Molecular Storms: The Physics of Stars, Cells and the Origin of Life

Graham, Liam

  • 出版商: Springer
  • 出版日期: 2023-11-03
  • 售價: $1,480
  • 貴賓價: 9.5$1,406
  • 語言: 英文
  • 頁數: 270
  • 裝訂: Quality Paper - also called trade paper
  • ISBN: 3031386809
  • ISBN-13: 9783031386800
  • 相關分類: Storm物理學 Physics
  • 海外代購書籍(需單獨結帳)

相關主題

商品描述

"Following in the footsteps of Stephen Hawking's 'A brief history of time' and Simon Singh's 'Fermat's Last Theorem' this exceptionally accessible book will you leave marveling at the wonders of the world and, if you didn't listen to your science teachers, wishing you had. Graham writes with the mind of a physicist and the soul of a poet."

Nicki Hayes, CCO, The Communications Practice, author of First Aid for Feelings.

"Only a few writers have managed to turn the highly technical jargon of science into language accessible for interested lay readers. Isaac Asimov showed us how it could be done, and Carl Zimmer and Brian Greene are continuing today. In Molecular Storms, his first book, Liam Graham has shown that he has the essential quality required to join this group, a love of first learning then explaining how the universe works."

David Deamer, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Assembling Life.


Why is the universe the way it is? Wherever we look, we find ordered structures: from stars to planets to living cells. This book shows that the same driving force is behind structure everywhere: the incessant random motion of the components of matter. Physicists call it thermal noise. Let's call it the molecular storm.
This storm drives the fusion reactions that make stars shine. It drives whirlpools and currents in atmospheres and oceans. It spins and distorts molecules until they are in the right orientation to react and form new substances. In living cells, it drives proteins to fold and molecules to self-assemble. It is behind every detail of the astonishing molecular machines that control cellular processes.

Using cutting-edge research, "Molecular Storms" takes us on a dazzling journey from the early universe to the interior of the smallest living things. There, in a nanoscale world of biological devices, it explains the physics behind the chemical system which we call Life.

Whether you're someone with a general interest in science or a student looking to add context to your studies, this book is for you. "Molecular Storms" is an accessible and captivating read that will deepen your appreciation of the power of science to explain the world.

商品描述(中文翻譯)

「繼史蒂芬·霍金的《時間簡史》和西蒙·辛格的《費馬大定理》之後,這本極具可讀性的書籍將讓您對世界的奇妙之處感到驚嘆,如果您沒有聽從科學老師的話,也會希望自己有聽。格雷厄姆以物理學家的思維和詩人的靈魂寫作。」
- 尼基·海耶斯(Nicki Hayes),The Communications Practice的首席創意官,《情感急救》的作者。

「只有少數作家成功將科學的高度技術術語轉化為普通讀者可以理解的語言。艾薩克·阿西莫夫向我們展示了如何做到這一點,而卡爾·齊默和布萊恩·格林則在今天繼續這樣做。在他的第一本書《分子風暴》中,利亞姆·格雷厄姆展示了他具備加入這一群體所需的基本素質,即對學習宇宙運作方式的熱愛和解釋。」
- 大衛·迪默(David Deamer),加州大學聖塔克魯茲分校生物分子工程教授,《生命的組裝》的作者。

為什麼宇宙是這樣的?無論我們看到哪裡,我們都能找到有序的結構:從星星到行星到活細胞。這本書顯示了結構背後的驅動力是相同的:物質組成部分的不斷隨機運動。物理學家稱之為熱噪聲。讓我們稱之為分子風暴。

這場風暴驅動著使星星發光的核聚變反應。它在大氣和海洋中形成漩渦和洋流。它使分子旋轉和扭曲,直到它們處於正確的方向以進行反應並形成新物質。在活細胞中,它驅使蛋白質折疊和分子自組裝。它存在於控制細胞過程的驚人分子機器的每一個細節之中。

《分子風暴》利用尖端研究帶領我們從早期宇宙到最小生物體的內部,解釋了我們所稱之為生命的化學系統背後的物理學。無論您是對科學有一般興趣的人還是希望為學業增添背景的學生,這本書都適合您。《分子風暴》是一本易於理解且引人入勝的讀物,將加深您對科學解釋世界的力量的欣賞。

作者簡介

"Do we need more than physics to understand the world?" Liam Graham first asked himself this question as a teenager and it has been the driving force behind his career ever since. After a degree in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge and a master's in Philosophy at Warwick, he eventually found economics to be an appealing middle ground and completed a PhD at Birkbeck College, London. To pay the rent, he taught English, developed and sold trading software and was the numbers' guru for a boutique finance house.
Liam's 15 year academic career was mostly spent as an Associate Professor at University College London, working in one of Europe's top Economics departments. His research involved building mathematical models of an extremely complex system, the macroeconomy, and his work was published in all the top macroeconomics journals. Whether working on philosophy or economics, he never stopped reading science and exchanging with scientists. In 2018 he left UCL to concentrate on his original question and the wide-ranging, multidisciplinary and endlessly fascinating project it has become.

作者簡介(中文翻譯)

利亞姆·格雷厄姆(Liam Graham)在十幾歲時首次提出了「我們需要超越物理學來理解世界嗎?」這個問題,並且這個問題一直是他事業的推動力。在劍橋大學獲得理論物理學學位和華威大學獲得哲學碩士學位後,他最終發現經濟學是一個吸引人的折衷方案,並在倫敦的伯克貝克學院完成了博士學位。為了支付房租,他教授英語,開發並出售交易軟體,並在一家精品金融公司擔任數字專家。

利亞姆在15年的學術生涯中,大部分時間都擔任倫敦大學學院的副教授,並在歐洲頂尖的經濟學系之一工作。他的研究涉及建立一個極其複雜的系統——宏觀經濟的數學模型,並且他的研究成果發表在所有頂尖的宏觀經濟學期刊上。無論是從事哲學還是經濟學的研究,他從未停止閱讀科學文獻並與科學家交流。2018年,他離開倫敦大學學院,專注於他最初的問題以及這個廣泛、跨學科且無盡迷人的項目。