Author : Jost Lemmerich
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 394 pages
File Size : 27,17 MB
Release : 2011-08-10
Category : History
ISBN : 0804763100
"Originally published in German under the title Aufrecht im Sturm der Zeit: Der Physiker James Franck, 1882-1964."
Author : Trevor A. Harley
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 515 pages
File Size : 35,43 MB
Release : 2021-02-18
Category : Medical
ISBN : 1107125286
An introduction to the psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience of consciousness, including sleep, dreaming, meditative, and altered states.
Author : Philip Goff
Publisher : Pantheon
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 11,39 MB
Release : 2019
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1524747963
From a leading philosopher of the mind comes this lucid, provocative argument that offers a radically new picture of human consciousness--panpsychism, an exciting alternative that could pave the way forward.ward.
Author : Anil Seth
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 18,95 MB
Release : 2021-10-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 1524742880
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A Best Book of 2021—Bloomberg Businessweek; A Best Science Book of 2021—The Guardian; A Best Science Book of 2021—Financial Times; A Best Philosophy Book of 2021—Five Books; A Best Book of 2021—The Economist Anil Seth's quest to understand the biological basis of conscious experience is one of the most exciting contributions to twenty-first-century science. What does it mean to “be you”—that is, to have a specific, conscious experience of the world around you and yourself within it? There may be no more elusive or fascinating question. Historically, humanity has considered the nature of consciousness to be a primarily spiritual or philosophical inquiry, but scientific research is now mapping out compelling biological theories and explanations for consciousness and selfhood. Now, internationally renowned neuroscience professor, researcher, and author Anil Seth is offers a window into our consciousness in BEING YOU: A New Science of Consciousness. Anil Seth is both a leading expert on the neuroscience of consciousness and one of most prominent spokespeople for this relatively new field of science. His radical argument is that we do not perceive the world as it objectively is, but rather that we are prediction machines, constantly inventing our world and correcting our mistakes by the microsecond, and that we can now observe the biological mechanisms in the brain that accomplish this process of consciousness. Seth has been interviewed for documentaries aired on the BBC, Netflix, and Amazon and podcasts by Sam Harris, Russell Brand, and Chris Anderson, and his 2017 TED Talk on the topic has been viewed over 11 million times, a testament to his uncanny ability to make unimaginably complex science accessible and entertaining.
Author : Jack Minker
Publisher :
Page : 564 pages
File Size : 36,34 MB
Release : 2012-05-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780769546605
There is a great deal of difference between feeling empathy for those whose human rights are being violated around the world and actually doing something about it. This memoir, written by the Vice-Chair Computer Science (CS) of the Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS), 1962-present, and Vice-Chair of the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights (CSFHR) of the ACM, 1980-1989, is a first-hand account of computer scientists working with numerous other constituencies to safeguard or advance the human rights of scientists throughout the world. Drawing from the author's considerable archives from the period, "Scientific Freedom and Human Rights" is a treasure trove of historical information about a critical -- and relatively unsung -- human rights campaign, its successes and heartbreaking challenges, and possible lessons to be applied to future human rights campaigns. "The solidarity of the global scientific community was especially important in giving moral support to the intellectual leaders of the struggle for Soviet Jewry, helping them to continue their scientific activity even in a time of persecution. Their activism also helped to link scientific cooperation with the Soviet Union with freedom within the Soviet Union.... You will read these stories and see the support given many scientists throughout the world in this book." -- Natan Sharansky, Jewish Agency Chairman of the Executive "It is not very often that solidarity among scientists is brought to the public eye, and it is certainly not common for people outside science to associate scientists with heroic struggles for human rights, freedom, and dignity. Jack Minker's new book will change this perception." -- Professor Judea Pearl, University of California at Los Angeles
Author : Stanislas Dehaene
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 29,23 MB
Release : 2014-01-30
Category : Science
ISBN : 0698151402
WINNER OF THE 2014 BRAIN PRIZE From the acclaimed author of Reading in the Brain and How We Learn, a breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries. A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness.
Author : Michael Polanyi
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 98 pages
File Size : 15,60 MB
Release : 2013-01-07
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 022616344X
In its concern with science as an essentially human enterprise, Science, Faith and Society makes an original and challenging contribution to the philosophy of science. On its appearance in 1946 the book quickly became the focus of controversy. Polanyi aims to show that science must be understood as a community of inquirers held together by a common faith; science, he argues, is not the use of "scientific method" but rather consists in a discipline imposed by scientists on themselves in the interests of discovering an objective, impersonal truth. That such truth exists and can be found is part of the scientists' faith. Polanyi maintains that both authoritarianism and scepticism, attacking this faith, are attacking science itself.
Author : Scott D. G. Ventureyra
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 38,52 MB
Release : 2018-11-29
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1532655193
Have you ever thought about how self-consciousness (self-awareness) originated in the universe? Understanding consciousness is one of the toughest "nuts to crack." In recent years, scientists and philosophers have attempted to provide an answer to this mystery. The reason for this is simply because it cannot be confined to solely a materialistic interpretation of the world. Some scientific materialists have suggested that consciousness is merely an illusion in order to insulate their worldviews. Yet, consciousness is the most fundamental thing we know, even more so than the external world since we require it to perceive or think about anything. Without it, reasoning would be impossible. Dr. Scott Ventureyra, in this ground-breaking book, explores the idea of the Christian God and Creation in order to tackle this most difficult question. He demonstrates that theology has something significant to offer in reflection of how consciousness originated in the universe. He also makes a modest claim that the Christian conception of God and Creation provide a plausible account for the origin of self-consciousness. He integrates philosophy, theology, and science in an innovative way to embark on this exploration.
Author : Aude Degast
Publisher :
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 21,8 MB
Release : 2021
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781621644118
The intelligence of one is a gift for all. Such is the case of Jérôme Lejeune, an extraordinary man who put his brilliance at the service of children with Down syndrome. A pioneer of modern genetics, Dr. Lejeune discovered the chromosomal defect that causes Down's. International acclaim followed, but more important to this doctor--dazzled by the beauty of every human life--was improving the care of his patients with this abnormality. As a man of both science and conscience, he advocated for their dignity, and he suffered attacks on his reputation as a result. To write this definitive biography, Aude Dugast spent eleven years consulting thousands of archives. She met at length with Lejeune's wife and relatives, families of his patients, and his French and foreign collaborators. She invites us to discover the true and untold portrait of Jérôme Lejeune--brilliant scientist close to the great figures of this world, devoted husband and father, and ardent defender of the little ones.
Author : Daniel M. Wegner
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 743 pages
File Size : 15,94 MB
Release : 2003-08-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0262290553
A novel contribution to the age-old debate about free will versus determinism. Do we consciously cause our actions, or do they happen to us? Philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, and lawyers have long debated the existence of free will versus determinism. In this book Daniel Wegner offers a novel understanding of the issue. Like actions, he argues, the feeling of conscious will is created by the mind and brain. Yet if psychological and neural mechanisms are responsible for all human behavior, how could we have conscious will? The feeling of conscious will, Wegner shows, helps us to appreciate and remember our authorship of the things our minds and bodies do. Yes, we feel that we consciously will our actions, Wegner says, but at the same time, our actions happen to us. Although conscious will is an illusion, it serves as a guide to understanding ourselves and to developing a sense of responsibility and morality. Approaching conscious will as a topic of psychological study, Wegner examines the issue from a variety of angles. He looks at illusions of the will—those cases where people feel that they are willing an act that they are not doing or, conversely, are not willing an act that they in fact are doing. He explores conscious will in hypnosis, Ouija board spelling, automatic writing, and facilitated communication, as well as in such phenomena as spirit possession, dissociative identity disorder, and trance channeling. The result is a book that sidesteps endless debates to focus, more fruitfully, on the impact on our lives of the illusion of conscious will.
