About The Book
World-altering discoveries that reveal a Universe of uncertainty and constant change Whether probing the farthest reaches of the vast universe or Exploring the microscopic world of Genetics and the subatomic world of quantum mechanics, Instability Rules is a remarkably informative and engaging look at ten milestone discoveries and their discoverers-a wide range of very human personalities whose insights have dramatically altered our most basic assumptions about human existence during the last century. The stories include Edwin Hubble and the expanding universe, Alfred Wegener and continental drift, Neils Bohr and quantum mechanics, Alan Turing and artificial intelligence, and James Watson and Francis Crick and DNA. Also covering discoveries of the twenty-first century that are already refining these and other ideas, Instability Rules is an exhilarating, sometimes amusing encounter with the defining Scientific discoveries of our age.
Contents
Searche: "It Moves . . . " 1 Hubble and the Expanding Universe. 2 Einstein and the Wonder of Light. 3 Bohr and the Puzzles of the Quantum World. 4 Wegener and the Dance of the Continents. 5 Big Bang, Big Crunch, and Big Bore. 6 Fermat, Godel, and Fuzzy Math. 7 Mendel, Watson, Crick, and the Human Genome. 8 Hominids, Humans, and the Search for Origins. 9 Turing and the Brain as Computer, and Vice Versa. 10 Freud, the Unconscious, and Other Views. Acknowledgments. Photo Credits. Index.
Excerpts from Inner Flap (Front)
a century of remarkable scientific discovery "We learned that the continents are forever slipping and sliding around the globe, like clothing on a teenager, and the mountains are forever rising, the oceans widening, the volcanoes stoking their furnaces for the next blast. " "Our bodies are a fever of change as our minds perpetually rewire themselves and our genes make uncountable decisions, renewing or growing or misfiring to produce the runaway cancers that may kill us, initiating the instability of mortal decay. . . . " "Within tiny atomic universes, particles pop in and out of being, impossible as that may be to conceive, while atoms collide and meld, buzzing continually in their electrically charged states. " "This, then, was the truth behind many of the defining discoveries of the twentieth century: existence is constant activity." -from the Preface
Excerpts from Inner Flap (Outer)
Atomic particles that defy the rules of classical physics, giant landmasses that continually jostle one another, entire galaxies created and consumed in far-off space: The great scientific discoveries of the twentieth century transformed our view of nature. What was once an ideal of harmony and permanence became a churning sea of uncertainty and change. Instability Rules takes a remarkably accessible and engaging look at ten of these milestones, explains their significance, and reveals how they have changed our lives. You'll meet the brilliant, eccentric, and insufferable Edwin Hubble, who first demonstrated that the universe was expanding, and you'll discover how Einstein came to think of time as the fourth dimension. You'll join Watson, Crick, and others in their unrelenting search for the structure of DNA, and you'll share Alfred Wegener's frustration as his theory of continental drift is ridiculed by the leading geologists of his day. From the mysteries of the human mind to the humanity of artificial intelligence, from bouncing electrons to fuzzy math, Instability Rules gives you a well-grounded understanding of the defining scientific discoveries of our age. It also reveals the humor, pathos, and adventure that go hand in hand with every great scientific achievement.
Review
"...For its clarity and wit, this is a winner..." ( New Scientist , 22 June 2002) "...remarkable and engaging..." ( Materials World , July 2002) "...a highly readable account of what Charles Flowers thinks were the most fundamental and far-reaching ideas..." ( Chemistry & Industry , February 2004)
Extracts
"...For its clarity and wit, this is a winner..." ( New Scientist , 22 June 2002) "...remarkable and engaging..." ( Materials World , July 2002) "...a highly readable account of what Charles Flowers thinks were the most fundamental and far-reaching ideas..." ( Chemistry & Industry , February 2004)
Endorsements
"...a great primer for anyone who wants to read a general introduction to some of the most important ideas that underpin much of today's science...if you want to catch up on the last 100 years of sceintific breakthroughs, there's no better place to start..." (Focus, July 2002)