Jim Holt

From Jim Holt, the New York Times bestselling author of Why Does the World Exist?, comes an entertaining and accessible guide to the most profound scientific and mathematical ideas of recent centuries in When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought.Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites us to consider why the greatest logician of the twentieth century believed the U.S. Constitution contained a terrible contradiction—and whether the universe truly has a future.

"Why is there a world rather than nothing at all?" remains the darkest and most enduring of all metaphysical mysteries. Following in the footsteps of Christopher Hitchens, Roger Penrose, and even Stephen Hawking, Jim Holt now enters this fractious debate with his lively and deeply informed narrative that traces the latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. The slyly humorous Holt takes on the role of cosmological detective, suggesting that we might have been too narrow in limiting our suspects to Yahweh vs. the Big Bang. Tracking down an eccentric Oxford philosopher, a Physics Nobel Laureate, a French Buddhist monk who lived with the Dalai Lama, and John Updike just before he died, Holt pursues unexplored angles to this cosmic puzzle. As he pieces together a solution--one that sheds new light on the question of God and the meaning of existence--he offers brisk philosophical asides on time and eternity, consciousness, and the arithmetic of nothingness.“The pleasure of this book is watching the match: the staggeringly inventive human mind slamming its fantastic conjectures over the net, the universe coolly returning every serve.... Holt traffics in wonder, a word whose dual meanings—the absence of answers; the experience of awe—strike me as profoundly related. His book is not utilitarian. You can’t profit from it, at least not in the narrow sense.... And yet it does what real science writing should: It helps us feel the fullness of the problem.” (Kathryn Schulz, New York Magazine)" Jim Holt leaves us with the question Stephen Hawking once asked but couldn't answer, ‘Why does the universe go through all the bother of existing?’” (Ron Rosenbaum, Slate )

In the fine tradition of On Bullshit comes this outrageous, uproarious compendium of absurdity, filth, racy paradox, and mature philosophical reflection. Stop Me If You've Heard This is the first book to trace the evolution of the joke from the stand-up comics of ancient Athens to the comedy-club Seinfelds of today. Cropping up en route are such unforgettable figures as Poggio, a Renaissance papal secretary and sexual adventurer; and Gershon Legman, the FBI-hounded psychoanalyst of dirty jokes. Having explored humor's history in part one, Jim Holt then delves into philosophy in part two. Jewish jokes; Wall Street jokes; jokes about rednecks and atheists, bulimics and politicians; jokes that you missed if you didn't go to a Catholic girls' school; jokes about language and logic itself―all become fodder for the grand theories of Aristotle, Kant, Freud, and Wittgenstein. A heady mix of the high and the low, of the ribald and the profound, this handsomely illustrated volume demands to be read by anyone who has ever peered into the abyss and asked: What's so funny?

Idee, ktore zmienily swiat. Od Einsteina i Godla po Turinga i Dawkinsa

Pratical advice from hundreds of young professionals that every college student should hear, including how Launch an ultra-effective career search Implement success strategies before starting your career Avoid common screw-ups that slow advancement Outperform and outclass your co-workers College is almost over, and just when you think the hard work is going to come to an end, the real work begins. The diploma you will have earned and the skill-sets you've developed are just the starting point for your career. While they are suited for education, you need to develop new work skills and behaviors in order to be successful in starting, maintaining, and succeeding at your career. The Career-Savvy College Getting From Book Smarts to A Solid Career Start eliminates the complexities surrounding employment and allows you to sidestep the mistakes that new college graduates consistently make after graduation. Based on interviews with hundreds of young professionals that have just been where you are going, these accounts offer you practical tips, tricks and pitfalls to avoid when transitioning from book-smarts to your career start. A readable, yet effective account of relevant advice from those within your generation makes this a must-read for every college student. Every year, millions of students and families pour vital resources into college educations. Countless amounts of time and money are spent attaining degrees that will propel a student toward their career. Unfortunately, many soon-to-be grads think this is a guarantee for success. The truth is that earning a degree has become the baseline for being considered for positions. To search, earn and succeed at your career, you have to exhibit strong career developing a strong corporate image, advancement strategies, and maintaining a strong professional network are concepts that must be mastered in order to succeed. The keys to these lessons and more are uncovered in The Career-Savvy College Getting From Book Smarts to A Solid Career Start. Put the advice from recent college students to work for you and benefit from the practical, same-generation advice that will prepare, inspire and motivate you for a brighter future...today.

Why Does the World Exist won 2012 New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year. Based on the personal experience of the author Jim Holt, the book tells that the author was shocked by the question ""why does the world exist rather than nothing"" while reading the works of Sartre and Heidegger in his youth and hence took the journey to explore the origin of the universe.

Comedy ~ Drama / When literary reviewer Paul and his wife Nora invite a homeless man, Dwain, into their home for Christmas dinner, they don't expect to be so charmed by him -- or that his journal will be the incredible literary masterpiece that it is. But can Dwain, whose art thrives in anonymity, be convinced to give up the only life he's known for such comforts as sleeping indoors? ( 2 f, 2 m )

Life can be hard, or fun, or harsh or wonderful. Capture your days and memories in writing!

Have you had a traumatic past? Has the weight of the world been heaped upon your shoulders? Use this simple journal to record your thoughts and feelings. Unburden yourself, and begin the process to healing. Your soul will thank you for it.

Do you feel alone? Outcast? Alienated and isolated? Maybe it will help to write about your feelings. Take this tome and express your intimate thoughts and feelings. Leave nothing out. It is yours to do with as you want.

Do you love writing? Do you love nature? Do you LOVE journaling? Then this little book is for you. Put down your thoughts and feelings for future reference and daily introspection. Do it outside under a tree if that is your place of safety and refuge. Describe birds you see. Shapes in the clouds. Forest critters. Anything you want. Let yourt imagination fly.

Do you love nature? Do you love journaling? Do you need a convenient small notebook to record your thoughts and feelings while reclining beneath a tree? Well, this little journal is just what you need. Small, compact and perfect for your needs.

Is life difficult? Do the blues drag you down? Are you filled with despair and doubt? Well, write it out! Put your thoughts on paper. Exorcise those demons. Get busy living the life of your dreams.

He Has Risen! One Thought a Day (5 Year Journal) - Easter Gift. Perfect gift for those wanting to reflect on all Christ has done, is doing and will be doing in the next 5 years, by writing one thought a day!

Enjoy writing down your thoughts, dreams and goals in this beautiful 100 page my journal!

Synchronization hardware is a fundamental requirement for concurrent software. Ultimately, software depends upon strong guarantees for atomicity, which can only be provided by hardware. Fortunately, hardware can provide a simple but powerful programming interface to higher-level software using only a few synchronization primitives. These few primitives can support a surprisingly broad range of capabilities in software. Yet, even with hardware support to ensure functional correctness, there is an unavoidable performance overhead to pay for synchronization. In recent years, hardware designed to replace precise locking with speculative lock avoidance (e.g., lock-free programming) has begun to emerge. This chapter provides an in-depth look at the lowest level hardware/software interface for synchronization, along with explanations of how the underlying hardware ensures atomicity, and considerations related to weakly consistent memory models. This is complemented with a discussion of various lock avoidance techniques.

Czy da sie rozwiklac zagadke istnienia?Posród wszystkich tajemnic, z jakimi mierzyla sie ludzkosc, najbardziej nieprzenikniona pozostaje tajemnica istnienia. Dlaczego w ogóle istnieje wszechswiat i dlaczego jestesmy jego czescia? Dlaczego istnieje raczej ,,cos" niz ,,nic"? Autor wciela sie w role prywatnego detektywa, odkrywajac nowe, czesto zaskakujace poglady dotyczace tajemnicy istnienia. Swoje poszukiwania rozpoczyna sie od glównych Boga i Wielkiego Wybuchu. Ale w miare jak przesluchuje znamienita i dosc barwna grupe swiadków - w tym laureata Nagrody Nobla z fizyki Stevena Weinberga, teologa Richarda Swinburne'a, matematyka Rogera Penrose'a, a nawet powiesciopisarza Johna Updike'a - lista podejrzanych zaczyna sie wydluzac. Opisujac swe nierzadko zabawne spotkania z ekscentrycznymi myslicielami, doskonale wyjasnia kluczowe pojecia wazne dla dochodzenia w sprawie zagadki czas, nieskonczonosc, swiadomosc, multiswiat, metafizyczna natura Boga oraz mozliwosc istnienia absolutnej nicosci.Zabawne polaczenie fizyki i teologii, filozofii i matematyki, a takze ksiazki reporterskiej i podrózniczej, które rzuca nowe swiatlo na dyskusje pomiedzy naukowymi racjonalistami a religijnymi wyznawcami na temat pochodzenia kosmosu oraz nas samych.Jedna z 10 najlepszych ksiazek roku 2012 wedlug ,,New York Timesa"Jim Holt to wieloletni wspólpracownik ,,New Yorkera", w którym pisal miedzy innymi o teorii strun, czasie, nieskonczonosci, liczbach i prawdzie.

"Chasing Impossible Dreams" is an extraordinary saga of inspiring and (often) hilarious efforts to change the world through sport....Jim Holt has transcended venality, corruption, and oft non-sensical institutional and bureaucratic resistance in a manner which ultimately affects the lives of those with whom he comes in contact. In short, it is a manifesto for self-determination, individual achievement, and a refusal to capitulate to the tides of conformity which threaten us all....

When choosing a dog it is vital to chose a breed which is compatible with your lifestyle. Getting this aspect right can mean the difference between having a long term, loving relationship with your loyal dog or another un-wanted pet in the shelter. You owe it to your chosen friend, if not yourself, to choose your breed on knowledge rather than the 'cute factor' Be prepared to care... This book will help Jack

Shows how to hook up a VCR to cable, an antenna, or a satellite dish, explains how to tune in channels, and discusses copying tapes with two VCRs, routine maintenance, multiple cable hookups, and camcorder editing