| Description |
1 online resource (xvi, 238 pages) : illustrations (some color) |
| Series |
The Darwin College lectures ; 34 |
|
Darwin College lectures ; 34.
|
| Contents |
Cover -- Half-title -- Series information -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Notes on Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1 Human Origins -- Tool Use -- Fire -- Human Origins: A Shifting Puzzle -- 2 Mysteries of Modern Physics -- Fundamental Physics, Ancient and Modern -- Mystery 1: Quantum Mechanics -- Mystery 2: Spacetime and Gravity -- Mystery 3: The Arrow of Time -- Discussion -- 3 Decoding the Heavens: The Antikythera Machine -- Scientific Instruments -- Technology and Imaging -- A History of Astronomical Models |
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4 Alan Turing and the Enigma Machine -- Enigma A -- Enigma I -- Code Breaking in Poland -- The Naval Enigma Code -- Turing and the Bombe Machine -- 5 The Enigma of Emotion -- Confusing Feelings and Emotion Machines -- What Is an Emotion? -- The Art of Inscrutability -- 6 The Enigma of Medieval Letters -- The Art of Studying Letters -- The Science of Studying Letters -- Strokes -- Different Strokes for Different Folks -- Making Sense of Medieval Script -- The Enigma of Medieval Letters -- 7 Eruptions, Emissions, and Enigmas: From Fuming Volcanic Vents to Mass Extinction Events -- Introduction |
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Volcanoes and the Enigmatic Earth beneath Our Feet -- The Enigmatic Link between Volcanoes and Global Change Deep in the Geological Record -- Large Igneous Province Volcanism -- Volcanism and Its Impact on the Earth's Environment -- From Masaya to Large Igneous Provinces -- The Complex Relationship between Large Igneous Provinces and Global Change in the Geological Record -- New Insights into Old Enigmas? -- Final Remarks -- 8 The Enigma of Mind: A Theory of Evolution and Conscious Experience -- Introduction -- From Anthropology to Personal Experience -- Human Experience, Evolution, and Design |
|
Darwinism in the Mind -- Summary: A Theory of Evolutionary Forces in the Mind -- The Mind and Evolution -- Imagination, Variation, and Human Evolution -- Shamanism, Altered States and Diversity in the Human Imagination -- Altered States as a Source of Variation in the Mind -- Ethnobotany and the Geography of Imagination -- Sympathy and the Replication of Conscious Experience -- Resonance, Mirror Neurons, and Rhythmic Entrainment -- Harmony as a Selection Pressure in Human Evolution -- Synopsis -- Epilogue: The Continuing Frontier -- Acknowledgements -- Index |
| Summary |
Arising from the 2020 Darwin College Lectures, this book presents eight essays from prominent public intellectuals on the theme of Enigmas. Each author examines this theme through the lens of their own particular area of expertise, together constituting an illuminating and diverse interdisciplinary volume. Enigmas features contributions by professor of physics Sean M. Carroll, author Jo Marchant, writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford, professor of earth sciences Tamsin A. Mather, professor of the history of the book Erik Kwakkel, reader in cultural history Tiffany Watt Smith, mathematician and public speaker James Grime, assistant professor of positive AI J. Derek Lomas, and explorer Albert Y.- M. Lin. This volume will appeal to anyone fascinated by puzzles and mysteries, solved and unsolved |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on September 13, 2022) |
| Subject |
Curiosities and wonders.
|
|
Puzzles.
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Curiosities and wonders
|
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Puzzles
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| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Ward, Emily Joan, editor.
|
|
Reuvers, Robin, editor
|
| ISBN |
9781009232517 |
|
1009232517 |
|
