Paradox
The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Waterson
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By:
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Jim Al-Khalili
About this listen
A fun and fascinating look at great scientific paradoxes.
Throughout history, scientists have come up with theories and ideas that just don't seem to make sense. These we call paradoxes. The paradoxes Al-Khalili offers are drawn chiefly from physics and astronomy and represent those that have stumped some of the finest minds.
For example, how can a cat be both dead and alive at the same time? Why will Achilles never beat a tortoise in a race, no matter how fast he runs? And how can a person be 10 years older than his twin?
With elegant explanations that bring the listener inside the mind of those who've developed them, Al-Khalili helps us to see that, in fact, paradoxes can be solved if seen from the right angle. Just as surely as Al-Khalili narrates the enduring fascination of these classic paradoxes, he reveals their underlying logic. In doing so, he brings to life a select group of the most exciting concepts in human knowledge.
Paradox is mind-expanding fun.
©2012 Jim Al-Khalili (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from our solar system to the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life, what forms extraterrestrial life might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid.
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Crank alert: rejects modern cosmology
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Quantum Enigma
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- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
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In trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics, the most successful theory in science and the basis of one-third of our economy. They found, to their embarrassment, that with their theory, physics encounters consciousness. Authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain all this in nontechnical terms with help from some fanciful stories and anecdotes about the theory's developers. They present the quantum mystery honestly, emphasizing what is and what is not speculation.
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Wow. Very Informative and mind boggling.
- By Kevin Harper, Realtor on 08-11-17
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The World According to Physics
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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics - quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics - showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality.
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excellent book
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By: Jim Al-Khalili
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Beyond Biocentrism
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In Beyond Biocentrism, acclaimed biologist Robert Lanza and astronomer Bob Berman take the listener on an intellectual thrill ride as they reexamine everything we thought we knew about life, death, the universe, and the nature of reality itself. The first step is acknowledging that our existing model of reality is looking increasingly creaky in the face of recent scientific discoveries.
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Here's the thing
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Six Not-So-Easy Pieces
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No 20th-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), physicist, teacher, author, and cultural icon. His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world, while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film.
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Very Interesting, but ...
- By Doug on 01-01-06
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Forces of Nature
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Professor Brian Cox uncovers some of the most extraordinary natural events on Earth and in the universe and beyond. From the immensity of the universe and the roundness of Earth to the form of every single snowflake, the forces of nature shape everything we see. Pushed to extremes, the results are astonishing. In seeking to understand the everyday world, the colours, structure, behaviour and history of our home, we develop the knowledge and techniques necessary to step beyond the everyday.
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Complicated in its simplicity
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Warped Passages is an altogether exhilarating journey that tracks the arc of discovery from early 20th-century physics to the razor's edge of modern scientific theory. One of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Lisa Randall provides astonishing scientific possibilities that, until recently, were restricted to the realm of science fiction. Unraveling the twisted threads of the most current debates on relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravity, she explores some of the most fundamental questions posed by Nature.
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Physics textbook without the math
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Knocking on Heaven's Door
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The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Knocking on Heaven's Door is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and an impassioned argument for the significance of science. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall.
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Too Political
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The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics
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In The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics, James Kakalios uses examples from comics and magazines to explain how breakthroughs in quantum mechanics led to such technologies as the World Wide Web, pocket-sized computers, mobile phones, and MRI machines.....
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The exhibits are missing from Audible
- By David on 12-13-10
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Infinite Powers
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Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves. Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes "backwards" sometimes; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.
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Not written to be read aloud
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About Time
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The Big Bang is all but dead, and we do not yet know what will replace it. Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us here on Earth? Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken again - as altered as they were with the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.
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More fluff than science
- By Ivan the Reviewer on 04-15-13
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Physics textbook without the math
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What listeners say about Paradox
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Akeem Howard
- 08-05-22
enjoyed it
I loved solving those paradoxes everyone who is science literate should atleast go through and solve all the paradoxes with a professional like this its good for u
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- Eric
- 11-11-22
Review for COisGpod
Listened to this as research for a podcast I am producing. Enlightening and entertaining. I discovered the author on YouTube and found him interesting and brilliant. This book has confirmed my initial thoughts. I will be using the information I gleaned in many COisGpod episodes in the future.
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- Josh Throckmorton
- 01-07-23
Enjoyable
The author does a great job providing explanations in a way that had me working through the problems while they're being explained. Excellent if you like critical thinking and have a curious mind.
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- Richard Applebee
- 06-06-24
Very interested in Paradox time travel
I like to entire top of paradox. I just wish there were more comics paradox.
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- Michael
- 06-19-19
Almost Useless
Firstly (as the author admits) these are not Paradoxes. It is not clear why the author then calls them Paradoxes anyway. As an example he attempts to present one real paradox - "this statement is a lie". Unfortunately this is not actually a paradox. If the statement was made as an example of a paradox then "this statement is a lie" is true and this leads to no contradiction. That statement is not false, as it is indeed a lie. Instead "this statement if false" is paradoxical. If the statement is true it leads to a contradiction, and it is false it also leads to a contradiction. This at the opening of the book was a bad sign.
Luckily (?) the rest of the book was not about logical paradoxes, but instead about non-obvious non-paradoxical problems:
Monte Hall Problem
Achilles and the Tortoise
Maxwell's Demon
Pole in the Barn Relativistic Length Dilation
Twins Paradox Relativistic Time Dilation
Grandfather Murder Time-Loop
Laplace's Demon Future Prediction
Schrodinger's Cat Superposition
Fermi Paradox Extraterrestrial Life
The author effectively throws a bunch of conventional words at each of these problems but does not actually explain very much (except for the Monte Hall Problem). He says a bunch of conventional things relativity and quantum reality which boil down to "it is weird and crazy, just believe the equations". I have studied relativity and quantum mechanics and can successfully use these equations, but that does not resolve the enigmas.
There are a couple of major problems with this book. Firstly the author repeatedly speaks about the state of the universe between measurements as if this was a real thing. Wiser quantum physicists are careful to say these equations do not describe the world between measurements, only the likelihood of actual measurements.
He talks about particles taking both paths (which is nonsense). This author also blurs the concepts of "expending energy" and utilizing low-entropy (energy is never consumed or expended only transformed). Quantum reality is not crazy, people are just stupid. See Smolin's new book on Einstein's Unfinished Revolution for more reasoned comments about entropy and quantum reality.
The other problem is the author says "the ONLY way to explain this is X". Really? The ONLY way? This kind of certainty is absurd and is the worst kind of popularization of science.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.
The narration was clear, clean and well paced with good production quality.
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18 people found this helpful