Bang Crunch


Book Description

In Neil Smith’s nine stories, average people find themselves in decidedly unusual situations, as the mundane and the fantastic collide. A woman mourning the loss of her husband finds solace in talking to his ashes, entombed in a curling stone. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome, whose age expands and contracts like the universe. The members of a support group for people with benign tumors begin to suspect that their meekness has caused their medical woes. Bang Crunch creates an extraordinary world inhabited by all-too-human characters, and heralds the arrival of a literary talent with an unfailing, exacting concern for the profundities of our lives.




Bang Crunch


Book Description

An audacious New Face of Fiction debut: nine riveting stories that announce a major writer in the tradition of Yann Martel and Barbara Gowdy. Unexpected humour and tenderness intertwine with loneliness and hopefulness in this remarkable book from an already acclaimed writer. In nine richly varied stories, written in intense, clear-eyed prose, the reader is led into an exploration of the human need for connection, however tenuous or absurd, and at whatever cost. The stories operate with heartbreaking precision, drawing us past the surface of characters’ lives and into the moments of decision and recognition that shape these people irrevocably. Here are stories striking in the range of their shifting tone and the reach of their subjects. We are introduced to a support group for people who suspect their benign nature has caused benign tumours to grow inside them. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome whose age expands and contracts like the universe. A recently widowed woman talks to her husband’s ashes, which are entombed in a hollowed-out curling stone. A store detective’s valiant act to save a pair of pink calfskin gloves is entwined with the unfortunate results of an unsuccessful space mission. Rendering grief, loneliness, hope, love and happiness with exquisite subtlety and intelligence, Neil Smith proves himself an able chronicler of the human condition. Bang Crunch constitutes a significant achievement by a powerful writer.




Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers, and Shrieks


Book Description

Almost from its inception, Einstein's general theory of relativity was known to sanction spacetime models harboring singularities. Until the 1960s, however, spacetime singularities were thought to be artifacts of the idealizations of the models. This attitude evaporated in the face of a series of theorems, due largely to Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, which showed that Einstein's general theory implies that singularities can be expected to occur in a wide variety of conditions in both gravitational collapse and in cosmology. In the light of these results some physicists adopted the attitude that, since spacetime singularities are intolerable, general relativity contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Others hoped that peaceful coexistence with singularities could be achieved by proving a form of Roger Penrose's cosmic censorship hypothesis, which would place singularities safely inside black holes. Whatever the attitude one adopts toward spacetime singularities, it is evident that they raise a number of foundational problems for physics and have profound implications for the philosophy of space and time. However, philosophers of science have been slow to awaken to the significance of these developments. Indeed, this is the first serious book-length study of the subject by a philosopher of science. It features an overview of the literature on singularities, as well as an analytic commentary on their significance to a number of scientific and philosophical issues.




The Big Crunch


Book Description

A funny, clear-eyed view of the realities of teenage love from National Book Award winner Pete Hautman. A funny, clear-eyed view of the realities of teenage love from National Book Award winner Pete Hautman.Jen and Wes do not "meet cute." They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever. This is not that kind of love story.Instead, they just hang around in each other's orbits...until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they're still not sure where it will go. Especially when Jen starts to pity-date one of Wes's friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets.From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, this is a love story for people not particularly biased toward romance. But it is romantic, in the same way that truth can be romantic and uncertainty can be the biggest certainty of all...




Better Life and Business


Book Description

Better Life and Business: Cell, Brain, Mind and Sex Universal Laws is an e-book that defines the fascinating new discipline: BRAINLIFEBIZ . BRAINLIFEBIZ combines new discoveries in neurobiology, behavior and medicine with novel concepts related to conscious software programming, automation, system adaptation, module selection , self -organization and automatic discovery. In other words, BRAINLIFEBIZ is a science of the consciousness, bio quantum / random chaos computations, self-organized event trains and processes with several conditions (continuous and discrete; without leadership and central control etc.). The goal of BRAINLIFEBIZ is to create a perfect computer model that simulates animal and human behavior in a computerized experimental setting. This volume presents simulations of the firefly, cricket, katydid, frog, bird and human prefrontal cortex. The book breaks across the lines that separate scientific disciplines. It explains the global nature of the specific intelligent systems outlined above. These intelligent systems features include learning, self- organization, fuzzy logic, high speed signal processing and process control. These features are employed to generate an intelligence map. The map presents figures and equations, curves and data for major ‘Elementary Processes’: aggression, mimicry, chaos, trains, pile up, attractions, courting, mating, emotion, reasoning and consciousness . ‘Elementary Processes’ are then simulated to interact with each other and form millions of complex processes explained by universal laws behind the cell, brain, mind, sex. These laws explain, in a new way, natural selection and reproductive success in the local and global society and business. These laws can be applied in a variety of situations - from everyday stress-free life, to intelligent business decision making, but with a solid biomedical and scientific foundation. The theory behind intelligent systems can be viewed as a complement to the genetic DNA code. The brain generates various brain event trains which allow it to store information in dispersed neural networks (biologically speaking, in 25 billions of neurons some of which with thousands of synapses dispersed over the cortex). The book explains the fast, precise and clear neural diagnostic process as well as the extremely flexible powerful leader mind. Better Life and Business: Cell, Brain, Mind and Sex Universal Laws is, therefore, a valuable reference for researchers to the fascinating world of natural and man -made intelligent systems and their applications in business situations and personal lives.




LEBENSWERT


Book Description

"Lebenswert" is 3 books in one; the already published and available "Weltwesen", "Weltheil", and "Judenwelt". The first book examined what's beyond the limits of the Universe, and discussed the nature, structure, function, and relevance of the Absolute. The second book is concerned with the human relevance of the Absolute, and that is cosmic morality, various optimal function 'mechanisms' under the common term optimal efficiency. Morality is discussed as a subset of Absolute Ethics, via cosmodynamics, the modus operandi of the Absolute. The third book is specifically concerned with the Jewish relevance of the Absolute, and it is suggested that Jews may still fulfill their original mission of becoming light unto the nations and serving God by teaching ethical monotheism and righteousness. With such assistance, Man can grow into Cosmic Man, attain moral maturity, and enter the Cosmic Era in peace and harmony with Nature.




From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch and Everything in Between


Book Description

In our passionate curiosity to unravel the mysteries of the world, life, and the universe, humans have contrived numerous theories, both scientific and religious, with each claiming more relevance than the last. Despite all of these influential postulates, however, the real truth remains obscured to us, as it likely will until the moment of our eventual extinction. In From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch and Everything in Between: A Simplified Look at a Not-So-Simple Universe, Dr. Vlad Van Rosenthal explores the subjects made complex by science and religion—those concerning our planet, our solar system, and our civilization. Van Rosenthal’s compelling and accessible style introduces us to the fundamental explanations of the origin and future of our universe and of human life. From the cataclysmic explosion at the beginning to the one at the end—either from asteroids colliding with the earth, the nuclear explosion of nearby stars, or the fatal swelling of our own sun—we are a unique species on an unique planet that has most likely seen numerous civilizations and will hopefully see many more. We are all invited to form and debate our own perspectives on the earth, time, and space, for we are truly beholden to no one’s mind but our own.




Something About Nothing


Book Description

There is creation. Of course! And, it is, according to Webster's unabridged dictionary: "The act of bringing into existence from nothing the universe or the world or the living and nonliving things in it." But what's behind creation? What incentive inspires bringing something into existence? That is, What is the source of origins? The clue is probably right there in front of us, but hidden in plain sights. In this idiosyncratic rendition, a small number of witnesses are compelled to look, to seek. That's what this story, or tale, is about. Looking. Seeking. Vision. And it's not just about searching the universe for answers. But it's not just about searching ourselves for essence, either. Yet both are intertwined and advanced by an alien prominence that is both dazzling and daunting. More than anything, the alien eminence is a reflecting mirror. Of blunt candor. A mirror image of a mirror image. -We're in it/up to our very chins, treading the boards, anguishing about losing our balance, seeking affirmation. We cannot know the possible answers, though, until and unless we ask the challenging questions. And we cannot fear asking the difficult questions, or seeking the vexing answers, because they may cause discomfort and inconvenience. SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING...may reveal the source of origins, and it may reveal something about us that is provoking.also something that is promising. And an endeavor that is more hopeful in its prospects that fraught in its outlook has more charm than angst. This may be the Final Venture. In that context, and more than a metaphor, NOTHING could be the author of everything. Not an absence but a presence. Not a deficit but a salience. Not a void in the nature of things but ht essence in the core of everything.




The Ascent of Science


Book Description

From the revolutionary discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the mind-bending theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, from plate tectonics to particle physics, from the origin of life to universal entropy, and from biology to cosmology, here is a sweeping, readable, and dynamic account of the whole of Western science. In the approachable manner and method of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, the late Brian L. Silver translates our most important, and often most obscure, scientific developments into a vernacular that is not only accessible and illuminating but also enjoyable. Silver makes his comprehensive case with much clarity and insight; his book aptly locates science as the apex of human reason, and reason as our best path to the truth. For all readers curious about--or else perhaps intimidated by--what Silver calls "the scientific campaign up to now" in his Preface, The Ascent of Science will be fresh, vivid, and fascinating reading.




Starbrand & Nightmask


Book Description

They're former Avengers with tremendous power, but almost zero life experience. Now Starbrand and Nightmask are out on their own, trying to find their place as heroes, cosmic entities and...students? College -it's a whole new universe for this pair, posing more questions than their mid-term exam. Can two all-powerful friends share a tiny dorm room? How hard is intergalactic teleportation after partying all night long at your first kegger? And will they keep their grades up while putting bad guys down? Time to find out, along with Starbrand & Nightmask! Collects Starbrand & Nightmask #1-5.