The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless

Barrow, John D.

ISBN 10: 0375422277 / ISBN 13: 9780375422270

Published by Pantheon, 2005

About this Item

Fast Free Shipping â Good condition book with a firm cover and clean, readable pages. Shows normal use, including some light wear or limited notes highlighting, yet remains a dependable copy overall. Supplemental items like CDs or access codes may not be included.

Seller Inventory # GWV.0375422277.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless
• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375422277
• ISBN 13: 9780375422270
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

An examination of Infinity — in history and science — with excursions into literature, philosophy and religion, written by one of the most successful writers of popular science.

Infinity is surely the strangest idea that humans have ever thought. Where did it come from and what is it telling us about our Universe? Can there actually be infinities? Or is infinity just a label for something that is never reached, no matter how long you go on counting? Can you do an infinite number of things in a finite amount of time? Is the universe infinite?

But infinity is also the place where things happen that don’t. All manner of strange paradoxes and fantasies characterize an infinite universe. So what is it like to live in a Universe where nothing is original, where you can live forever, where anything that can be done, is done, over and over again?

These are some of the deep questions that the idea of the Infinite pushes us to ask. Throughout history, the Infinite has been a dangerous idea. Many have lost their lives, their careers, or their freedom for talking about it. The Infinite Book will take you on a tour of these dangerous questions and the strange answers that scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and theologians have come up with to deal with its threats to our sanity.

About the Author

John Barrow is Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of several bestselling books including: Theories of Everything, Impossibility, and The Book of Nothing.