The Most Astounding Papers of Quantum Physics, and How They Shook the Scientific World Albert Einstein called the first discoveries that launched quantum physics “spooky,” as they suggested a random universe that seemed to violate the laws of common sense. Now bestselling author and physicist Stephen Hawking introduces the nonscientific reader to this fascinating and befuddling world. This collection gathers together the most important papers on quantum physics, including the scholarship of Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, Ervin Schrodinger, and Richard Feynman. This is the...

How can we understand the world in which we find ourselves? Over twenty years ago I wrote A Brief History of Time, to try to explain where the universe came from, and where it is going. But that book left some important questions unanswered. Why is there a universe–why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why are the laws of nature what they are? Did the universe need a designer and creator? It was Einstein’s dream to discover the grand design of the universe, a single theory that explains everything. However, physicists in Einstein’s day hadn’t made enough progress in...

Einstein said that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. But was he right? Can the quantum theory of fields and Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the two most accurate and successful theories in all of physics, be united in a single quantum theory of gravity? Can quantum and cosmos ever be combined? On this issue, two of the world’s most famous physicists–Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) and Roger Penrose (The Emperor’s New Mind and Shadows of the Mind)–disagree. Here they explain their positions in a work based...

With commentary by the greatest physicist of our time, Stephen Hawking, this anthology has garnered impressive reviews. PW has called it “a gem of a collection” while New Scientist magazine notes the “thrill of reading Einstein’s own words.” From the writings that revealed the famous Theory of Relativity, to other papers that shook the scientific world of the 20th century, A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion belongs in every science fan’s library. Availability:...

George’s best friend, Annie, needs help. Her scientist father, Eric, is working on a space project — and it’s all going wrong. A robot has landed on Mars but is behaving very oddly. And now Annie has discovered something weird on her dad’s supercomputer. Is it a message from an alien? Could there be life out there? How do you find a planet in outer space? And if you could talk to aliens, what would you say?An action-packed roller-coaster ride into a dramatic treasure hunt across the cosmos, this terrific adventure is FILLED with the LATEST scientific knowledge about our...

Stephen Hawking, author of the multi-million copy bestselling A Brief History of Time, and his daughter Lucy explain the universe to readers of all ages. George’s parents, who have always been wary of technology, warn him about their new neighbors: Eric is a scientist and his daughter, Annie, seems to be following in his footsteps. But when George befriends them and Cosmos, their super-computer, he finds himself on a wildly fun adventure, while learning about physics, time, and the universe. With Cosmos’s help, he can travel to other planets and a black hole. But what would happen if the...