Betragtninger over muligheden for at undgå en atomkrig

An electrifying biography of one of the most extraordinary scientists of the twentieth century and the world he made. The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nuclear weapons and self-replicating spacecrafts. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable, yet largely overlooked, man: John von Neumann. Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. A child prodigy, he mastered calculus by the age of eight, and in high school made lasting contributions to mathematics. In Germany, where he helped lay the foundations of quantum mechanics, and later at Princeton, von Neumann’s colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet—bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and the design of the atom bomb; he helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory; he created the first ever programmable digital computer; he prophesized the potential of nanotechnology; and, from his deathbed, he expounded on the limits of brains and computers—and how they might be overcome. Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through a stunningly diverse array of fields, sparking revolutions wherever he went. The Man from the Future is an insightful and thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century.

Liang Shu-ming (October 18, 1893 – June 23, 1988), was a legendary philosopher, teacher, and leader in the Rural Reconstruction Movement in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican eras of Chinese history. Liang was also one of the early representatives of modern Neo-Confucianism. Guy S. Alitto, associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) at The University of Chicago, is author of, among other things, The Last Confucian: Liang Shu-ming and the Chinese Dilemma of Modernity, and is one of the most active and influential Sinologists in America. In 1980 and again in 1984, at Liang Shu-ming’s invitation, he conducted a series of interviews with Liang in Liang's Beijing home. This book of dialogues between the American sinologist and “The Last Confucian”, Liang Shu-ming, gives a chronological account of the conversations that took place in Beijing in 1980. In these conversations, they discussed the cultural characteristics of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and their representative figures, and reviewed the important activities of Mr. Liang’s life, along with Liang’s reflection on his contact with many famous people in the cultural and political realms – Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Chiang Kai-shek, Kang Youwei, Hu Shi, etc. Rich in content, these conversations serve as important reference material for understanding and studying Mr. Liang Shuming’s thoughts and activities as well as the social and historical events of modern China.

Delving into the history of the planet and based on reports and interviews with scientists, a science writer--traveling to rain forests, canyons, craters, and caves all over the world to explore the potential winners and losers of the next era of evolution--describes what life on earth could look like after the next mass extinction.