Βιβλία σαν το «Cosmos»

Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?

Μπλε Λάμψεις από Καραμέλες Μια έμμεση απόδειξη της έλξης φορτίων με αντίθετα πρόσημα μπορούμε να δούμε με μια καραμέλα με γεύση π.χ. μέντας. Αν προσαρμόσετε τα μάτια σας στο σκοτάδι για 15 περίπου λεπτά και μετά πείτε σε έναν φίλο να δαγκώσει ένα κομμάτι της καραμέλας στο σκοτάδι, θα δείτε μια ασθενή μπλε λάμψη στο στόμα του φίλου σας σε κάθε δαγκωνιά. Όταν μια δαγκωνιά σπάει έναν κρύσταλλο ζάχαρης σε κομμάτια, κάθε κομμάτι θα καταλήξει πιθανότατα με διαφορετικό πλήθος ηλεκτρονίων. Υποθέστε ότι ένας κρύσταλλος σπάει στα κομμάτια A και B, με το A να καταλήγει με περισσότερα ηλεκτρόνια στην επιφάνειά του απ’ ό,τι το B (Σχ. 21.1.4). Αυτό σημαίνει ότι το B έχει θετικά ιόντα (άτομα που έχασαν ηλεκτρόνια προς το A) στην επιφάνειά του. Επειδή τα ηλεκτρόνια στο A έλκονται ισχυρά από τα θετικά ιόντα στο B, κάποια από αυτά τα ηλεκτρόνια μεταπηδούν διαμέσου του διάκενου μεταξύ των κομματιών.

While sailing a little south of the Plata on one very dark night, the sea presented a wonderful and most beautiful spectacle. There was a fresh breeze, and every part of the surface, which during the day is seen as foam, now glowed with a pale light. The vessel drove before her bows two billows of liquid phosphorus, and in her wake she was followed by a milky train. As far as the eye reached, the crest of every wave was bright, and the sky above the horizon, from the reflected glare of these livid flames, was not so utterly obscure as over the vault of the heavens.

No Sierra landscape that I have seen holds anything truly dead or dull, or any trace of what in manufactories is called rubbish or waste; everything is perfectly clean and pure and full of divine lessons. This quick, inevitable interest attaching to everything seems marvelous until the hand of God becomes visible; then it seems reasonable that what interests Him may well interest us. When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. One fancies a heart like our own must be beating in every crystal and cell, and we feel like stopping to speak to the plants and animals as friendly fellow mountaineers.

From: Steve JobsTo: Steve JobsSubject:Date: September 2, 2010, 11:08 p.m.I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow I did not breed or perfect the seeds.I do not make any of my own clothing.I speak a language I did not invent or refine.I did not discover the mathematics I use.I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.I am moved by music I did not create myself.When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.Sent from my iPad

Although I did not call her by that name then, my love for Wild Woman began when I was a little child. I was an aesthete rather than an athlete, and my only wish was to be an ecstatic wanderer. Rather than chairs and tables, I preferred the ground, trees, and caves, for in those places I felt I could lean against the cheek of God.