An exploration of space and time and a journey of discovery, through thirteen of the most fascinating Christmas Lectures given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain over the last 200 years. With a foreword by ESA astronaut Tim Peake.

A Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein–Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay Yes, every inch of the globe has been seen, mapped, photographed, and measured, but is it known? Robert Leonard Reid doesn’t think so. To draw a circle and calculate its diameter is not to know the circle. In this collection, Reid distinguishes himself from many science–based nature writers, using the natural world as a springboard for speculations and musings on the numinous and the sacred, injustice, homelessness, the treatment of Native Peoples in the United States, and what pushes mountaineers to climb. Ranging in their settings from eastern New Mexico to northern Alaska, Reid’s essays illustrate his belief that the American West is worth celebrating and caring for. Taking its title from an affecting speech given by renowned author Barry Lopez, Because It Is So Beautiful is a response to desperate questions surrounding America’s wildlands. Lopez’s words resonated with the young mountaineer–musician–mathematician Robert Leonard Reid, who was struggling to understand his relationship to the world, to find his vision as a writer. What he learned on that long–ago evening is knit throughout the nineteen pieces in the collection, which include essays from Reid’s previous books Arctic Circle, Mountains of the Great Blue Dream, and America, New Mexico; three essays that appear here in print for the first time; as well as revised and expanded versions of essays that appeared in Touchstone, The Progressive, and elsewhere.

In physics, the idea of extra spatial dimensions originates from Nordstöm’s 5-dimensional vector theory in 1914, followed by Kaluza-Klein theory in 1921, in an effort to unify general relativity and electromagnetism in a 5 dimensional space-time (4 dimensions for space and 1 for time). Kaluza–Klein theory didn’t generate enough interest with physicist for the next five decades, due to its problems with inconsistencies. With the advent of supergravity theory (the theory that unifies general relativity and supersymmetry theories) in late 1970’s and eventually, string theories (1980s) and M-theory (1990s), the dimensions of space-time increased to 11 (10-space and 1-time dimension). There are two main features in this book that differentiates it from other books written about extra dimensions: The first feature is the coverage of extra dimensions in time (Two Time physics), which has not been covered in earlier books about extra dimensions. All other books mainly cover extra spatial dimensions. The second feature deals with level of presentation. The material is presented in a non-technical language followed by additional sections (in the form of appendices or footnotes) that explain the basic equations and formulas in the theories. This feature is very attractive to readers who want to find out more about the theories involved beyond the basic description for a layperson. The text is designed for scientifically literate non-specialists who want to know the latest discoveries in theoretical physics in a non-technical language. Readers with basic undergraduate background in modern physics and quantum mechanics can easily understand the technical sections. Part I starts with an overview of the Standard Model of particles and forces, notions of Einstein’s special and general relativity, and the overall view of the universe from the Big Bang to the present epoch, and covers Two-Time physics. 2T-physics has worked correctly at all scales of physics, both macroscopic and microscopic, for which there is experimental data so far. In addition to revealing hidden information even in familiar "everyday" physics, it also makes testable predictions in lesser known physics regimes that could be analyzed at the energy scales of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN or in cosmological observations." Part II of the book is focused on extra dimensions of space. It covers the following topics: The Popular View of Extra Dimensions, Einstein and the Fourth Dimension, Traditional Extra Dimensions, Einstein's Gravity, The Theory Formerly Known as String, Warped Extra Dimensions, and How Do We Look For Extra Dimensions?

Rebel Star is a timely and essential guide, examining our long-held fascination with the sun, from ancient beliefs, to early scientific studies, and an up-to-date look at what we know - and still don't know - taking us on a thrilling journey to the centre of our solar system.

The phrase "spatial turns" signals the growing importance of space as an analytical as well as representational category for culture. The volume addresses such emerging modes of inquiry by bringing together, for the first time, essays that engage with spatial turns, spatiality, and the theoretical implications of both in the context of German culture, history, and theory. Migrating from fields like geography, urban studies, and architecture, the new centrality of space has transformed social-science fields as diverse as sociology, philosophy, and psychology. In cultural studies, productive analyses of space increasingly cut across the studies of literature, film, popular culture, and the visual arts. Spatial Turns brings together essays that apply a spatial analysis to German literature and other media and engages with specifically German theorizations of space by such figures as Siegfried Kracauer and Walter Benjamin. The volume is organized in four sections: "Mapping Spaces" addresses cartography in all forms and in its intersection with culture; "Spaces of the Urban" takes up one of the key sites of spatial studies, the city; "Spaces of Encounter" considers how Germany has become a contact zone for multiple ethnicities; and "Visualized Spaces" concerns the theorization of space in film and new media studies.

Maps have always been a fundamental tool in archaeological practice, and their prominence and variety have increased along with a growing range of digital technologies used to collect, visualise, query and analyse spatial data. However, unlike in other disciplines, the development of archaeological cartographical critique has been surprisingly slow; a missed opportunity given that archaeology, with its vast and multifaceted experience with space and maps, can significantly contribute to the field of critical mapping. Re-mapping Archaeology thinks through cartographic challenges in archaeology and critiques the existing mapping traditions used in the social sciences and humanities, especially since the 1990s. It provides a unique archaeological perspective on cartographic theory and innovatively pulls together a wide range of mapping practices applicable to archaeology and other disciplines. This volume will be suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as for established researchers in archaeology, geography, anthropology, history, landscape studies, ethnology and sociology.

Igwebuike began as a methodology and philosophy. Gradually, its philosophical elements began to have serious implications for theological discourse, especially with the increasing need to do theology that arises from the philosophy of the African people. The present piece affirms the reality of the link between philosophy and theology, especially regarding the links between the great philosophical questions and the mysteries of salvation which are studied in theology under the guidance of the higher light of faith.