From Cosmos to Chaos

Peter Coles

224 pages, parution le 15/06/2006

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Résumé

Written in a non-technical language - accessible to a broad range of people with an interest in science.
Extensively illustrated.
Takes a different perspective to other books on cosmology.
Discusses the science-society interface.

Cosmology has undergone a revolution in recent years. The exciting interplay between astronomy and fundamental physics has led to dramatic revelations, including the existence of the dark matter and the dark energy that appear to dominate our cosmos. But these discoveries only reveal themselves through small effects in noisy experimental data. Dealing with such observations requires the careful application of probability and statistics.

But it is not only in the arcane world of fundamental physics that probability theory plays such an important role. It has an impact in many aspects of our everyday life, from the law courts to the lottery.

Why then do so few people understand probability? And why do so few people understand why it is so important for science? Why do so many people think that science is about absolute certainty when, at its core, it is actually dominated by uncertainty?

This book attempts to explain the basics of probability theory, and illustrate their application across the entire spectrum of science.

L'auteur - Peter Coles

School of physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, UK

Sommaire

Probable Nature
The Logic of Uncertainty
Lies, Damned Lies, and Astronomy
The Great Debate
Randomness
Engines and Entropy
Quantum Roulette
Life, the Universe and Everything
Universes
Summing Up

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Oxford University Press
Auteur(s)	Peter Coles
Parution	15/06/2006
Nb. de pages	224
Format	13 x 21
Couverture	Relié
Poids	340g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780198567622
ISBN13	978-0-19-857099-8