Field Theory

The second half of the 20th century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high, the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable-what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle."

Are you fascinated by the cosmos and eager to explore the quantum realm without complex equations? Curious about wave-particle duality or how quantum theories impact everyday life, from computing to futuristic tech? Quantum Physics Simplified breaks down mind-bending concepts into engaging, easy-to-follow explanations, making the quantum world accessible to anyone with a curious mind.

In The Field of Blood, Joanne B. Freeman recovers the long-lost story of physical violence on the floor of the US Congress. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, she shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict in the decades before the Civil War. Legislative sessions were often punctuated by mortal threats, canings, flipped desks, and all-out slugfests. When debate broke down, congressmen drew pistols and waved Bowie knives. One representative even killed another in a duel. Many were beaten and bullied in an attempt to intimidate them into compliance, particularly on the issue of slavery.

What can a quantum computer do? If we have a sequence of 30 zeroes and ones, it has about one billion of possible values. However, a classical computer can only be in one of these one billion states at the same time. A quantum computer can be in a quantum combination of all of those states, called superposition.

How do people actually behave when confronted with economic choices? And remember, almost every choice we make is economic. While our desires are boundless, our resources are limited and tradeoffs confront us at every turn.

Our media environment is in crisis. Polarization is rampant. Polluted information floods social media. Even our best efforts to help clean up can backfire, sending toxins roaring across the landscape. In You Are Here, Whitney Phillips and Ryan Milner offer strategies for navigating increasingly treacherous information flows. Using ecological metaphors, they emphasize how our individual me is entwined within a much larger we, and how everyone fits within an ever-shifting network map.

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a groundbreaking force with the potential to reshape every facet of human existence. Among its most promising applications, the integration of AI in the medical field stands out as a transformative and revolutionary endeavor. AI's ability to process vast amounts of data, learn from patterns, and make intelligent decisions has opened up unprecedented possibilities in the domain of healthcare.

Awareness: The most profound, intimate, and collective experience human beings share turns out to be an absolute mystery. As universal a state as consciousness is to every person, it currently carries no agreed upon definition beyond its observable characteristics.... Robert A. Revel cuts through religious and academic dogma to posit something he senses is profoundly obvious: that consciousness is its own dimensional phenomenon - the fifth operational feature in our universe.

Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve.