popular prints made a powerful influence on creating Davis's image not only as a statesman and a patriot but crucially a soldier. The new commander in chief had come by his military reputation honestly—and, many agreed, heroically. Davis's reputation owed as much to action as to appearance. He fought in Black Hawk War, the same conflict in which his Union counterpart, Abraham Lincoln, experienced. Davis's long service record was enough to convince many Southerners—including Davis himself—that his proper place in a war for independence was in military, not civil, command.Less
Confederate President Jefferson Davis gained an enduring military image after he lost the war. This chapter portrays how the medium of popular prints made a powerful influence on creating Davis's image not only as a statesman and a patriot but crucially a soldier. The new commander in chief had come by his military reputation honestly—and, many agreed, heroically. Davis's reputation owed as much to action as to appearance. He fought in Black Hawk War, the same conflict in which his Union counterpart, Abraham Lincoln, experienced. Davis's long service record was enough to convince many Southerners—including Davis himself—that his proper place in a war for independence was in military, not civil, command.
