Compare prices for martin rees
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Free Press Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others
Pages: 288, Paperback, Free Press
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£7.99
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Phoenix Press Our Cosmic Habitat
It's some two years between <I>Our Cosmic Habitat</I> and Sir Martin Rees' explanation why the universe is the way it is, thanks to <I>Just Six Numbers</I>. Six physical constants express our universe--a universe big enough and long-lived enough to engender consciousness. If the numbers were other than they are, we wouldn't be around to know about it. <I>Our Cosmic Habitat</I> is a smoother read, as Rees works his explanations inwards, from the physical world towards the numbers at its heart. But Rees offers more than a revamped description. The clue to the book's real value lies in the title. Our universe is a habitat. If you want to understand how a habitat works, you have to sweep away the trivia and the accidents, the merely local conditions, and uncover the underlying rules. And it isn't easy.<p> Could it be that those six numbers could be very slightly different, and still give rise to a conscious universe? If, as Rees speculates, there may be many universes, spawning other universes, all the time, then maybe those six numbers of his merely reflect the rough conditions necessary for the existence of a world such as ours. If he is right, this has massive implications for the kinds of answers physics can at present offer. Sweating over the precise relations between these difficult numbers in the hope of uncovering a unified theory will turn out to be as futile as trying to predict the precise arrangement of a snowflake, a column of tap water, the whirl of a thumbprint. <p> But this, it seems, is the perennial peril of science. One moment you're attaining an objective vision of underlying processes. The next, you're asking the equivalent of why, of all the bars in all the world, she had to walk into yours... --<I>Simon Ings</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£6.39
at Amazon.co.uk
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Arrow Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?
Just when you've stopped worrying, along comes Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, with teeming armies of deadly viruses, nanobots, and armed fanatics in <I>Our Final Century</I>. <p>Beyond the hazards most of us know about--smallpox, terrorists, global warming--Rees introduces the new threats of the 21st century and the unholy political and scientific alliances that have made them possible. He spells out doomsday scenarios for cosmic collisions, high-energy experiments gone wrong, and self-replicating machines that steadily devour the biosphere. If we can avoid driving ourselves to extinction, he writes, a glorious future awaits; if not, our devices may very well destroy the universe.<p> What happens here on Earth, in this century, could conceivably make the difference between a near eternity filled with ever more complex and subtle forms of life and one filled with nothing but base matter. <p>For many technological debacles, Rees places much of the blame squarely on the shoulders of the scientists who participate in perfecting environmental destruction, biological menaces, and ever-more powerful weapons. So is there any hope for humanity? Rees is vaguely optimistic on this point, offering solutions that would require a level of worldwide cooperation humans have yet to exhibit. If the daily news isn't enough to make you want to crawl under a rock, this book will do the trick. --<I>Therese Littleton</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£6.39
at Amazon.co.uk
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Weidenfeld & Nicolson Our Cosmic Habitat
It's some two years between <I>Our Cosmic Habitat</I> and Sir Martin Rees' explanation why the universe is the way it is, thanks to <I>Just Six Numbers</I>. Six physical constants express our universe--a universe big enough and long-lived enough to engender consciousness. If the numbers were other than they are, we wouldn't be around to know about it. <I>Our Cosmic Habitat</I> is a smoother read, as Rees works his explanations inwards, from the physical world towards the numbers at its heart. But Rees offers more than a revamped description. The clue to the book's real value lies in the title. Our universe is a habitat. If you want to understand how a habitat works, you have to sweep away the trivia and the accidents, the merely local conditions, and uncover the underlying rules. And it isn't easy.<p> Could it be that those six numbers could be very slightly different, and still give rise to a conscious universe? If, as Rees speculates, there may be many universes, spawning other universes, all the time, then maybe those six numbers of his merely reflect the rough conditions necessary for the existence of a world such as ours. If he is right, this has massive implications for the kinds of answers physics can at present offer. Sweating over the precise relations between these difficult numbers in the hope of uncovering a unified theory will turn out to be as futile as trying to predict the precise arrangement of a snowflake, a column of tap water, the whirl of a thumbprint. <p> But this, it seems, is the perennial peril of science. One moment you're attaining an objective vision of underlying processes. The next, you're asking the equivalent of why, of all the bars in all the world, she had to walk into yours... --<I>Simon Ings</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Shipping: refer to store website
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£9.89
at Amazon.co.uk
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William Heinemann Our Final Century?: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?
Just when you've stopped worrying, along comes Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, with teeming armies of deadly viruses, nanobots, and armed fanatics in <I>Our Final Century</I>. <p>Beyond the hazards most of us know about--smallpox, terrorists, global warming--Rees introduces the new threats of the 21st century and the unholy political and scientific alliances that have made them possible. He spells out doomsday scenarios for cosmic collisions, high-energy experiments gone wrong, and self-replicating machines that steadily devour the biosphere. If we can avoid driving ourselves to extinction, he writes, a glorious future awaits; if not, our devices may very well destroy the universe.<p> What happens here on Earth, in this century, could conceivably make the difference between a near eternity filled with ever more complex and subtle forms of life and one filled with nothing but base matter. <p>For many technological debacles, Rees places much of the blame squarely on the shoulders of the scientists who participate in perfecting environmental destruction, biological menaces, and ever-more powerful weapons. So is there any hope for humanity? Rees is vaguely optimistic on this point, offering solutions that would require a level of worldwide cooperation humans have yet to exhibit. If the daily news isn't enough to make you want to crawl under a rock, this book will do the trick. --<I>Therese Littleton</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks
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£17.09
at Amazon.co.uk
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Basic Books Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning
Pages: 240, Paperback, Basic Books
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks
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£8.99
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Cambridge University Press New Perspectives in Astrophysical Cosmology
Pages: 166, Paperback, Cambridge University Press
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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£18.99
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