This edited volume applies the analytic notions of paradox and play to the ethnographic manifestation of spirits, angels, and demons in different locations around the world. The 10 case studies conceptualize the co-presence of humans and entities with terms that do not exclude spiritual reasoning on the one hand, and social explanations on the other. Through in-depth descriptions of localized possession cosmologies, the different chapters collectively propose path-breaking methodological directions in this field, which incorporate ethnographic theories of simultaneity into anthropological theories of religion, kinship, and ritual. Framed by an introduction written by the editors and an afterword by Michael Lambek, a leading authority in possessions studies, the volume contains cutting edge analyses that will provide readers with new tools to evaluate previously unstudied aspects of spirit possession; all of which stem from the fantastic forms of human movement that accompany the phenomenality of paradoxes in mundane reality.

This book makes accessible the basic principles and ideas of modern cosmological theory to undergraduates in mathematics, physics and related areas of study. The areas covered include observations, expansion of the universe, cosmological problems, formation of structure, production of helium in the early universe and inflationary models of the origin of the universe. There is an accessible treatment of inflationary theory, black holes, magnetic monopoles and boson stars. The dark matter debate is also discussed and detailed exercises are provided at the end of each chapter. Previous knowledge of relativity or quantum field theory is not required; rather the book provides a detailed exposition of how cosmological theory has developed. The author aims to encourage students to develop their own insights into cosmology.

The restoration of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences served to reconcile science with faith. In other words, physics should be made subservient to faith. The spiritual shepherd nourishes his sheep using paradoxes. For example, the immaculate conception served for centuries. But this belief isn't time relevant anymore. Better is a beliefe based on mathematics. Modern physics is characterized by a number of paradoxes that can be traced back to the incorrect use of mathematical means of expression in a closed system. Now, out of concern for the common house, Pope Francis has released the connection to a closed theory with the groundbreaking sentence: "In this universe made up of open systems that communicate with one another, we can discover innumerable forms of relationship and participation." Now we are any more looking relativistically at the cosmos as a symmetric blown up ball. We are going back to a real view of an energy dissipative world. Read how we build on the successes of physics in the 19th century and apply the ideas of Iljy Prigogine on the thermodynamics of open systems to dynamic vortex structures in an open cosmos. Mechanics, thermodynamics and electrodynamics merge with Maxwell's and Stokes' equations to form a unit and the paradoxes disappear wonderfully and we now recognize that a projection of a real vortex filament into a plane gave rise to the idea of an abstract quantum mechanical wave function. This gives us simple physics from the macrocosm to the microcosm, free of contradictions, and we learn how nuclear fusion really works. This opens up a clean, CO2-free, effective energy source for us in the future. The book assumes a basic mathematical and scientific understanding, as it should be conveyed in high schools, but complicated mathematical derivations are largely dispensed with. After "Modern Astrophysics meets Engineering", it is the author's second book.

We stand at the threshold of a revolutionary and empowering new vision of the world. The discoveries of leading-edge science and the insights of spirituality are converging to reveal that the CosMos and all that we term reality is wholly integrated, and that at its most fundamental level, it is a field of information. This is the elemental cosmic mind from which everything emanates, is manifested, and to which all ultimately returns. Research is also demonstrating what the mystics of all traditions have discerned: that we have the innate ability to envision, understand, and experience the CosMos at levels far beyond the limitations of our human persona. CosMos is co-authored by two explorers who combine almost a century of seeking to understand not only how the world is as it is, but why. Philosopher Ervin Laszlo, Ph.D., and healer and scientist Jude Currivan, Ph.D., offer a revisioned view of the world that is no longer fragmented, but is at last, whole. Theirs is a perception of a meaningful and co-creative world that is exquisitely tuned to be "as simple as it can be" for consciousness to explore itself. In these momentous times, the vision shared in Cosmos invites us to open our hearts and minds to re-member who we really are and to take our places as conscious co-creators of our realities and of our evolving cosmic destiny.

This unique book offers an original way of thinking about two of the most significant problems confronting modern theoretical physics: the unification of the forces of nature and the evolution of the universe. In bringing out the inadequacies of the prevailing approach to these questions, the author demonstrates the need for more than just a new theory. The meanings of space and time themselves must be radically rethought, which requires a whole new philosophical foundation. To this end, the book turns to the phenomenological writings of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Heidegger. Their insights into space and time bring the natural world to life in a manner well-suited to the dynamic phenomena of contemporary physics. In aligning continental thought with problems in physics and cosmology, the book makes use of topology . Phenomenological intuitions about space and time are systematically fleshed out via an unconventional and innovative approach to this qualitative branch of mathematics. The author''s pioneering work in topological phenomenology is applied to such topics as quantum gravity, cosmogony, symmetry, spin, vorticity, dimension theory, Kaluza-Klein and string theories, fermion-boson interrelatedness, hypernumbers, and the mind-matter interface. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction Individuation and the Quest for Unity (77 KB). Contents: Introduction: Individuation and the Quest for Unity; The Obstacle to Unification in Modern Physics; The Phenomenological Challenge to the Classical Formula; Topological Phenomenology; The Dimensional Family of Topological Spinors; Basic Principles of Dimensional Transformation; Waves Carrying Waves: The Co-Evolution of Lifeworlds; The Forces of Nature; Cosmogony, Symmetry, and Phenomenological Intuition; The Self-Evolving Cosmos; The Psychophysics of Cosmogony. Readership: Philosophically-oriented readers drawn to current developments in physics and cosmology. For academics and scientists dealing with the foundations of physics, the philosophy of science in general, and or contemporary phenomenological thought.