MOTION MOUNTAIN

12 contents
Do we see what exists? 178 • The human eye 181 • Human versus other eyes 183
• How can we make pictures of the inside of the eye? 186 • How to prove you’re
holy 188
189 Displayingimages
Hopping electrons and the biggest disappointment of the television industry 189
• Challenges and fun curiosities about images and the eye 190 • Summary on
applied optics 203
204 5 Electromagnetic effects
Is lightning a discharge? – Electricity in the atmosphere 204 • Does ball lightning
exist? 208 • Does gravity make charges radiate? 209 • Planetary magnetic
fields 210 • Levitation 211 • Matter, levitation and electromagnetic effects 215 •
All bodies emit radiation 223 • Challenges and curiosities about electromagnetic
effects 224
229 6 Summary and limits of classical electrodynamics
Strong fields and gravitation 230 • Charges are discrete 230 • How fast do charges
move? 232 • What motion occurs inside atoms? 233 • Challenges and curiosities
about charge discreteness 233
235 7 The story of the brain
Evolution 236 • Children, laws and physics 236 • Polymer electronics 239 •
Why a brain? 242 • What is information? 244 • What is memory? 246 •
The capacity of the brain 249 • Curiosities about the brain 251
256 8 Thought and language
What is language? 256 • What is a concept? 260 • What are sets?
What are relations? 262 • Infinity – and its properties 264 • Functions and
structures 266 • Numbers 267 • Is mathematics a language? 272 • Why use
mathematics? 273 • Curiosities and fun challenges about mathematics 274
277 9 Concepts, lies and patterns of nature
Are physical concepts discovered or created? 278 • How do we find physical
concepts, patterns and rules? 280 • What is a lie? 281 • What is a good
lie? 282 • Is this statement true? – A bit about nonsense 286 • Curiosities
and fun challenges about lies and nonsense 287
292 Observationsandtheircollection
Have enough observations been collected? 292 • Are all physical observables
known? 294 • Do observations take time? 296 • Is induction a problem in physics?
296
298 Thequestforprecisionanditsimplications
What are interactions? – No emergence 298 • What is existence? 300 • Do
things exist? 301 • Does the void exist? 302 • Is nature infinite? 303 • Is
the universe a set? 304 • Does the universe exist? 305 • What is creation? 306
• Is nature designed? 308 • What is a description? 309 • Reason, purpose
and explanation 310 • Unification and demarcation 311 • Pigs, apes and the
anthropic principle 312 • Does one need cause and effect in explanations? 314
• Is consciousness required? 315 • Curiosity 315 • Courage 317
320 10 Classical physics in a nutshell
What can move? 320 • Properties of classical motion 321 • The future of planet
Earth 323 • The essence of classical physics – the infinitely small and the lack
Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net