{"product_id":"probable-impossibilities-musings-on-beginnings-and-endings-9780593081327","title":"Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eEinstein's Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e tackles \"big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way\" (\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities--and impossibilities--of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity\u003ci\u003e? \u003c\/i\u003eIs consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, whom \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post \u003c\/i\u003ehas called \"the poet laureate of science writers,\" explores these questions and more--from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life in the universe to what came before the Big Bang. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eProbable Impossibilities \u003c\/i\u003eis a deeply engaged consideration of what we know of the universe, of life and the mind, and of things vastly larger and smaller than ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eALAN LIGHTMAN is the author of seven novels, including the international best seller \u003ci\u003eEinstein's Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Diagnosis\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Award. He has taught at Harvard and at MIT, where he was the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in science and the humanities. He is the host of the public television series \u003ci\u003eSearching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50679002005778,"sku":"9780593081327","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2519d09a-a2c9-4613-b993-865e5664b95d.jpg?v=1733899441","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/probable-impossibilities-musings-on-beginnings-and-endings-9780593081327","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}