Paul Halpern

A study of the world of science describes how the animated television show has addressed such scientific issues as genetic manipulation, time travel, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life, exploring the theoretical possibilities of such speculative concepts.

The concept of multiple unperceived dimensions in the universe is one of the hottest topics in contemporary physics. It is essential to current attempts to explain gravity and the underlying structure of the universe. The history of how such an unfathomable concept has risen to prominence takes centre stage in The Great Beyond. The story begins with Einstein's famous quarrel with Heisenberg and Bohr, whose theories of uncertainty threatened the order Einstein believed was essential to the universe, and it was his rejection of uncertainty that drove him to ponder the existence of a fifth dimension.Beginning with this famous disagreement and culminating with an explanation of the newest "brane" approach, author Paul Halpern shows how current debates about the nature of reality began as age-old controversies, and will address how the possibility of higher dimensions has influenced culture over the past one hundred years (visiting the work of H.G. Wells, Salvador Dali and others).

A introduction to the search for and discovery of planets outside our solar system and what life may be like on such distant worlds.

"A professor of physics and prolific author, Halpern shows how prediction - as we think of it now - emerged during the birth of modern science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As scientists discovered the workings of the cosmos, their models allowed for predictions of amazing sophistication and accuracy. Belief in the power of Newtonian mechanics to explain and predict all aspects of the physical world led to scientists' conviction that fate was the inevitable outcome of natural laws and principles.". "Breakthroughs in the early part of the twentieth century, however - from Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to Einstein's concepts of relative time and space - revealed the limits of our ability to comprehend the universe, forcing scientists to employ other methods of forecasting. Drawing on modern theories of complexity, chaos theory, quantum theory, and relativity, Halpern explores the latest methods of scientific, social, and technological prediction. Will we ever be able to understand and predict the stock market, social interaction, or the weather? When are predictions most likely to succeed? Does time even exist?"--BOOK JACKET.

Inspired by the end of the millennium, celebrated science writer Paul Halpern tackles the fate of human civilization and our planet in this meditation on the end of the world. Beginning with the religious origins of the idea of apocalypse, Halpern shows how science has borrowed the metaphor to describe potential worldwide catastrophes. He spins out various scenarios for destruction, from nuclear war and global warming to a great flood and a new Ice Age. He argues that while human history will someday come to a close-even if we survived for billions of years, we would eventually face the end of the universe itself-in the meantime we have gained extraordinary control over our fate as a species. Faced with the power to steer our planet toward paradise or transform it into hell, he says, we must take steps to avoid those catalysts of apocalypse that are within our control.

Paul Halpern leads us through an interplanetary adventure as we seek out new planets, brilliant stars, and extraterrestrial life forms. The only book of its kind to detail the important discoveries of the first known worlds beyond the solar system, The Quest for Alien Planets explores the unfolding search for planets both similar and alien to Earth. This book is inspired by the certain knowledge that our solar system is not unique. Halpern boldly guides us through the astonishing discoveries of yesterday and today that pave the cosmic road to new planets, space migration, and extraterrestrial life, as we enter a vast future that promises untold surprises. The Quest for Alien Planets reveals the exciting drama behind humankind's intergalactic endeavors, and details the trailblazing exploits that are propelling our new age of discovery.

From the very dawn of history, humans have struggled with the question of cosmic destiny. Ancient cultures worldwide invoked powerful mythological images to celebrate the cyclical nature of the earth and cosmos. As Halpern shows, these persistent and provocative symbols - such as a serpent devouring its own tail - prefigure many of the controversies that continue to rage among cosmologists today. Will the universe fade into quiescence - a static graveyard of cinders, black holes, and burnt-out suns? Or will it collapse in on itself in a colossal "Big Crunch," only to explode in another cycle of time and space? The answers to these questions are stored in the ineffable cosmos, and scientists must draw on the most ingenious advances of modern physics to solve the riddles posed by the ancients. . Halpern's journey leads us through the most extraordinary breakthroughs in twentieth-century physics and cosmology, and to the remarkable tools scientists employ to look backward and forward in time. He also reveals the fascinating pieces of the puzzle still missing from our picture of the universe - keys that promise to unlock our elusive destiny. What is dark matter and how much of our universe does it comprise? What is the size and age of the universe? How did events unfold in the critical seconds after the Big Bang? The answers to these and other questions will help us decipher our fate.

Today such marvels are the stuff of science fiction. But one of the most provocative theories in modern astrophysics suggests that in the future they may well be reality. In this lively, wondrously accessible book, physics professor Paul Halpern takes us on a fantastic intellectual journey into the world of exotic matter, black holes, white holes, and wormholes - celestial objects that could theoretically bridge distant parts of the universe. With clear and concise explanations and vivid analogies, Cosmic wormholes illuminates the bold leaps of thought that may someday make travel across the universe as common as a transatlantic flight today. Halpern includes gripping fictional scenarios that depict some of the extraordinary events - including travel to the past and future and the mining of black hole energy - that might be possible if indeed we are able to construct wormholes. He also describes some of the baffling paradoxes Inherent in such time travel. This is fascinating reading for all who follow the leading edge of science as it pushes back the frontiers of human knowledge and expands the limits of human possibility.

Is time an endlessly repeating circle, or is it a descending path leading to decay and destruction? Is it a uniform stream, or is it made of tiny discrete parcels? Drawing from literature, biology, philosophy, psychology, and theology, this intriguing work explores each of these possible models and relates them to our own subjective impressions of time. Theoretical physicists are now striving to unlock the very structure of time itself. But the quest to understand time has never been the exclusive domain of science. From the Hindu notion of cosmic rebirth to Stephen Hawking's recent studies, philosophers and scientists alike have sought to answer time's riddle. Here is the first accessible, math-free introduction to the competing models of time that demonstrates how today's theories mirror ancient debates over the "shape" of time. This book explores such provocative concepts as synchronicity, time travel, black holes, and artificial intelligence. It probes the ultimate questions of science and philosophy, surveys the frontiers of theoretical physics, and finally, demonstrates how our own personal views on mortality must affect our choice of a scientific model of time.

Explaining what we know about the Big Bang, the accelerating universe, dark energy, dark flow and dark matter, a physicist and popular science writer examines some of the theories about the nature of the universe.

"In Fall 1939, Richard Feynman, a brash and brilliant recent graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. The prim and proper Wheeler timed their interaction with a watch placed on the table. Feynman caught on, and for the next meeting brought his own cheap watch, set it on the table next to Wheeler's, and also began timing the chat. The two had a hearty laugh and a lifelong friendship was born. At first glance, they would seem an unlikely pair. Feynman was rough on the exterior, spoke in a working class Queens accent, and loved playing bongo drums, picking up hitchhikers, and exploring out-of-the way places. Wheeler was a family man, spoke softly and politely, dressed in suits, and had the manners of a minister. Yet intellectually, their roles were reversed. Wheeler was a raging nonconformist, full of wild ideas about space, time, and the universe. Feynman was very cautious in his research, wanting to prove and confirm everything himself. Yet when Feynman saw merit in one of Wheeler's crazy ideas and found that it matched experimental data, their joint efforts paid off phenomenally"--