The Road to Reality, by Roger Penrose, despite being a weighty book, provides a full summary of the mathematics and physics of the modern era. The book should provide an enjoyable read for those adept in mathematics and physics.
Category: history (Page 8 of 17)
I recently started listening to The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by Richard Dawkins. The audio-book is read by Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward. It’s well written and the audio is like a fascinating night-time story, definitely worth reading or hearing.
This series focuses on the geographic and biological evolution of the Australian continent since the formation of the Earth. Dr. Richard Smith narrates the entire series, starting with the formation the first lifeforms on Earth, up until the modern time. Good series and worth a watch.
Ancient Computer, recently released on NOVA, investigates in detail the Antikythera mechanism. This device is really stunning. Charles Babbage is usually credited with the first computer — his difference engine. However, the Antikythera mechanism shows that the first known computer was actually developed in ancient times. Perhaps even more ancient humans, like the Babylonians or Egyptians, had such machines, their devices lost or destroyed. YouTube link.
Carl Zimmer can really go into detail about the coolest topics in science while remaining clear and easy to understand. I learned a lot about viruses and evolution in this Big Think Interview with Carl Zimmer on YouTube.
Carl Zimmer lecture on evolution and Charles Darwin: Carl Zimmer – Evolution Speaker Series
More videos:
Our Viral Future – Carl Zimmer
A Planet of Viruses – Carl Zimmer
The Origin of Species: 1859 meets 2009 – the evolution of diseases – Carl Zimmer
Many videos are here: Carl Zimmer on Vimeo
YouTube Playlist with all these videos.