New Releases by Stephen W. Hawking

This influential work explores Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and its predictions relating to singularities in space-time.

Perché esistiamo? Da dove veniamo? Stephen Hawking, dalla frontiera della fisica e dell’astrofisica moderne, ha ripercorso le più profonde risposte filosofiche elaborate nel corso della Storia umana a queste domande e ce ne ha restituito poi un’avvincente interpretazione scientifica, benché non conclusiva, date le limitazioni delle fondamentali teorie fisiche attuali: la Relatività Ristretta e la Meccanica Quantistica. Il suo discorso, animato da un’incrollabile fiducia nella scienza, resta aperto al dialogo con la filosofia e con la religione.

Some implications and consequences of the expansion of the universe are examined. The conclusion is reached that galaxies cannot be formed as a result of the growth of perturbations that were initially small.

Uno dei più grandi scienziati del nostro tempo ci guida tra i segreti della cosmologia più avanzata. Che cosa sappiamo realmente dell'universo? Qual è la sua natura? Da dove è venuto e dove sta andando? Le nostre conoscenze sono fondate? E su cosa si basano? Stephen Hawking torna a occuparsi dei misteri del cosmo, e lo fa senza rinunciare al suo stile diretto e comunicativo. Aggiornandoci sulle recenti scoperte sia sul piano teorico che su quello delle osservazioni empiriche, Hawking descrive gli ultimi progressi compiuti nella ricerca di una teoria unificata di tutte le forze della fisica: la teoria delle "superstringhe" e le "dualità" tra modelli apparentemente diversi; i tunnel spazio-temporali e l'affascinante questione dei viaggi nel tempo. Questi alcuni dei nuovi argomenti di un saggio che riproduce il quadro di una realtà in continua evoluzione e che ci aiuta a compiere un ulteriore passo nella comprensione della natura dell'universo.

"No estoy de acuerdo con la idea de que el universo constituye un misterio que cabe intuir pero que jamás llegaremos a analizar o a comprender planamente", afirma Hawking en el prólogo. Y al hacerlo, le hace justicia a la revolución científica iniciada hace casi cuatro siglos por Galileo y desarrollada por Newton. Ellos demostraron que algunas áreas del universo no se cojmportan de manera arbitraria, sino que se hayan gobernadas por leyes matemáticas precisas. Todavía es mucho lo que no sabemos o entendemos acerca del universo; pero el gran progreso logrado, sobre todo en los últimos cien años, debe estimularnos a creer que el entendimiento pleno no se encuentra fuera de nuestro alcance. Esta es la firme creencia del autor de estas páginas, convencido de que pugnar con conseguir una teoría definitiva acerca del universo es mucho mejor que desesperar de la capacidad de la mente humana. Tal vez no estemos, después de todo, condenados a avanzar a tientas en la oscuridad. Este libro da fe de esta luminosa posibilidad.

Stephen W. Hawking, widely believed to have been one of be one of the world’s greatest minds, presents a series of seven lectures— covering everything from big bang to black holes to string theory—. These lectures not only capture the brilliance of Hawking’'s mind, but his characteristic wit as well. In The Illustrated Theory of Everything, Hawking begins with a history of ideas about the universe, from Aristotle’s determination that the Earth is round to Hubble’s discovery, more than 2,000 years later, that the universe is expanding. Using that as a launching pad, he explores the reaches of modern physics, including theories on the origin of the universe (e.g., the Big Bang), the nature of black holes, and space-time. Finally, he poses the questions left unanswered by modern physics, especially how to combine all the partial theories into a “unified theory of everything.” “If we find the answer to that,” he claims, “it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason.” A great popularizer of science as well as a brilliant scientist, Hawking believes that advances in theoretical science should be “understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists.” In this book, he offers a fascinating voyage of discovery about the cosmos and our place in it. It is a book for anyone who has ever gazed at the night sky and wondered what was up there and how it came to be.

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Is the apparent 'grand design' of our universe evidence for a benevolent creator who set things in motion? Or does science offer another explanation? In The Grand Design, the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the universe is presented in language marked by both brilliance and simplicity. Model dependent realism, the multiverse, the top-down theory of cosmology, and the unified M-theory - all are revealed here. This is the first major work in nearly a decade by one of the world's greatest thinkers. A succinct, startling and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform - and provoke - like no other.

Einstein afirmaba que lo más incomprensible acerca del universo es que es comprensible. ¿Estaba en lo cierto? ¿Pueden la teoría cuántica de campos y la teoría de la relatividad general de Einstein, las dos teorías, más precisas y exitosas de toda la física, unirse a una única teoría cuántica de la gravedad? Aunque se ha avanzado mucho en esta búsqueda, Hawking y Penrose insisten en que es necesario llegar mucho más lejos. En la naturaleza del espacio y el tiempo, estos dos gigantes de la física entablan un debate fundamental sobre el origen del universo. Un libro escrito a cuatro manos, con un epílogo actualizado, en el que los autores resumen cómo los recientes acontecimientos han provocado que sus posturas difieran en cuestiones tan importantes como la geometría espacial del universo o la paradoja de la desaparición de información en los agujeros negros. -- Contracarátula.

Taken away by a noted physicist and his daughter to study the science of black holes, George's journey through space becomes a daring adventure when the physicist's super-intelligent computer becomes a highly sought possession, enhanced with diagrams, charts, photos, and line drawings. Reprint.

En la línea de A hombros de gigantes, dedicada a las grandes obras de la Física y la Astronomía, el gran científico Stephen Hawking nos presenta en este libro los 31 logros fundamentales del pensamiento matemático, desde la geometría básica hasta la teoría de los números transfinitos. El profesor Hawking ha analizado 2.500 años de historia de las matemáticas para ofrecernos: + Una biografía de los 17 mayores genios matemáticos. + Una introducción al significado de sus investigaciones. + La solución a los distintos problemas que se plantearon. "En esta época en que vivimos estamos descubriendo las leyes fundamentales de la naturaleza...” Richard Feynman, 1964. Desde el comercio por internet hasta los vuelos espaciales, las matemáticas rigen casi todos los aspectos de nuestra vida en esta era postindustrial. Por otra parte, tanto las revoluciones intelectuales como nuestra propia percepción del mundo son hijas de revoluciones en el pensamiento matemático. Las obras de Karl Weierstrass, Georg Cantor, George Boole, Alan Turing, Kurt Gödel y otros grandes matemáticos se han construido sobre la obra de sus predecesores, desde los matemáticos babilonios, y ellas, a su vez, alimentan las nuevas teorías que desarrollan los investigadores contemporáneos. Stephen Hawking sostiene que si las maravillas del mundo antiguo fueron físicas, las maravillas de nuestro propio tiempo son las obras del intelecto.

Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has become an international publishing phenomenon. Translated into thirty languages, it has sold over nine million copies worldwide and lives on as a science book that continues to captivate and inspire new readers each year. When it was first published in 1988 the ideas discussed in it were at the cutting edge of what was then known about the universe. In the intervening ten years there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and macro-cosmic world. Indeed, during that time cosmology and the theoretical sciences have entered a new golden age. Professor Hawking is one of the major scientists and thinkers to have contributed to this renaissance. In this special, fully updated edition, which marks the tenth anniversary of the book's original ground-breaking publication, Professor Hawking has included the most recent developments in the field, many of which were forecast by him. He has also written a new introduction as well as an additional chapter on wormholes and time travel. A Brief History of Time has rightly been hailed as the publishing sensation of the past decade and is surely destined to become one of the greatest classics of science writing.