A gorgeously illustrated exploration of the science behind the universe’s most stunning natural phenomena—from atoms and parameciums to rainbows, snowflakes, spider webs, the rings of Saturn, galaxies, and moreNature is capable of extraordinary phenomena. Standing in awe of those phenomena, we experience a feeling of connection to the cosmos. For acclaimed physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, just as remarkable is that all of what we see around us—soap bubbles, sc...

From the acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams comes a rich, fascinating answer to the question, Can the scientifically inclined still hold space for spirituality?“Lightman…belongs to a noble tradition of science writers, including Oliver Sacks and Lewis Thomas, who can poke endlessly into a subject and…stir up fresh embers of wonder.” —The Wall Street JournalGazing at the stars, falling in love, or listening to music, we ...

A modern classic, Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clingin...

In The Accidental Universe, physicist and novelist Alan Lightman explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in science, focusing most intently on the human condition and the needs of humankind.Here, in a collection of exhilarating essays, Lightman shows us our own universe from a series of fascinating and diverse perspectives. He takes on the difficult dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence ...

The bestselling author of Einsteins Dreams explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by recent discoveries in science with passion and curiosity.He looks at the dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world; and our resistance ...

The acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams tackles "big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way” (Wall Street Journal) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities—and impossibilities—of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between.Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space exte...

En 1905, mientras trabajaba en una modesta oficina de patentes en la tranquila ciudad suiza de Berna, el joven Albert Einstein esbozaba su teoría de la relatividad, una nueva concepción del tiempo. Inspirándose en estos humildes inicios, el físico y escritor Alan Lightman imagina a un Einstein de ficción que cada noche sueña con mundos en los que el tiempo se rige de maneras diferentes. En un mundo, el tiempo se congela en el momento en el que somos más felices, en otro, el tiempo transcur...

“VERDICT A vivid and moving book-length narrative poem that places the reader inside of a universe of wonder; of interest to poetry readers and beyond.” —Library JournalFrom the author of international bestseller Einstein's Dreams and National Book Award nominee The Diagnosis.After decades of living “hung like a dried fly,” emptied and haunted by his past, the narrator, a man who has lost his faith in all things f...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.“A magical, metaphysical realm ... Captivating, enchanting, delightful.” —The New York Times**Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, about time, relativity and physics. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativi...

Contemplar las estrellas, enamorarse o escuchar música nos hace sentir una conexión trascendente con algo más grande que nosotros mismos. Sin embargo, estas experiencias no son fácilmente comprendidas por la ciencia, que sostiene que todo puede explicarse en términos de átomos y moléculas. ¿Hay espacio en nuestra visión científica del mundo para estas experiencias espirituales? El reconocido físico y novelista Alan Lightman cree que sí. Basándose en la historia intelectual y en conversacio...

From the bestselling author of Einstein's Dreams—“an elegant and moving paean to our spiritual quest for meaning in an age of science" (The New York Times Book Review). • The basis for the public television series SEARCHING with Alan Lightman.As a physicist, Alan Lightman has always held a scientific view of the world. But one summer evening, while looking at the stars from a small boat at sea, Lightman was overcome by the overwhelming se...

From the internationally bestselling author of Einstein’s Dreams comes a deeply compelling story about the lives of a Cambodian family―set between 1973, just before the Cambodian Genocide by the Khmer Rouge―to 2015.The stories of one Cambodian family are intricately braided together in Alan Lightman’s haunting Three Flames, his first work of fiction in six years.Three Flames portrays the struggles of a Cambodian farming family aga...