This is the story of the greatest puzzle in our universe: what is light? Light Years is an engaging survey of everything we know of the universe's most enigmatic phenomenon and the remarkable people who have been captivated by it. Light Years looks over the shoulders of the great revolutionaries of light theory--Bacon, Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Maxwell and Feynman--and traces the evolution of light-driven devices from the camera to the laser. In this revised edition, leading popular science author Brian Clegg reveals how twenty-first century scientists have achieved the seemingly impossible in bringing light to a halt, and used the quantum properties of entangled light to produce unbreakable encryption and unbelievable computers. He explains the mind-bending advances that put light at the heart of all matter and which could finally make time travel possible.

Joseph Conway is the most obnoxious, abrasive human Invasion Trooper Morg has ever met. He wants to get rid of the jerky young man, but is blackmailed into delivering him to Earth in one piece. Failure to do so will be devastating to his career, and to his home planet of Yanda. In less than two light-years out of Yanda, the mission goes awry. A body of Morg's mate is found in the cargo bay, and they are forced to land on the ultimate vice entertainment planet. Feltte Six offers every form of depravity imaginable and beings from throughout the universe flock there to experience the seedy side of life. They blast off of Feltte Six minutes before Conway is arrested for numerous crimes. For the next eight light-years, their journey is filled with deceit, mayhem, and disaster. Can the unlikely duo avoid arrest, conspiracies, deadly secrets, and biological threats? What Morg thought was a simple escort mission leads to a chain of unexpected events no one could have foreseen. The universe will never be the same.

This book is a collection of poems about Space, the Universe, the parts that make up the whole of it, and the laws of nature that define us. These poems range from planets and moons, to stars and galaxies; from quasars to black holes; from Kitty Hawk to Voyager to ourselves—the human factor, and our role and awe in all of this. Physics is poetry in motion. There can be no doubt about the chemistry of words. As a child, I would spend hours looking up at the night sky and wondering. Not all of our questions can be answered by looking up. But it is a start. Answers come and go. It is only when we run out of questions, that we cease to exist.

Packed with facts and illustrations, this landmark book offers a reliable, visually stunning, and family-friendly alternative to online information sources. This fully illustrated encyclopedia is the antidote to the internet. It's an expertly written and beautifully presented reference for a world overloaded with unreliable information. From quantum physics to the square of the hypotenuse, Ancient Rome to the depths of the oceans, this is your one-stop knowledge shop for the digital age-clear, simple, accurate, and unbiased. This book is a comprehensive guide to a huge range of human knowledge and includes over 4,000 images to bring information vividly to life. Its format is accessible to a wide range of readers, so it's ideal for a variety of ages, for home study-or simply for browsing for fun. Parents and teachers can be confident that children won't see any unwanted content. Visual Encyclopedia is the ultimate easy-to-read family guide to science, nature, space, history, art, technology, leisure, culture, and more. The information is organized thematically for simple navigation, and clear signposting makes it easy to follow connections between subjects. For family, for study, for the simple pleasure of discovery, here is a trustworthy source of knowledge and enjoyment.

Eight and a Half Light Years from Home By: David White A spaceship with corrupted software crashes on a cold February evening in front of a Coast Guard helicopter. Immediately, the incident is reported to the Secretary of Defense who orders the craft and beings on board to be transported to Area 51 by a NASA exo-biologist roused from his sleep in the middle of the night. “I became an exo-biologist because there were so few exos that nobody could prove me wrong.” The exo-biologist and the aliens discuss human oddities for eight and a half light years, before their software is corrected. They leave, only to return to obtain a nuclear weapon to destroy the hated Mouse people.

A collection of worlds of wit and wonder, including: "AND I AWOKE AND FOUND ME HERE ON THE COLD HILL'S SIDE" - Man seeks to get into bed with anything new and different, or die trying. But when the new and different was not human...would he die trying? "THE MAN WHO WALKED HOME" - The first-time astronaut, stuck in the far future, slid ever so slowly toward a present whose past was his future and whose future was his past... "I'M TOO BIG BUT I LOVE TO PLAY" - If genuine aliens are to communicate meaningfully, one must make himself into an analogue of the other. But how can you tell the difference between what is human - and what is merely identical? Contents: And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side (1972) The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone (1969) The Peacefulness of Vivyan (1971) Mamma Come Home (1968) Help (1968) Painwise (1972) Faithful to Thee, Terra, in Our Fashion (1969) The Man Doors Said Hello To (1970) The Man Who Walked Home (1972) Forever to a Hudson Bay Blanket (1972) I'll Be Waiting for You When the Swimming Pool Is Empty (1971) I'm Too Big but I Love to Play (1970) Birth of a Salesman (1968) Mother in the Sky with Diamonds (1971) Beam Us Home (1969)

This story is about an adventure with suspense filled with romance and laughter that also has a bit of science fiction, but not to graphic. David is an only child with an artist for a mom, who passed away years ago, and a scientist for a dad that won two Nobel prizes for his technology discovery and designs. David's dad past away mysteriously when David was in his last days of graduating from university, with a PHD like his dad. Attending his dad's funeral and came home to an empty house was a difficult time for him finding himself followed by government people everywhere he goes. He found romance and love all together with hidden secrets his dad left behind. Uncovering the truth about his dad's life and sudden death and the amazing secrets he dad kept from him, sharing and experiencing it all with his new love Melissa, who was his old school friend. All through this adventure David is pursued with questions, revealed secrets, amazing discoveries, uncovering the truth and the government and finding true love.

Explores how stars form and create energy, including descriptions of black holes, constellations, and the movement of stars.

What are the basic building blocks of the world? This book presents a naturalistic theory saying that the universe and everything in it can be reduced to three fundamental entities: a field, a set of values that can be actualized at different places in the field, and an actualizer of the values. The theory is defended by using it to answer the main questions in metaphysics, such as: What is causality, existence, laws of nature, consciousness, thinking, free will, time, mathematical entities, ethical values, etc.? The theory is compared with the main alternatives and argued to solve problems better than the existing theories. Several new theories are suggested, such as how to understand mental causation, free will and the truth of ethics and mathematics.

The world’s leading textbook on astrobiology—ideal for an introductory one-semester course and now fully revised and updated Are we alone in the cosmos? How are scientists seeking signs of life beyond our home planet? Could we colonize other planets, moons, or even other star systems? This introductory textbook, written by a team of four renowned science communicators, educators, and researchers, tells the amazing story of how modern science is seeking the answers to these and other fascinating questions. They are the questions that are at the heart of the highly interdisciplinary field of astrobiology, the study of life in the universe. Written in an accessible, conversational style for anyone intrigued by the possibilities of life in the solar system and beyond, Life in the Universe is an ideal place to start learning about the latest discoveries and unsolved mysteries in the field. From the most recent missions to Saturn’s moons and our neighboring planet Mars to revolutionary discoveries of thousands of exoplanets, from the puzzle of life’s beginning on Earth to the latest efforts in the search for intelligent life elsewhere, this book captures the imagination and enriches the reader’s understanding of how astronomers, planetary scientists, biologists, and other scientists make progress at the cutting edge of this dynamic field. Enriched with a wealth of engaging features, this textbook brings any citizen of the cosmos up to speed with the scientific quest to discover whether we are alone or part of a universe full of life. An acclaimed text designed to inspire students of all backgrounds to explore foundational questions about life in the cosmos Completely revised and updated to include the latest developments in the field, including recent exploratory space missions to Mars, frontier exoplanet science, research on the origin of life on Earth, and more Enriched with helpful learning aids, including in-chapter Think about It questions, optional Do the Math and Special Topic boxes, Movie Madness boxes, end-of-chapter exercises and problems, quick quizzes, and much more Supported by instructor’s resources, including an illustration package and test bank, available upon request