Book Description
As Charles Seife reveals in this energetic new book, information theory, once the province of philosophers and linguists, has emerged as the crucial science of our time, shedding new light on the mysteries of physics, the nature of space and time and the creation and destruction of the universe itself.
With his gift for making cutting-edge science accessible and entertaining, Seife explains how theorists came to understand that information is not a construct of the mind but a fundamental element of the physical world, something that sits inside every living cell and surrounds every black hole in the cosmos. It exists, like energy, even if there is no life to observe it. Starting with the breaking of the Enigma code during World War II and building momentum with the computer revolution, information theory has taken its place at the forefront of theoretical physics as scientists begin to use it to reconcile the paradoxes of relativity and quantum mechanics that have puzzled theorists since Einstein. Lucid and exhilarating, Decoding the Universe probes the mind-boggling advances that are taking us to the brink of a new understanding of the universe.
Customer Reviews:
Information theory, the third physics revolution of the XXth century.......2007-10-03
The author has a degree in probability theory and artificial intelligence, but he is a professor of journalism and has therefore written a book which is both very entertaining and not too difficult to understand. The subject is information, which Seife claims is the third XXth century revolution in physics started by Claude Shannon and which has relations with the other two: Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.
Of course, information is also related to thermodynamics and entropy, so the book contains a discussion of all these topics: thermodynamics, relativity and quantum mechanics. Famous conundrums such as Schroedinger's cat, entanglement, Maxwell's demon, etc. are analyzed from the point of view of information theory.
Here are some snippets of the book:
According to Seife, Einstein dictum "Nothing can travel faster than light" is really about information:" Information speed cannot exceed c". Another interesting fact is that what really causes computers to heat is the erasure of bits.
Seife describes recent achievements and experiments, proof that he is familiar with the latest results. One curious example is the solution of "the knight problem" in 2000 by using a DNA computer! Another one is that the entire human race has less genetic diversity than a few scores of chimps due to some kind of cataclysm about 500,000 years ago. A third one is the 1996 experiment demonstrating the existence of virtual particles (the so called Casimir effect).
In chapter 7, quantum computers are introduced and the possibility of the brain being one is briefly discussed. Unfortunately, it seems that Max Tegmark proved Roger Penrose wrong on this count. You begin to understand the power of quantum computation when the author describes Grover's algorithm to guess a number out of 16. Classically you need four yes/no answers to four questions. Grover manages the same task with two. Quantum computation reduces the complexity of some problems from n to square root of n.
I found also very interesting the reasons why the photoelectric effect cannot be explained by waves. On the other hand, interference cannot be explained by a corpuscular theory of light, so we are stuck with duality.
Towards the end, the author discusses black holes and the holographic principle: the quantity of information contained in a ball is not limited by its volume (surprisingly), but by its area. Since most cosmologists consider now the universe infinite (inflation seems to imply this) we are led, via the holographic bound, to the conclusion that the universe contains infinite copies of our own bubble universe. Seife admits that this is the most bizarre thing among the many ones described in his book.
Very Well Rounded.......2007-09-20
I have a Ph.D. in Physics and therefore know many well educated scientists, but very few have a functional concept of Information as a physical science. Begun with, mostly, Claude Shannon, this topic of study has been growing into a real science for decades now, but for some reason it is one of the most misunderstood subjects out there, even for seasoned professional scientists. Seife cuts to the heart of the matter with very clear thinking and examples from a very well rounded range of scientific points of view. Seife clearly and very engagingly demystifies many confusing topics and brings a real and almost visceral familiarity to a complex subject. After reading this, you will understand many esoteric scientific concepts better than even some professionals... and enjoy it immensely!
Basic information.......2007-08-02
This book is easy to read and is well written, but does not have much depth. The author has proven to be able to explain clearly complex ideas, but seems to lack enough background for some of the fields that the book explores. E.g., the enthusiasm with which the author explains that in an infinite universe there are many (infinite) worlds like ours seems annoying, and has little if anything to do with information or the holographic principle. It is a quite trivial idea valid for many cosmological theories.
Anyway, you can have a good time reading it, and if you are not an expert in information theory, you can find here good explanations of some basic concepts.
covers the science of information theory.......2007-07-21
This book is about information theory. The first few chapters describe information theory and then these theories are applied to biology and physics. I thought the introduction to information theory was well done, I came away with enough knowledge to follow the rest of the book. The chapter on biology, called Life, was interesting but I thought the best part of the book was the physics part. The author talks at length about Boltzman's statistical physics in a very comprehensible manner. He also explains how, although some experiments have allowed parts of light waves to travel faster than light, you can't send information over those parts of light waves so in effect you still can't travel faster than light. The author states that, from information theories perspective, you can't send information faster than light and that this law has not even been bent. Even the "spooky action at a distance" of superposition of atomic spin, which has to do with quantum mechanics, does not allow transferal of information at speeds faster than light. After reading this book my knowledge of the central concepts of information theory and statistical mechanics was greatly expanded. I even made some headway into the concepts of quantum mechanics. I highly recommend this book for those people looking looking for information about the above topics.
Information Theory, Entropy, and Shannon.......2007-07-06
1. Boltzmann, wrote S=k log W , the first law of thermodynamics deals with explaining heat, work, and energy.
2. The industrial revolution needed more powerful engines. The steam engine stars with a fire that cause water to boil into steam, which takes up more room than the equivalent water-it expands. The expansion of steam does work; it moves a piston which, in turn, can move a wheel or lift a rock or pump water. The steam then either flies away into the sky or moves into a cool chamber exposed to air and then condenses, flowing back toward the fire to begin the cycle again. The steam engine sits between high temperature object (fire) and a cold-temperature object(the air). The system will tend toward equilibrium. In allowing the heat to flow, the engine extracts some of the energy and perform useful work. Work and heat are always ways of transferring energy.
3. Carnot put a super engine flowing heat from the hot resevoir to the cold. While allowing the same amount of heat, Q, to flow the cold reservior through a heat pump back into the hot reservoir. Some of the work from the super engine can be diverted to the heat pump. "All, told no, net heat flows from the cold reservoir to the hot reservoir". A perpetual motion machine. "But nothing comes for free. It's the law." "Energy can not be created or destroyed. Energy is conserved." The second law of equilibrium states that anytime you do work, you are irreversibly increasing the equilibriumness of the universe." The second law explains why there does not exist a super engine. "Entropy always increases". "Entropy captures the configuration of the entire collection of matter in terms of probabilities-in terms of the most probable configurations of a collection of atoms, or, in our box-and marble example, the most likely outcomes wen we dump marbles in a box. The higher the probablity of a configuration of mater, the higher the entropy of that configuration."
4. "Some of themost fundamental rules in physics, the laws of thermodynamics, for example, andthe laws that tell how collections of atoms move in a chunk of matter-are deep down, actually laws about information." Shannons helped translate differential equations into a form the computer could understand and creating designs of electrical relays and flip-flo switches. Shannon created boolean logic using mathematics of manipulating 0s and 1s. Shannon uses 0s and 1s to measure the mass flow of information; he included compression algorithms into the model by exploiting redundancy in a given message. A question with N possible outcomes would need log N bits of information to distinquish between the information. Informtion encoded in 1s and 0s cand answer any question, so long as that question has a finite answer. Written language is a stream of finite symbols. Each symbol can be represented as a stream of bits. Bits are the universal medium of information. Five bits can be compressed into a one or two bits through a mapping rule. The rules make the string redundant. Shannon creates his channel capacity theorem to explain how much stuff can be sent over communication lines. "Information is intimately related to entropy and energy. The function Shannon derived was, roughly speaking, a measure of how unpredictable a string of bits is. the less predictable it is, the less able you are to generate the entire message from a smaller string of bits-in other words, the less redundant. The less redundancy a message has, the more information it can contain, so by measuring this unpredictability, Shannon hoped to be able to get at the information stored in the message." In the marbles in the box, the distribution of half the marbles on both the left and right side had the highest entropy and the distribution with all the marbles on either the left or right side had the lowest entropy. The entropy distribution of 1s ands 0s of symbols directly relates to the amount of information of the stream.
5. Shannon figured out how much energy was required to transmit a bit from place to place under certain conditions. Information theory is the science of manipulation and transmission of bits, is very closely tied to thermodynamics. Maxwell's entropy problem could use information theory instead thermodynamics to separate the hot atoms from the cold atoms. Information does not come free, it requires energy. Szilard calculated that kT log 2 joules for every bit of information. Using that useful energy increases the entropy of the box. The process of obtaining and acting on the information increases the entropy of the universe. The opening and closing of the shutter was based on the information and decreases the entropy. Shannon information entropy and thermal entropy are related. Once the energy is stopped the box returns to equilibrium. A turning machine could acts as the controller for the shutter, opening and closing.
6. Memory reusablity requires energy and increases entropy. "Bits can be added without consuming energy or increasing the energy of the universe. You can multiple bits. You can negate them. But one action in a computer generates heat, which when dissipated into the environment, increases the entropy in the universe. That action is erasing a bit."
Book Description
There are many mysteries involving cosmic phenomena. Jerome Drexler used 14 of these and his analytical concept of dark matter(DM) relationism to discover a promising candidate for dark matter, the source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and theories for star formation, starburst galaxies, and the emergence of DM halos. To test the validity of his discoveries, Drexler used another 11 unexplained cosmic phenomena discovered by astronomers primarily during 2005. Utilizing his same promising dark matter candidate, Drexler was able to explain in a plausible manner all 11 of these recently discovered cosmic mysteries. Drexler's research has led not only to an identification of dark matter and to plausible explanations for the 25 cosmic phe-nomena, but also to a deeper understanding of many aspects of the cosmos, leading to a partial decoding of the cosmos.
Customer Reviews:
Poses questions; posits answers.......2006-10-21
Drexler's book was sent to me unsolicited inviting my feedback and comments. I cannot call myself even an amateur cosmologist therefore I cannot assess how plausible the explanations in this book are. Furthermore, I have not actually read it cover to cover. Nevertheless, I award it 4 stars for the following reasons:
1. The topic is well laid out and is made very accessible via extremely short chapters listed in a detailed table of contents. It is well indexed. A glossary is also included.
2. Throughout the book, use is made of lists, both bulleted and numbered, e.g. pp 110-114, making it easy to follow his arguments.
3. More importantly, it lists 58 references (7 to his own work) as well as a further 30 suggested sources. Readers are cautioned not to assume agreement in these sources with Drexler's views.
4. The book is intended to be provocative and to generate further thought and discussion. The Preface states: "This book, "Comprehending and Decoding the Cosmos," deviates significantly from mainstream cosmological and astrophysical theories."
I would not, of course, recommend a book just because of its layout and style. I see this book as a thought-provoking re-examination of existing observations and theories in addition to offering solutions and new ideas. I leave it to others to comment on the plausibility of these.
CHALLENGING & PROVOCATIVE THEORIES ON DARK MATTER/RELATIONALISM.......2006-08-26
This is another fantastic book by Dr. Drexler. Dr. Drexler identifies dark matter as a viable candidate and explicates his theory cogently by describing in detail the astronomical evidence he found that justifies his theory and conclusion. His most recent book, "Comprehending and Decoding the Cosmos," published this year (2006), delineates and expounds his theory to an even greater extent. I queried him regarding the use of the term relationism vis-a-vis reductionistic practices. Dr. Drexler thoroughly explicated this complex theory that he has posited in significant detail.
Dark Matter, is deemed by many to be the most elusive mystery of the universe, which is probably attributable to its massive, extensive, and hard-to-detect characteristic. Dr. Drexler, in his 2006 sequel, astutely delineates 14 mysterious phenomena, along with his new analytical decoding concept of dark matter relationism, to discover and identify a very promising dark matter candidate compatible with these 14 cosmic elements. In the process, he has quite possibly brought the decades old quest to identify dark matter to a successful conclusion. He adroitly then locates and analyzes an additional 11 unexplained cosmic phenomena, which were discovered and reported by various astronomers mostly during 2005. Drexler again, utilizing his same promising dark matter candidate, plausibly explicates all 11 of these recently discovered cosmic mysteries in his May, 2006 sequel.
I have personally purchased multiple copies of Dr. Drexler's 2003 and 2006 books for family members and friends at the University of Maine. I read with chagrin Dr. Marc "DM"s negative reviews on these books, which interestingly were both written and posted on May 31, 2006. I vehemently disagree with Dr. Marc's and JMK's reviews and evaluations, both of which bring to mind the saying attributable to Herbert Spencer: "Contempt prior to investigation..." Although Dr. Marc characterizes himself as a professional astronomer, I am constrained to believe that he is a grant-seeking, self-promoter, who perhaps has not even read Dr. Drexler's two books. As a professional man, with graduate degrees myself, I eschew hasty judgments when pondering the theories of colleagues and others. I have therefore indicated that neither of Dr. Marc's reviews were helpful to me, and in closing, I strongly urge every professional cosmologist, astronomer, astrophysicist, or interested novice, to read Dr. Drexler's books with an inquisitive and open mind. Do not be influenced by the pejorative and negative views espoused by Dr. Marc.
Baryons as Dark Matter.......2006-06-16
Since the discovery of DM, which many believe constitutes most of the mass of the universe, there has been a debate regarding the baryonic or non-baryonic nature of DM. Current scientific research favors non-baryonic particles with huge new detectors being built today that actually exclude baryons. At its heart, Drexler's book is philosophical in its approach, taking a contrarian view in the debate. Citing Ockham's razor and top-down vision, the author sorts recent astrophysics data of others to analyze and resolve the DM issue, asserting that DM consists of relativistic protons, i.e. baryons. A large amount of data is reviewed and the considerations seem persuasive. Not mentioned as a baryonic argument in favor of DM is another philosophical consideration relating to the significance of man in the Universe. If man is significant and perhaps even central in the universe, as Primack suggests in his new book, it would be a shame if the baryons of which we are made turn out to be cosmologically weird stuff. Drexler's book is worth a read.
Comprehending and Decoding the Cosmos: Discovering Solutions to Over a Dozen Cosmic Mysteries by Utilizing Dark Matter Relationi.......2006-06-12
I have read this book and it is another fine book by the Scientist, Mr. Drexler. I have followed Drexler's career since his days at Bell Labs-his founding of the Drexler Technology (Lasercard), his numerous patents -- He would not publish a book with research that is false. Did the other reviewer really read the book? I HAVE READ IT FROM COVER TO COVER AND IT OPENED MY MIND TO NEW IDEAS ABOUT THE COSMOS,ETC. EVERYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN GOOD , LOGICAL RESEARCH SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!.......2006-06-01
There are many reasons why Jerome Drexler's theory of dark matter is not widely accepted amongst astronomers. I am a professional astronomer working at a research establishment in California. The idea that relativisic protons can be responssible for the dark matter of the Universe seems ridiculous to me and this is why:
1. If dark matter consisted of relativistic particles (such as relativistic protons) then this is what astronomers would refer to as Hot Dark Matter. Hot Dark Matter has been ruled out as a form of dark matter because it does not allow the structures we see in the Universe. The reason because the particles are at such high velocities that they can never become gravitationally bound to each other, and all structure is wiped out. Galaxies cannot form, stars cannot form, planets cannot form. This would be a huge problem. This is why astronomers have come to believe in Cold Dark Matter (slow moving massive particles).
2. Protons are charged particles (they have positive charge). Any moving charged particle has both an electric and a magnetic field associated with it. Relativistic charged particles would create a huge electric and magnetic field. This would be easily observed. However, it has never been observed.
3. The Cold Dark Matter Particle (the WIMP) has never been observed for a reason. It's predicted mass lies just beyond the energies we can probe with our current particle accelerators. The next generation of particle accelerators will be able to probe these energies. These new particle accelerators will be coming online in the next 2 to 5 years, so watch this space. Admittedly, if we don't find the predicted WIMP (or neutralino as it is strictly called), then we do have to go back to the drawing boad.
I don't understand how this book has come to be published. The people deciding it should be published are obviously not professional astronomers. However, Jerome Drexler has never had his theory published in an astronomical journal. The reason is because it has never made it past the peer review stage... because his theory is simply WRONG. It does not stand up to experimental tests or what we know about the Universe.
Book Description
This multidimensional portrait of one of the greatest physicists who ever lived explains Einstein's groundbreaking scientific discoveries with exceptional clarity and explores the interwoven threads of his personal, political, and professional life. Photographs and colorful models of his exciting theories illustrate a riveting narrative that celebrates Einstein's genius and humanism.
Customer Reviews:
Einstein Eye Candy.......2003-12-23
Reading this book is a bit like feasting on potato chips rather than brussel's sprouts. Certainly there are many avenues to learning about Einstein the man and his scientific theories. One could choose from the 20-odd published books and collections of writings by Einstein himself or from the many dense works written by scholars. Any of these choices would likely prove edifying but would come at the cost of a serious investment of time and thought. On the other hand, the Discoveries series offers this fast-food alternative, quick and easy-to-digest but leaving the reader with a pang of guilt over the indulgence.
The book is 136 pages long, but this is a misleading indicator of depth, as the pages of this slim volume are perhaps 4x6 inches and 126 of them include copious pictures and/or illustrations. While this does limit the word count and the depth of coverage, it does make for a visual treat. The pictures include, as one would expect, many of Einstein throughout his lifetime but also include some fascinating snippets such as a portion of his birth certificate, a newspaper advertisement placed by Einstein offering private tutoring and a page from his manuscript demonstrating through equations the general theory of relativity.
The text moves chronologically from his childhood through his schooling, marriage, work at the Swiss Patent office, flurry of fame-producing discoveries, pacifism, long fruitless struggle for a unifying "theory of everything" and his death at the age of 76. The coverage of the science is fairly high level and certainly understandable without any physics or higher mathematics experience. Particularly interesting is a series of Einstein letters, including several to and from his wife that reveal a playful, tender side and an exchange with Sigmund Freud regarding the problem of war.
This is not the choice if you're looking for the definitive account of Einstein's life or an in-depth discussion of his scientific genius. However, if you're looking for an entertaining and easy overview of the man, you will find this a very good option.
Good, short little book........2002-08-21
Einstein: Decoding the Universe is a short,nice little book about Einstein that can be read in a matter of hours. I found the book quite interesting but I admit that I have never read a book on Einstein prior to this one. Thus, I cannot accurately compare this book to another on him. Main details about his life are covered without going into an intricate life story. Over 20 pages in the back were devoted to letters he had written or others had written about him. I gave the book only 4 stars because I thought there could have been a little more mathematical jargon included. But, for the price and the brevity, I recommend this book as one to take and read while at an airport or what not.
Overview of Einstein's life and work.......2002-02-23
The Abrams Discoveries series delivers another gorgeous book, with slick paper and beautiful photos and illustrations on every page. From drawings, graphs and pictures to Einstein's own scribblings-- even a Magritte painting and newspaper comics of the day-- the publishers have pulled out all the stops, giving the reader a kaleidoscopic visual treat. All of this brings to life the concepts in a punchy and and intriguing way. However, the text itself, translated from French physics professor Francoise Balibar's original, is insubstantial and only valuable as an overview and survey of Einstein's life and thought. While the author explores the political and scientific climate with sureness and ease, and illustrates particularly well Einstein's unique contributions-- vast as they are-- to 20th Century physics, the text never goes too deep into its subject.
I'd recommend this book to someone wanting a painless summation, introductory or otherwise, of Einstein. For someone wanting to get deep into the ramifications of relativity theory or the disharmony between it and quantum physics, I'd recommend another book-- perhaps Brian Greene's _The Elegant Universe_ or a book by Einstein himself.
Book Description
Decoding The Universe is an overhaul and refinement of Project Genesis, which was written in a passionate frenzy, with new stuff added. It connects things on a cosmic scale to the chemical elements, which forged history. That takes us one step closer, perhaps, to understanding why and how we got here. It is a work in progress, and the author is trying to get to the crux of things, from which he feels he is one step away.
Download Description
Decoding The Universe is an overhaul and refinement of Project Genesis, which was written in a passionate frenzy, with new stuff added. It connects things on a cosmic scale to the chemical elements, which forged history. That takes us one step closer, perhaps, to understanding why and how we got here. It is a work in progress, and the author is trying to get to the crux of things, from which he feels he is one step away.
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Decoding The Universe 2
Ian Beardsley
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Decoding The Universe 2 continues along the same lines as the first book, demonstrating that the elements that forged history, such as gold, silver, and nickel, or gases like oxygen, and nitrogen, are connected to the parameters of the various aspects of the solar system in such a way that seems to tell us something very mysterious is going on where our existence is concerned, and that the universe has a grand design.
Download Description
Decoding The Universe 2 continues along the same lines as the first book, demonstrating that the elements that forged history, such as gold, silver, and nickel, or gases like oxygen, and nitrogen, are connected to the parameters of the various aspects of the solar system in such a way that seems to tell us something very mysterious is going on where our existence is concerned, and that the universe has a grand design.
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Project Genesis: Decoding the Universe
Ian Beardsley
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
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Book Description
The author stops at nothing as ludicrous. He would actually attempt to connect why he brushes his teeth in the morning to events that took place in the formation of the solar system billions of years ago. He may not be successful, or he may, it depends on what the reader believes. There is also a unique mathematical reference system that enables the reader to make his or her own calculations with ease.
Books:
- Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, and an Introduction to Chaos (Pure and Applied Mathematics (Academic Press), 60.)
- Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods
- Error Control Coding, Second Edition
- Extended , Fundamentals of Physics, 6th Edition
- Fundamentals of Aerodynamics
- Fundamentals of Medical Imaging
- Fundamentals of Medical Imaging
- Fundamentals of Power Electronics (Second Edition)
- Generalized Additive Models: An Introduction with R (Texts in Statistical Science)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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