AMIR D. ACZEL - Böcker

Could 'Beam me up, Scotty' soon become a reality?The lines between 'science' and 'science fiction' have become increasingly blurred. Now, quantum mechanics promises that some of humanity's wildest dreams may be realized. Serious scientists, working from Einstein's theories, have been investigating the phenomenon known as 'entanglement' one of the strangest aspects of our strange universe.According to Einstein, quantum mechanics required entanglement, the idea that subatomic particles could become linked and that a change to one such particle would instantly be reflected in its counterpart, even if separated by a universe. Einstein felt that if quantum theory could produce such bizarre effects, then it had to be invalid. But new experiments show not only that it does happen, but that it may lead to unbreakable codes and even teleportation, perhaps in our lifetimes.This is a highly accessible yet technically well researched introduction to the bizarre phenomenon of entanglement and the scientists who have helped to discover it. The book provides an excellent introduction to a complex but exciting branch of science that could have significant implications for our understanding of the world and the way we live.* Amir D. Aczel is an internationally known author and speaker who attracts large crowds* We have all seen teleportation in science fiction. This book shows how it could become a reality.* The first book to explain the theory of entanglement and to make recent developments in quantum mechanics widely available.* Gives an insight into the lives and thinking of some of the leading physicists of the past century.

In 1853, before the upper crust of French society - including the emperor Napoleon III - a little known physicist named Leon Foucault staged a dramatic demonstration inside the Pantheon in Paris. He set in motion a seventy metre long pendulum that swung slowly across the interior of the large ceremonial hall, hanging from its high ceiling. Foucault's famous experiment revolutionised the entire world of science, and of society itself. He had proved, beyond a doubt, that the earth does indeed rotate on its axis. In PENDULUM, renowned scientist and author Amir Aczel brings readers the first detailed non-fiction account of how this struggling physicist came to his remarkable breakthrough, as well as the opposition he faced - both before and after his demonstration - at the hands of the scientific community in France. Drawing a wonderfully vivid portrait of Napoleon III and Paris during the Second Empire, Aczel chronicles France's scientific glory during the 1850s, and evaluates how Foucault’s theories and achievements are viewed in the current perspective of modern science.

The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure-filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the reader along for the ride. The history begins with the early Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by the later Greek and Roman letter numerals. Then Aczel asks the key question: where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? This leads him to explore uncharted territory, to go on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia.There he finds the earliest zero on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and archaeological thieves - who finally reveal where our numbers come from.