Hace tiempo estaba indeciso, ahora ya no estoy tan seguro

Estaba pensando en poner como introducción de este libro algo así como: ¡Lo escribió Penrose! ¿Qué más necesitáis saber? Pero quedaría un poco arrogante por mi parte, sobretodo teniendo en cuenta que no leí nada de él… pero desde que me comentaron The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe siempre ha sido un libro que quise tener en mi estantería, por que leerlo me llevaría mucho tiempo para entender todo lo que ponen en él. Al menos espero que este sea algo más ameno ;-).

De la contraportada

Rogen Penrose’s original and provocative ideas about the large-scale physics of the Universe, the small-scale world of quantum physics of the mind have been the subject of controversy and dicussion. These ideas were set forth in hist best-selling books The Emperor’s New Mind and Shadows of the Mind. In this book, he summarises and brings up to date his current thinking in these complex areas. He presents a masterful summary of those areas of physics in he which feels there are major unsolved problems. Through this, he introduces radically new concepts which he believes will be fruitful in understanding the wokrings of the brain and the nature of the human mind. These ideas are then challenged by three distinguished experts from different backgrounds – Abner Shimony and Nancy Cartwright as Philosophers of Science and Stephen Hawking as a Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist. Finally, Roger Penrose responds to their thought-provoking criticisms.

This paperback edition has been updated to include a striking and easily accesible example of Gödel’s theorem, and a ground-breaking proposal for a physical experiment designed to test some of Penrose’s most novel ideas about quantum mechanics.

This volume provides an accessible, illuminating and stimulating introduction to Roger Penrose’s vision of theoretical physics for the 21st Century. His enthusiasm, insight and good humor shine through this brilliant account of the problems of moderm physics.

‘To see a scientist of Penrose’s ability, stature and achievement toss large parts of modern physics into the air as though juggling balls and try to keep them aloft while marshalling tham into a coherent pattern is a thing to behold. [This book] is a wonderful illustration of a first-rate scientist doing what first-rate scientist have always done: make bold conjectures and display them for others to confirm, refute or amend.’ -Keith Devlin, New Scientist.

‘When Oxford physiciest and mathematician Penrose… has something to say about general relativity, quantum physics and artificial intelligence, we would do well to listen.’ – Publishers Weekly.

‘… a very interesting and stimulating book.’ – Brian Josephson, Times Higher Education Supplement.

‘… provocative and rewarding.’ – Kirkus Reviews.

‘…one could hardly ask for a shrewder or more enthusiastic tour guide to the extremes of physics.’ – Scientific American.

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Otro libro más de Steven Johnson que pasa por mis manos y se me antoja igual de interesante que los otros dos que ya he leído…

De la contraportada

‘Mind-expanding… intelligent, witty and tremendously thought-provoking… Popular science books interesting enough to read twice don’t como along all that often’ – Guardian

Why do people cluster together in neighbourhoods? How do Internet communities spring up from nowhere? Why is a brain conscious even though no single neuron is? What causes a media frenzy?

The answer, as Steven Johnson’s groundbreaking book shows, is emergence: change that occours from the bottom up. When enough individual elements intereact and organize themselves, the result is collective intelligence – even though no one is in charge. It is a phenomenon that exists at every level of experience, and will revolutionize the way we see the world.

‘Fascinating and timely’ – Steven Pinker

‘A dizzying, dazzling romp through fields as disparate as urba planning, computer-game design, neurology and control theory’ – Economist

‘A successful and fluent attempt to put complexity theory at the service of cultural criticism’ – Independent, Books of the year

‘A delight… clever and thought-provoking’ – Washington Post

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Hace mucho tiempo que no leo nada de Poul Anderson, probablemente desde que iba al instituto. La única pega que tengo para no comenzar a leer esta novela de space opera ahora mismo de un tirón es que es la segunda o tercera parte de una saga de novelas…

De la contraportada

«With Harvest the Fire, Poul Anderson takes us again to the farthest edge of technology and human imagination» – Vernor Vinge

«We have hard-science SF authors, and we have our poets. And to our great good fortune, we have Poul Anderson, who melds the two as any bard now living. Harvest the Fire is a cornucopia of powerful ideas stylishly wrapped and, for the reader, unwrapping them is a joy» – Dean Ing

«Anderson fuses elegiac prose and a sweeping vision of man’s technological future as only he can -brilliantly. Already, at its current three-book length, this is one of the best SF future histories.» – Booklist

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