Cosmogenesis : The Growth of Order in the Universe

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Layzer, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cosmology.

Evolution.

Science.

Cosmology--Philosophy.

Local Subjects:

Cosmology.

Evolution.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, USA, 1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Eminent Harvard astrophysicist David Layzer offers readers a unified theory of natural order and its origins, from the permanence, stability, and orderliness of sub-atomic particles to the evolution of the human mind. Cosmogenesis provides the first extended account of a controversial theory that connects quantum mechanics with the second law of thermodynamics, and presents novel resolutions of longstanding paradoxes in these theories, such as those of Schroedinger's cat and the arrow of time. Layzer's main concerns in the second half of the book are with the philosophical issues surrounding s

Contents:

Contents; I: A THEORY OF ORDER; 1. The Unity of Science; 2. Order and Randomness; 3. The Strong Cosmological Principle and Time's Arrow; 4. The Importance of Being Discrete; 5. Seven Steps to Quantum Physics; 6. Alice in Quantumland; 7. The Strong Cosmological Principle and Quantum Physics; II: ASPECTS OF TIMEBOUND ORDER; 8. Cosmic Evolution: The Standard Model; 9. Gravitational Clustering and Structural Order; 10. Molecules, Genes, and Evolution; 11. Evolution and the Growth of Order; 12. Language, Thought, and Perception; 13. What Is Consciousness?; 14. Brain and Mind

15. Chance, Necessity, and FreedomNotes; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-028176-6

1-280-53344-7

9786610533442

0-19-802221-2

OCLC:

437115748