The What If Theory

Personal growth and self help journal. A journal to help you explore the things that are holding you back and the possibilities of your future.

String theory has played a highly influential role in theoretical physics for nearly three decades and has substantially altered our view of the elementary building principles of the Universe. However, the theory remains empirically unconfirmed, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. So why do string theorists have such a strong belief in their theory? This book explores this question, offering a novel insight into the nature of theory assessment itself. Dawid approaches the topic from a unique position, having extensive experience in both philosophy and high-energy physics. He argues that string theory is just the most conspicuous example of a number of theories in high-energy physics where non-empirical theory assessment has an important part to play. Aimed at physicists and philosophers of science, the book does not use mathematical formalism and explains most technical terms.

This is an up-to-date textbook of model theory taking the reader from first definitions to Morley's theorem and the elementary parts of stability theory. Besides standard results such as the compactness and omitting types theorems, it also describes various links with algebra, including the Skolem-Tarski method of quantifier elimination, model completeness, automorphism groups and omega-categoricity, ultraproducts, O-minimality and structures of finite Morley rank. The material on back-and-forth equivalences, interpretations and zero-one laws can serve as an introduction to applications of model theory in computer science. Each chapter finishes with a brief commentary on the literature and suggestions for further reading. This book will benefit graduate students with an interest in model theory.

How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the reader on a grand tour of more than a hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Examples and asides engage the beginning student, a glossary of terms explains key concepts, and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter. Like no other text in this field, Theory and Reality combines a survey of recent history of the philosophy of science with current key debates that any beginning scholar or critical reader can follow. The second edition is thoroughly updated and expanded by the author with a new chapter on truth, simplicity, and models in science.

Probability theory and its applications represent a discipline of fun damental importance to nearly all people working in the high-tech nology world that surrounds us. There is increasing awareness that we should ask not "Is it so?" but rather "What is the probability that it is so?" As a result, most colleges and universities require a course in mathematical probability to be given as part of the undergraduate training of all scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. This book is a text for a first course in the mathematical theory of probability for undergraduate students who have the prerequisite of at least two, and better three, semesters of calculus. In particular, the student must have a good working knowledge of power series expan sions and integration. Moreover, it would be helpful if the student has had some previous exposure to elementary probability theory, either in an elementary statistics course or a finite mathematics course in high school or college. If these prerequisites are met, then a good part of the material in this book can be covered in a semester (IS-week) course that meets three hours a week.

This title provides a guide to mixing or combining methods in educational and social research and covers complex interventions, Bayesian approaches, new political arithmetic, triangulation, life histories and design studies.

This volume is easily accessible to young people and mathematicians unfamiliar with logic. It gives a terse historical picture of Model Theory and introduces the latest developments in the area. It further provides 'hands-on' proofs of elimination of quantifiers, elimination of imaginaries and other relevant matters. The book is for trainees and professional model theorists, and mathematicians working in Algebra and Geometry.

The inspiration for the Netflix series 3 Body Problem! Over 1 million copies of the Three-Body Problem series sold in North America PRAISE FOR THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM SERIES: “A mind-bending epic.”—The New York Times • “War of the Worlds for the 21st century.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Fascinating.”—TIME • “Extraordinary.”—The New Yorker • “Wildly imaginative.”—Barack Obama • “Provocative.”—Slate • “A breakthrough book.”—George R. R. Martin • “Impossible to put down.”—GQ • “Absolutely mind-unfolding.”—NPR • “You should be reading Liu Cixin.”—The Washington Post The Dark Forest is the second novel in the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series from China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu. In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead. The Three-Body Problem Series The Three-Body Problem The Dark Forest Death's End Other Books by Cixin Liu Ball Lightning Supernova Era To Hold Up the Sky The Wandering Earth A View from the Stars At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.