Random House New Releases - Science - Mathematical Physics

Leonardo's Universe by Keith Wamsley

2009-01-06T00:30:00-05:00

Leonardo's Universe The Renaissance World of Leonardo DaVinci
Written by Bulent Atalay and Keith Wamsley

Hardcover, 288 pages | National Geographic | History - Renaissance; Biography & Autobiography - Historical; Science - Mathematical Physics | $35.00 | 978-1-4262-0285-8 (1-4262-0285-7)

A veritable rock star in the book world some five centuries after his birth, Leonardo Da Vinci is a man for the ages. Millions of readers hungrily ponder the mysteries behind his sketch-filled notebooks, radical inventions, and enigmatic paintings. This stunning book, like no other on the market, explores the master’s insights and synthesizes his relationship with art and science in a magnificently illustrated and informative style. Every page resonates with Leonardo’s genius, demonstrated by his own art and writings as well as modern diagrams and workable re-creations of his inventions.

Physicist and artist Bulent Atalay, author of Math and the Mona Lisa, deftly explains Leonardo’s interest in topics ranging from architecture to botany to philosophy. Engaging prose and splendid images point up the science and mathematics underlying Leonardo’s genius, showing how attention to proportions, patterns, shapes, and symmetries informed his art. The story flows chronologically, with quotations revealing the near-magical thoughts of a man who just before his death asked God’s forgiveness for "not using all the resources of my spirit and art."

The author’s active speaking engagements and previous success with Math and the Mona Lisa ensure strong sales and ongoing support for Leonardo’s Universe. With lavish illustrations and thrilling revelations, this beautiful book will appeal to the vast audience of Leonardo fans created by The Da Vinci Code—and will stand as an important resource long after other titles have fallen off the bestseller list.

The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow

2008-05-13T00:30:00-05:00

The Drunkard's Walk How Randomness Rules Our Lives
Written by Leonard Mlodinow

Hardcover, 272 pages | Pantheon | Science - Mathematical Physics; Business & Economics - Decision-Making & Problem Solving; Philosophy - Social | $24.95 | 978-0-375-42404-5 (0-375-42404-0)

In this irreverent and illuminating book, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, change, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious cases, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.

The rise and fall of your favorite movie star of the most reviled CEO--in fact, of all our destinies--reflects as much as planning and innate abilities. Even the legendary Roger Maris, who beat Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, was in all likelihood not great but just lucky. And it might be shocking to realize that you are twice as likely to be killed in a car accident on your way to buying a lottery ticket than you are to win the lottery.

How could it have happened that a wine was given five out of five stars, the highest rating, in one journal and in another it was called the worst wine of the decade? Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how wine ratings, school grades, political polls, and many other things in daily life are less reliable than we believe. By showing us the true nature of change and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives fresh insight into what is really meaningful and how we can make decisions based on a deeper truth. From the classroom to the courtroom, from financial markets to supermarkets, from the doctor's office to the Oval Office, Mlodinow's insights will intrigue, awe, and inspire.

Offering readers not only a tour of randomness, chance, and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man fresh from a night at the bar.

E=mc2 by Dan Cashman

2002-03-19T00:30:00-05:00

E=mc2 A Biography Of The World's Most Famous Equation
Written by David Bodanis
Read by Dan Cashman

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | Science - Mathematical Physics | $14.96 | 978-0-7393-0149-4 (0-7393-0149-7)

E=mc2 was born in 1905, the brainchild of Albert Einstein.

In this lucid and brilliant book, one of the best popularizers of science illuminates one of science's most complex concepts. Ranging widely from Exit signs in theatres to the future fate of the earth, from smoke detectors to black holes and the structure of the atom, David Bodanis delivers a scintillating and colourful account of the real meaning of E=mc2.

From the Hardcover edition.

Frontiers of Complexity by Roger Highfield

1996-08-27T00:30:00-05:00

Frontiers of Complexity The Search for Order in a Choatic World
Written by Roger Highfield

Trade Paperback, 480 pages | Ballantine Books | Science - Mathematical Physics | $23.00 | 978-0-449-91081-8 (0-449-91081-4)

"SCIENCE JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST. . . An impeccably researched, amazingly up-to-date, crisply written and well-illustrated survey."
--Nature
At the cutting edge of the sciences, a dynamic new concept is emerging: complexity. In this groundbreaking new book, Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield explore how complexity in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and even the social sciences is transforming not only the way we think about the universe, but also the very assumptions that underlie conventional science.
Complexity is a watchword for a new way of thinking about the behavior of interacting units, whether they are atoms, ants in a colony, or neurons firing in a human brain. The rise of the electronic computer provided both the key and the catalyst to our exploration of complexity.
A new generation of computers that runs on light and exploits the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics promises to deepen our understanding still further. The advances we have already witnessed are spectacular. The authors take us inside laboratories where scientists are evolving the genetic molecules that enabled life to emerge on earth and generating universes teeming with virtual creatures in cyber-space. We witness the utterly realistic behavior of a school of virtual fish--computer-generated replicas that have been trained to swim gracefully, hunt for food, and scatter at the approach of a leopard shark.
Compelling in its clarity, far-reaching in its implications, vibrant with the excitement of new discovery, Frontiers of Complexity is an arresting account of how far science has come in the past fifty years and an essential guide to the rapidly approaching future.
"[A] MARVELOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE WORK . . . Virtually any scientist or interested lay reader will find this book engrossing, edifying and inspiring."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Random House New Releases - Science - Mathematical Physics

Leonardo's Universe by Keith Wamsley

Leonardo's Universe The Renaissance World of Leonardo DaVinciWritten by Bulent Atalay and Keith Wamsley