{"product_id":"probable-impossibilities-alan-lightman-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\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Alan Lightman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0593081323\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593081327\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/19\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.10w x 0.70d","brand":"Alan Lightman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44044985401599,"sku":"9780593081327","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0b53f7a6-5c5d-44f7-8c32-c73197c12dd9.jpg?v=1684976055","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/probable-impossibilities-alan-lightman-9780593081327","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}