In this post, we will see the book At the crossroads of infinities by E. I. Parnov.
About the book
At the Crossroads of Infinities is a story about the struggle of ideas out of which the modern physical picture of the world was born. Can anything move faster than light? Is the universe finite or infinite? Is time reversible? What lies at the basis of the realities which we perceive as space, time or matter? These are the questions taken up in this book. And more, for it also tells of the roads of knowledge, of the way man has probed the mysteries of the infinitely large and infinitely small, yet at root integral world. (From the Front Jacket)
The book is a tour of the development of ideas of modern physics at the beginning of the 20th century. The book covers historical as well as philosophical issues which are at the core of modern physics. The struggle of ideas which the creators and developers of quantum mechanics and special relativity had to deal with is described very well.
The book was translated from the Russian by Vladimir Talmy and was published by Mir in 1971.
Contents
FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNIVERSE 7
PART I. LOOKING BACK 11
PART II. BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE UNIVERSE 86
PART III. AT THE THRESHOLD OF A UNIFIED THEORY 200
PART IV. SPACE. TIME. VACUUM 252
PART V. THE MEGAWORLD 297
PART VI. THE UNIVERSE AND INFINITY 361
Mir Books 
Off topic: The book “Analysis of Electric Circuits” of Zveke, Ionkin, Netushil and Strakhov, will be available in the future?
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Let us see, not in near future for sure
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Dear Mitr and/or Dima,
Any chance to get L. A. Lyusternik’s “Shortest Paths–Variational Problems.”
Thanks.
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One of the three books that changed my life way back about 40 years (~1979)
First was pop neuroscience book, don’t even remember the title, second ” At the crossroads of infinities” and third one “An Outline of Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell.
The first book reduced my existence to mere neural circuits, second one showed that human existence is “nothing” compared to Cosmos and third book robbed all certainties except that “I think so I am”.
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