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The View from the Center of the Universe

Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos

Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams

NOW IN PAPERBACK!

In this groundbreaking new book, Joel R. Primack, Ph.D., one of the world's leading cosmologists, and Nancy Ellen Abrams, a philosopher and writer, use recent advances in astronomy, physics, and cosmology to frame a compelling new way to understand the universe and our role in it.

"One of those truly creative books that crosses disciplines; it synthesizes the information we have so far to evoke a compelling new vision of why we matter in the universe and how we might begin to embrace it again and call it home.” – L. A. Times

“A deeply inspiring book that should be required reading for everyone.” – New Scientist

NANCY AND JOEL’S MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION October 25, 2006, at the NASA Research Park, Mountain View, CA, is now available on DVD (with amazing high resolution astronomical videos) from FilmBaby.com.

For download in mp4 format (for video iPod, PC or Mac) see the Links webpage.

NEWS: Nancy and Joel continue to give public multimedia lectures, and a workshop at Esalen next spring -- see Appearances.

In December 2007, Nancy and Joel taught inner city high school kids about cosmology in Matthew Fox and Professor Pitt’s YELLAWE program in Oakland, CA.

The feature article in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Tikkun magazine is on “Science and Spirit.” It includes excerpts from and a very favorable discussion of The View from the Center of the Universe, and excerpts from a conversation that Nancy and Joel had with Fritjof Capra, Matthew Fox, George Lakoff, Michael Lerner and others.

In September 2007, the National Academy of Sciences released the Beyond Einstein report by a committee on which Joel served. Joel spoke about this (“Restarting the Exploration of the Universe” slides) at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Columbia, Princeton, Stanford, and Berkeley in September and October 2007.

Joel gave the 2007 J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Lecture at Los Alamos (background, news article, review).

A "deep dialogue" interview with Nancy and Joel by Ashok Gangadean, chair of the Philosophy department at Haverford College, with an introduction by Ralph Abraham, appears in Issue 4 (Spring 2007) of the magazine Elixir, published by the Sufi Order International.

The British Commonwealth edition The View from the Centre of the Universe was published by 4thEstate/HarperCollins in fall 2006. The cover is at the right. Nancy and Joel were on tour in England and Ireland in October 2006 (see Appearances).

The View from the Center of the Universe was picked by NPR's "All Things Considered" as one of ten summer reading selections for 2006. It is the first science book chosen as an NPR summer reading selection in at least five years.

TV INTERVIEWS: John McLaughlin recorded two McLaughlin One on One ½ hour TV interviews with Nancy and Joel at NBC-TV in Washington, DC, Aug 24, 2006. They were broadcast Aug 26-7 and Sept 2-3, and again December 23-24 and 30-31, 2006 on PBS-TV across the USA, and they were broadcast again December 22-23 and 29-30, 2007. You can download them from “TV Interviews” in mp4 versions which will play on computers and video iPods; transcripts are also available (1 2). You can also download the ½ hour interview with Nancy and Joel by Barry Kibrick for his “Between the Lines” TV show, which was taped at KLCS-TV in Los Angeles on May 12, 2006, and was broadcast on many PBS-TV stations in 2006 and 2007.

Joel R. Primack

Nancy Ellen Abrams