James Read - Böcker

It is often claimed that Einstein's magnum opus---his 1915 theory of General Relativity---is distinguished from other theories of space and time in virtue of its background independence. It's also often claimed that background independence is an essential feature of any quantum theory of gravity. But are these claims true? This book aspires to offer definitive answers to both of these questions, by (a) charting the space of possible definitions of background independence, and (b) applying said definitions to various classical and quantum theories of gravity. The outcome, in brief, is as follows: General Relativity is not unique by virtue of its background independence (and, indeed, fails to be background independent on some popular definitions); moreover, the situation in the case of quantum theories of gravity is delicate, because (i) there are viable such theories which (by some accounts, at least) fail to be background independent, but also (ii) theories (e.g. perturbative string theory) which have often been dismissed for (allegedly) being background dependent in fact, on many accounts, are better classified as background independent. In giving these answers in rigorous detail, this book seeks to elevate the standards and generality of future discussions of background independence in the foundations of spacetime theories.

The programme of 'constructive axiomatics', promulgated by Hans Reichenbach in 1924, seeks to build up the architecture of our best theories of physics from basic axioms supposedly imbued with immediate and indubitable empirical content. Taking inspiration from Reichenbach, Hermann Weyl proposed his own 'causal-inertial' approach to the constructive axiomatization of Einstein's general relativity, according to which a relativistic spacetime can be constructed solely from the trajectories of light rays and freely-falling particles; this project, however, came to fruition only in 1972, with the constructive axiomatization of general relativity due to Ehlers, Pirani, and Schild ('EPS').One century since Reichenbach, and fifty years since EPS, Constructive Axiomatics for Spacetime Physics is a celebration of the constructive axiomatic methodology. It achieves four main tasks. First, it provides a thoroughgoing presentation of the EPS axiomatization, closing missing loopholes, identifying problematic axioms, and so forth—in this way, one gains a much-improved appreciation of the extent to which a causal-inertial approach to general relativity might succeed, and of what such an approach might offer. Second, it synthesizes and assesses the vast but disparate literature on constructive axiomatics which has arisen over the past century and sets the methodology in its proper philosophical context. Third, it generalizes the approach to apply to quantum spacetimes. And fourth, it applies the approach to the context of non-relativistic spacetime physics. All in all, the book demonstrates that constructive axiomatics is live-and-kicking; the book will become the go-to resource for this way of philosophizing about the nature of space and time.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANDRE SIMON FOOD BOOK AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE FORTNUM AND MASON FOOD BOOK AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS FOOD BOOK AWARDA playful and accessible guide to fermenting at homeJames Read is on a mission to smuggle bacteria into our kitchens. In Of Cabbages & Kimchi, he takes the ten greatest 'living' ferments - fermented foods that are neither cooked nor pasteurized - and places them under the microscope, before cooking with them in all their delicious versatility.From the fiery funk of kimchi to the velvet tang of kefir, James describes the microbial process, then shares his recipes for recreating these wonders in your own kitchen - no specialist equipment required. Alongside his recipes, James investigates the extraordinary cultural and historic backgrounds of fermented foods, exploring how the microbes that bring them to life have developed alongside our culinary evolution.Featuring over fifty recipes - including Mushroom and Sauerkraut Pierogi, Chilled Radish Noodle Soup and Green Chilli Fermented Salsa - and packed to the brim with Marija Tiurina's gastro-surrealist watercolour illustrations, Of Cabbages and Kimchi will help you create, understand and appreciate fermentation's bubbling magic.

The growing demand for high quality office and manufacturing space in South East Asia has led to an increasing awareness of 'intelligent building' concepts. This study is based on a major research project undertaken by three leading players in the construction industry - DEGW, Northcroft and Ove Arup & Partners - which looked at user requirements and changing patterns in the workplace. The book also contains key findings from the earlier Intelligent Buildings in Europe study undertaken by DEGW and Tecknibank and provides in one volume essential information on building intelligence.

This book was originally published in 1985. During the 1920s and 1930s, a series of housing developments was built in Europe, based on unprecedented levels of public finance allied to innovative policies of planning, and architectural design. How did these developments, which were the foundation of later social housing programmes, come into being? This study sets out to answer the question by looking into the evolution of the movement for housing reform in Germany and France, from the middle of the nineteenth century until the outbreak of the First World War. This book also examines the social and political nature of 'the housing problem', and traces the response through a series of central themes: the public health campaign; land reform and planning proposals; the elaboration of architectural types; and the search for fresh means of financing the construction of cheap housing.

This Element presents the philosophy of special relativity, from the foundations of the theory in Newtonian mechanics, through its birth out of the ashes of nineteenth-century ether theory, through the various conceptual paradoxes which the theory presents, and finally arriving at some of its connections with Einstein's later theory of general relativity. It illustrates concepts such as inertial frames, force-free motion, dynamical versus geometrical understandings of physics, the standard hierarchy of classical spacetimes, and symmetries of a physical theory; it also discusses specific topics in the foundations of special relativity such as Einstein's 1905 derivation of the Lorentz transformations, the conventionality of simultaneity, the status of frame-dependent effects, and the twin paradox.

In 1918, Emmy Noether, in her paper Invariante Variationsprobleme, proved two theorems (and their converses) on variational problems that went on to revolutionise theoretical physics. 100 years later, the mathematics of Noether's theorems continues to be generalised, and the physical applications of her results continue to diversify. This centenary volume brings together world-leading historians, philosophers, physicists, and mathematicians in order to clarify the historical context of this work, its foundational and philosophical consequences, and its myriad physical applications. Suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and professional researchers, this is a go-to resource for those wishing to understand Noether's work on variational problems and the profound applications which it finds in contemporary physics.

The growing demand for high quality office and manufacturing space in South East Asia has led to an increasing awareness of 'intelligent building' concepts. This study is based on a major research project undertaken by three leading players in the construction industry - DEGW, Northcroft and Ove Arup & Partners - which looked at user requirements and changing patterns in the workplace. The book also contains key findings from the earlier Intelligent Buildings in Europe study undertaken by DEGW and Tecknibank and provides in one volume essential information on building intelligence.