The Science of Discworld II

274–5
    pitch and harmony 270, 274
    â€˜primitive’ tribes 263, 264–5
    recognition by babies 263–4
    time in 242–3
    tunes 271–3, 274–5
    mutations
    DNA 52
    mitochondrial DNA 123
    Muybridge, Eadweard 242
    muzak 265
    myelin 92
    mysticism 66
    mythology see storytelling
    N
    Nagel, Thomas 287, 288
    Narrative Causality 23
    narrative imperative 24, 324–5, 327, 341
    â€˜narrativium’ 24–5, 26, 27, 30, 78, 152
    nations
    commitment strategies 215–16
    tribalism and barbarism 138
    â€˜natural’, as an illusion 265
    natural philosophy 236
    natural selection, altruism 213
    Nature 288
    nature, ‘wonder of nature’ 73, 76
    Neanderthals 113–14, 216, 273
    extinction 114, 134–5, 137
    musical instruments 131
    perceptual abilities 276–7
    Needham, Joseph 67, 172
    nervous system
    transmission of signals 92
    see also brain
    Nesse, Randolph 215, 216
    nests 94, 113
    neurons, visual cortex 267, 288
    neutrons
    carbon formation 28–9
    models of atom 247
    New Ageism 71, 344
    New Guinea, tribes 95
    New Orleans 264
    New Testament 116
    New York, taxi-drivers 51
    newspapers
    â€˜lies-to-adults’ 291–2
    storytelling 31, 325–6
    Newton, Isaac 71, 77
    alchemy 68, 238–9
    hidden knowledge 72
    law of gravity 73, 303
    laws of motion 190–2, 303, 326
    Nigeria 116–17
    Nile perch 134
    nitric acid 66
    Nixon, Richard 304
    nobility, barbarian attitudes of 89, 99–100
    Nod, land of 125*
    Nørretranders, Tor 187
    Norse legends 157
    North Africa 141
    North American Indians 121, 122, 265
    Northern Ireland 173
    Norway, storytelling 74
    nose, vomeronasal organ 287
    Nostradamus 170, 174
    nuclear reactions, transmuting lead into gold 68
    nuclear weapons 215
    nucleotides, DNA 52
    nucleus, carbon formation 28–9
    nursery stories 74, 115–16, 157, 285
    O
    obedience to authority 136, 157
    Obedience to Authority (Milgram) 136
    O’Brien, Stephen 111
    occultism 66–8
    Olympus, Mount 206
    ontic dumping 211, 212
    opera 263, 265
    Opie, Peter and Iona 115
    optic nerve 266
    orangutans 108
    organisms
    altruism 213–14, 215
    complexity 57, 188
    evolution 54, 55
    genomes 185–6
    orreries 237–8
    Out of Africa theory, human evolution 122, 124, 131–3
    overcommitment strategy 215, 216–18
    ozone layer 326
    P
    pain, puberty rituals 135–6
    paintings 235–6
    by apes 265
    cave paintings 113, 265, 275–6
    images of God 344
    looking at 266, 275
    primitive paintings 265
    Pan paniscus 88, 325
    Pan troglodytes 88, 325
    pantheism 77
    parables 151, 156
    Paracelsus 67–8, 70, 71, 169
    paradoxes, time travel 313–14, 315–16
    parallel universes 311, 313
    parasites 155
    particles, quantum mechanics 306–7
    patterns
    emergent dynamics 311–12
    movement 269–70
    pattern-seeking by brain 209
    recognition of 91, 116
    signals 183–4
    peasants, tribal attitudes 99–100
    Pecon-Slattery, Jill 111
    Peking Man 113
    Pennsylvania 142
    Penrose, Roger 194–5
    perception 273–7
    art 275–6
    hearing 268–9, 273
    music 274–5
    and reality 289–90
    recognition of other people 282
    vision 266–8
    watching films 273–4
    words of songs 273
    Peretz, Isabelle 274
    Perrault, Charles 155
    PET scans 22, 263
    Petitto, Laura Ann 154
    pets 118–19
    phase spaces
    biology 51–5
    biospheres 55, 56–7
    dynamical systems 303–4, 305
    economics 50–1
    messages 193
    music 271
    physics 43–8, 53, 56
    solar system 47, 303
    thermodynamics 48, 54–5, 56, 193
    pheromones 286–7
    Philipp, Elliott 142*
    â€˜philosopause’, scientists 238–9
    Philosopher’s Stone 68
    Philosophical Review 287
    philosophy, worldviews 248
    The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (Whewell) 236
    Phoenicians 125
    phonemes 269, 283, 290
    physics
    entropy 189–90, 192–3
    fundamental constants 28, 30, 48
    illusion of free will 175
    Newton’s laws of motion 190–2
    and paradoxes 315–16
    phase spaces 44–8, 53, 56
    quantum physics 196–7, 198
    Theory of Everything 247
    thermodynamics 189–93
    time travel 314–16
    and truth 290
    Picasso, Pablo 265
    pitch, music 270
    Planck, Max 28
    planets
    astrology 66, 169–70
    hidden knowledge 72
    orreries 237–8
    solar system 47, 303
    plans 327
    play
    and cultural evolution 94
    music as 269
    with dogs and cats 118–19
    plays 333, 340–1
    Pluto 305
    Poincaré, Henri 43–4, 50
    Poland 141
    polar bears