| |
| |
Click the serial number on the left to view the details of the item. |
| # |
Author | Title | Accn# | Year | Item Type | Claims |
| 1 |
Webb, Stephen |
All the Wonder that Would Be |
I10373 |
2017 |
eBook |
|
| 2 |
Genta, Giancarlo |
A Man From Planet Earth |
I10269 |
2016 |
eBook |
|
| 3 |
Schulze-Makuch, Dirk |
The Cosmic Zoo |
I09993 |
2017 |
eBook |
|
| 4 |
Altshuler, Ernesto |
Guerrilla Science |
I09774 |
2017 |
eBook |
|
| 5 |
K??ppers, Bernd-Olaf |
The Computability of the World |
I09667 |
2018 |
eBook |
|
| 6 |
Cranford, Jerry L |
Astrobiological Neurosystems |
I08178 |
2015 |
eBook |
|
|
|
1.
  |
 |
| Title | All the Wonder that Would Be : Exploring Past Notions of the Future |
| Author(s) | Webb, Stephen |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2017. |
| Description | XIII, 344 p. 80 illus., 71 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | It has been argued that science fiction (SF) gives a kind of weather forecast ??? not the telling of a fortune but rather the rough feeling of what the future might be like. The intention in this book is to consider some of these bygone forecasts made by SF and to use this as a prism through which to view current developments in science and technology. In each of the ten main chapters - dealing in turn with antigravity, space travel, aliens, time travel, the nature of reality, invisibility, robots, means of transportation, augmentation of the human body, and, last but not least, mad scientists - common assumptions once made by the SF community about how the future would turn out are compared with our modern understanding of various scientific phenomena and, in some cases, with the industrial scaling of computational and technological breakthroughs. A further intention is to explain how the predictions and expectations of SF were rooted in the scientific orthodoxy of their day, and use this to explore how our scientific understanding of various topics has developed over time, as well as to demonstrate how the ideas popularized in SF subsequently influenced working scientists. Since gaining a BSc in physics from the University of Bristol and a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester, Stephen Webb has worked in a variety of universities in the UK. He is a regular contributor to the Yearbook of Astronomy series and has published an undergraduate textbook on distance determination in astronomy and cosmology as well as several popular science books |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319517599 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. ASTRONOMY
2. EBOOK
3. EBOOK - SPRINGER
4. LIFE SCIENCES
5. PHYSICS
6. Popular Life Sciences
7. Popular Science in Astronomy
8. Popular Science in Physics
9. Popular Science in Technology
10. TECHNOLOGY
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I10373 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
|
2.
 |
|
| Title | A Man From Planet Earth : A Scientific Novel |
| Author(s) | Genta, Giancarlo |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2016. |
| Description | XI, 308 p. 6 illus., 1 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | Sometime in the not-too-distant future ... unbeknownst to Earth, the Galaxy is home to a number of spacefaring societies. This confederation enforces a strict protocol forbidding any contact with civilizations that have not yet achieved both a substantial spacefaring capability and sufficient maturity to control the technology explosion before triggering their own extinction. ?? While this policy is intended to only bring in peaceful new members, matters change entirely when the confederation is threatened by some unknown entity - is the menace real or imagined? ??The confederation decides to break with the rules and sends a delegate to Earth to hire one of the supposedly belligerent Earthlings to investigate and to revive the confederation???s long-unused starfleet. The Earthman agrees, but demands a high price: should he succeed, the confederation will have to accept Earth as a new member. As the threat becomes ever more acute, the question soon becomes which mission will prove harder - saving the confederation or convincing it to accept the deal! ?? The extensive appendix, written in non-technical language, reviews the scientific and technological topics underlying the plot - ranging from the Fermi paradox, space travel and artificial/collective intelligence to theories on possible universal convergences in technological and biological development |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319211152 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. ASTROBIOLOGY
2. ASTRONOMY
3. EARTH
4. EBOOK
5. EBOOK - SPRINGER
6. GEOLOGY
7. LIFE SCIENCES
8. PHYSICS
9. Popular Earth Science
10. Popular Life Sciences
11. Popular Science in Astronomy
12. Popular Science in Physics
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I10269 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
|
|
3.
|
|
| Title | The Cosmic Zoo : Complex Life on Many Worlds |
| Author(s) | Schulze-Makuch, Dirk;Bains, William |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2017. |
| Description | XII, 232 p. 33 illus., 31 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | Are humans a galactic oddity, or will complex life with human abilities develop on planets with environments that remain habitable for long enough? In a clear, jargon-free style, two leading researchers in the burgeoning field of astrobiology critically examine the major evolutionary steps that led us from the distant origins of life to the technologically advanced species we are today. Are the key events that took life from simple cells to astronauts unique occurrences that would be unlikely to occur on other planets? By focusing on what life does - it's functional abilities - rather than specific biochemistry or anatomy, the authors provide plausible answers to this question. Systematically exploring the various pathways that led to the complex biosphere we experience on planet Earth, they show that most of the steps along that path are likely to occur on any world hosting life, with only two exceptions: One is the origin of life itself ??? if this is a highly improbable event, then we live in a rather ???empty universe???. However, if this isn???t the case, we inevitably live in a universe containing a myriad of planets hosting complex as well as microbial life - a ???cosmic zoo???. The other unknown is the rise of technologically advanced beings, as exemplified on Earth by humans. Only one technological species has emerged in the roughly 4 billion years life has existed on Earth, and we don???t know of any other technological species elsewhere. If technological intelligence is a rare, almost unique feature of Earth's history, then there can be no visitors to the cosmic zoo other than ourselves. Schulze-Makuch and Bains take the reader through the history of life on Earth, laying out a consistent and straightforward framework for understanding why we should think that advanced, complex life exists on planets other than Earth. They provide a unique perspective on the question that puzzled the human species for centuries: are we alone? |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319620459 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. ASTROBIOLOGY
2. ASTRONOMY
3. EARTH
4. EBOOK
5. EBOOK - SPRINGER
6. Evolutionary Biology
7. GEOLOGY
8. LIFE SCIENCES
9. Popular Earth Science
10. Popular Life Sciences
11. Popular Science in Astronomy
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I09993 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
|
|
4.
|
|
| Title | Guerrilla Science : Survival Strategies of a Cuban Physicist |
| Author(s) | Altshuler, Ernesto |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2017. |
| Description | X, 147 p. 71 illus., 50 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | Full of drama, dedication, and humor, this book narrates the author???s often frustrating experiences working as an experimental physicist in Cuba after the disintegration of the so-called socialist block. Lacking finance and infrastructure, faced with makeshift equipment, unpredictable supplies, and unreliable IT, Altshuler tells how he and his students overcame numerous challenges to make novel and interesting contributions to several fields of science. Along the way, he explains the science - from studies of ant colonies to superconductivity - either qualitatively or quantitatively, but always at a level fully understandable to an undergraduate student of natural sciences or engineering. An even wider audience, however, may skip the technical sections without missing the essence. With numerous anecdotes, photographs and the author???s own delightful cartoons, the book tells a remarkable, and often amusing story of how successful science can be performed against all odds |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319516240 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. CONDENSED MATTER
2. CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
3. EBOOK
4. EBOOK - SPRINGER
5. Entomology
6. History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics
7. LIFE SCIENCES
8. PHYSICS
9. Popular Life Sciences
10. Popular Science in Physics
11. Science???Social aspects
12. Societal Aspects of Physics, Outreach and Education
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I09774 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
|
|
5.
|
|
| Title | The Computability of the World : How Far Can Science Take Us? |
| Author(s) | K??ppers, Bernd-Olaf |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2018. |
| Description | X, 200 p. 40 illus., 38 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | In this thought-provoking book K??ppers, an internationally renowned physicist, philosopher and theoretical biologist, addresses a number of??science's deepest??questions: Can??physics advance to the origin of all things and explain the unique phenomena of life, time and history? Are there unsolvable enigmas of the world? How did life originate? Is language a general phenomenon of Nature? What is time? Is it possible to express the history of the world in formulae? Where is science leading us? These and other provocative questions essential for a deeper understanding of the world are treated here in a refreshing and stimulating manner |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319673691 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. COMPLEX SYSTEMS
2. DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS
3. EBOOK
4. EBOOK - SPRINGER
5. History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics
6. LIFE SCIENCES
7. PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE
8. PHYSICS
9. Popular Life Sciences
10. Popular Science in Physics
11. STATISTICAL PHYSICS
12. Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I09667 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
|
|
6.
| |
| Title | Astrobiological Neurosystems : Rise and Fall of Intelligent Life Forms in the Universe |
| Author(s) | Cranford, Jerry L |
| Publication | Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2015. |
| Description | IX, 204 p. 87 illus., 68 illus. in color : online resource |
| Abstract Note | This book??explains why scientists believe that life may be more common in the Universe than previously considered possible.??It presents??the tools and strategies astronomers and astrobiologists are using in their formal search for habitable exoplanets as well as more advanced forms of life in other parts of our galaxy.??The author??then summarizes what is currently known about how and where organic molecules critical to our form of carbon-based life are manufactured. The core of the book explains (and presents educated guesses) how nervous systems evolved on Earth, how they work, and how they might work on other worlds. Combining his knowledge of neuroscience, computers, and astrobiology the author jumps into the discussion whether biological nervous systems are just the first step in the rise of intelligence in the Universe. The book ends with a description from both the psychologist???s and the neuroscientist???s viewpoints, exactly what it is about the fields of astrobiology and astronomy that ???boggles the minds??? of many amateur astronomers and interested non-scientists. This book stands out from other popular science books on astrobiology by making the point that ???astro-neurobiologists??? need to begin thinking about how alien nervous systems might work |
| ISBN,Price | 9783319104195 |
| Keyword(s) | 1. ASTROBIOLOGY
2. ASTRONOMY
3. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
4. EBOOK
5. EBOOK - SPRINGER
6. LIFE SCIENCES
7. NEUROBIOLOGY
8. Popular Life Sciences
9. Popular Science in Astronomy
|
| Item Type | eBook |
Multi-Media Links
Please Click here for eBook
Circulation Data
| Accession# | |
Call# | Status | Issued To | Return Due On | Physical Location |
| I08178 |
|
|
On Shelf |
|
|
|
| |