John David Barrow (University of Cambridge, born 1952) is an English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and mathematician, one of the most successful writers of popular science. His books in the best traditions of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan and Bertrand Russel will be of great interest for those fascinated by the big questions about our universe, space and time.

1 Impossibility - The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits (1998)

Deep human inquiry includes an adolescence of exciting discoveries, new formulas, and unusual predictions. As science has matured, our confidence in it has grown. We expect that science has answers, that its predictive powers are mostly accurate. But what happens when the science gets old? Oddly enough, it seems to have started trying to find the end of its own usefulness--its formulas "predict that there are things which they cannot predict, observations which cannot be made, statements whose truth they can neither affirm nor deny."

2 The Constants of Nature: the Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe (2002)

The constants of nature are the fundamental laws of physics that apply throughout the universe: gravity, velocity of light, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. They encode the deepest secrets of the universe, and express at once our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Their existence has taught us the profound truth that nature abounds with unseen regularities. Yet while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constants, our frustrating inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we have still to learn about inner workings of the universe.

3 The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless (2005)

An examination of Infinity — in history and science — with excursions into literature, philosophy and religion.
Infinity is surely the strangest idea that humans have ever thought. Where did it come from and what is it telling us about our Universe? Can there actually be infinities? Or is infinity just a label for something that is never reached, no matter how long you go on counting? Can you do an infinite number of things in a finite amount of time? Is the universe infinite?
But infinity is also the place where things happen that don’t. All manner of strange paradoxes and fantasies characterize an infinite universe. So what is it like to live in a Universe where nothing is original, where you can live forever, where anything that can be done, is done, over and over again?
These are some of the deep questions that the idea of the Infinite pushes us to ask. Throughout history, the Infinite has been a dangerous idea. Many have lost their lives, their careers, or their freedom for talking about it. The Infinite Book will take you on a tour of these dangerous questions and the strange answers that scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and theologians have come up with to deal with its threats to our sanity.

4 The Artful Universe Expanded (2005)

Our love of art is the end product of millions of years of evolution. How we react to a beautiful painting or symphony draws upon instincts laid down long before humans existed. Now, in this enhanced edition of the highly popular The Artful Universe, Barrow further explores the close ties between our aesthetic appreciation and the basic nature of the Universe.
Barrow argues that the laws of the Universe have imprinted themselves upon our thoughts and actions in subtle and unexpected ways. Why do we like certain types of art or music? What games and puzzles do we find challenging? Why do so many myths and legends have common elements? In this eclectic and entertaining survey, Barrow answers these questions and more as he explains how the landscape of the Universe has influenced the development of philosophy and mythology, and how millions of years of evolutionary history have fashioned our attraction to certain patterns of sound and color. Barrow casts the story of human creativity and thought in a fascinating light, considering such diverse topics as our instinct for language, the origins and uses of color in nature, why we divide time into intervals as we do, the sources of our appreciation of landscape painting, and whether computer-generated fractal art is really art.

5 New Theories of Everything (2007)

Published in 1991, John Barrow's Theories of Everything was hailed as "a mind-boggling intellectual adventure" by Publishers Weekly and as "an exhilarating journey...important, engaging, and highly literate" by New Scientist . Now, in New Theories of Everything , Barrow completely updates his classic account of one of the hottest fields in all of science--the search for a cosmic key that will unlock the secrets of the Universe.
He reveals that the field has changed dramatically. Fifteen years ago, scientists sought a single theory uniquely specifying the constants and forces of nature, but today they envision a vast landscape of different logically possible laws and constants in many dimensions, of which our own world is but a tiny facet of a higher dimensional reality.
The Theory of Everything has in recent years become the focus of some of the most exciting and imaginative thinking in science. Now fully revised, New Theories of Everything brings the story of this exhilarating quest completely up to date.
Features:
* Eloquently presents complicated theories in an accessible style, drawing in quotes from literature and philosophy.
* A timely look at a theory that has in recent years become the focus of some of the most exciting research in science.
* Fully revises and updates Barrow's earlier Theories of Everything , bringing the story of the quest right up to date.
* Explores such questions as what has led to our own Universe being realized? Is it unique in supporting life? And how do we test these theories?
* Covers a wide range of topics, from "M-theory," currently the prime candidate for the ultimate explanation, to the anthropic principle and new theories of complexity and computation.
* As a leading cosmologist, John D.Barrow is supremely well-placed to put the quest for the theory of everything in its scientific, historical, and philosophical context.


All the books are bookmarked. Enjoy!