Biography: science, technology and medicine Books

Book SynopsisAn impassioned and inspiring story from the creator of the award-winning documentary Sharkwater. Beginning with a childhood spent catching poisonous snakes and chasing after alligators, Rob Stewart, the award-winning documentary filmmaker behind Sharkwater, charts his development into one of the world''s leading environmental activists. Risking arrest and mafia reprisal in Costa Rica, nearly losing a leg in Panama and getting lost at sea in the remote Galapagos Islands, Stewart is living proof that the best way to create change in the world is to dive in over your head. With his efforts to save sharks leading to tangible policy change in countries around the world, Stewart sets his sights on a slightly bigger goal: saving humanity. Criss-crossing the globe to meet with the visionaries, entrepreneurs, scientists and children working to solve our environmental crises, Stewart''s message is clear: the revolution to save humanity has started, the only thing missing

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Book SynopsisCurator and space historian at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum delivers a brilliantly nuanced biography of controversial space pioneer Wernher von Braun. Chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich and one of the fathers of the U.S. space program, Wernher von Braun is a source of consistent fascination. Glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, he was a man of profound moral complexities, whose intelligence and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, some would say, blinding ambition. Based on new sources, Neufeld's biography delivers a meticulously researched and authoritative portrait of the creator of the V-2 rocket and his times, detailing how he was a man caught between morality and progress, between his dreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.

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Book Synopsis***2017 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist for Nonfiction***What's more American than Corn Flakes? —Bing CrosbyFrom the much admired medical historian (“Markel shows just how compelling the medical history can be”—Andrea Barrett) and author of An Anatomy of Addiction (“Absorbing, vivid”—Sherwin Nuland, The New York Times Book Review, front page)—the story of America’s empire builders: John and Will Kellogg. John Harvey Kellogg was one of America’s most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will, was the founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast. In The Kelloggs, Howard Markel tells the sweeping saga of these two extraordinary men, whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America’s notion of health and wellness from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and who helped change the course of American medicine, nutrition, wellness, and diet. The Kelloggs were of Puritan stock, a family that came to the shores of New England in the mid-seventeenth century, that became one of the biggest in the county, and then renounced it all for the religious calling of Ellen Harmon White, a self-proclaimed prophetess, and James White, whose new Seventh-day Adventist theology was based on Christian principles and sound body, mind, and hygiene rules—Ellen called it “health reform.” The Whites groomed the young John Kellogg for a central role in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and sent him to America’s finest Medical College. Kellogg’s main medical focus—and America’s number one malady: indigestion (Walt Whitman described it as “the great American evil”). Markel gives us the life and times of the Kellogg brothers of Battle Creek: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his world-famous Battle Creek Sanitarium medical center, spa, and grand hotel attracted thousands actively pursuing health and well-being. Among the guests: Mary Todd Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Booker T. Washington, Johnny Weissmuller, Dale Carnegie, Sojourner Truth, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and George Bernard Shaw. And the presidents he advised: Taft, Harding, Hoover, and Roosevelt, with first lady Eleanor. The brothers Kellogg experimented on malt, wheat, and corn meal, and, tinkering with special ovens and toasting devices, came up with a ready-to-eat, easily digested cereal they called Corn Flakes. As Markel chronicles the Kelloggs’ fascinating, Magnificent Ambersons–like ascent into the pantheon of American industrialists, we see the vast changes in American social mores that took shape in diet, health, medicine, philanthropy, and food manufacturing during seven decades—changing the lives of millions and helping to shape our industrial age.

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Book SynopsisWhen celebrated neuropsychologist Paul Broks's wife died of cancer, it sparked a journey of grief and reflection that traced a lifelong attempt to understand how the brain gives rise to the soul. The result of that journey is a gorgeous, evocative meditation on fate, death, consciousness, and what it means to be human.   The Darker the Night, The Brighter the Stars weaves a scientist’s understanding of the mind – its logic, its nuance, how we think about what makes a person – with a poet’s approach to humanity, that crucial and ever-elusive why. It’s a story that unfolds through the centuries, along the path of humankind’s constant quest to discover what makes us human, and the answers that consistently slip out of our grasp. It’s modern medicine and psychology and ancient tales; history and myth combined; fiction and the stranger truth.   But, most importantly, it’s Broks’ story, grou

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Book Synopsis  Science, biography, and arctic exploration coverage in this extraordinary true story of the life and work of Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland, the troubled genius who solved the mysteries of one of nature’s most spectacular displays.     Captivated by the otherworldly lights of the aurora borealis, Birkeland embarked on a lifelong quest to discover their cause.  His pursuit took him to some of the most forbidding landscapes on earth, from the remote snowcapped mountains of Norway to the war-torn deserts of Africa.  In the face of rebuke by the scientific establishment, sabotage by a jealous rival, and his own battles with depression and paranoia, Birkeland remained steadfast.  Although ultimately vindicated, his theories were unheralded—and his hopes for the Nobel Prize scuttled—at the time of his suspicious death in 1917.   The Northern Lights offers a brilliant account of the physics behind the aurora borealis and a rare look inside the mind of one of history's most visionary scientists.

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Book SynopsisAn unforgettable story of discovery and unimaginable destruction and a major biography of one of America’s most brilliant—and most divisive—scientists, Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center vividly illuminates the man who would go down in history as “the father of the atomic bomb.”“Impressive. . . . An extraordinary story.”—The New York Times Book Review“Judicious, comprehensive and reliable. . . . By far the most thorough survey yet written of Oppenheimer’s physics.—Washington Post Oppenheimer’s talent and drive secured him a place in the pantheon of great physicists and carried him to the laboratories where the secrets of the universe revealed themselves. But they also led him to contribute to the development of the deadliest weapon on earth, a discovery he soon came to fear. His attempts to resist the escalation of the Cold War arms race—coupled wi

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Book SynopsisThe ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy has generated a flurry of interest in how medical professionals really make it through one of the most rigorous educational programs around, but how much of the medical drama seen in Grey’s Anatomy is pure entertainment, and how much is an accurate reflection of life both in and out of the OR? In The Real Grey's Anatomy, a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery.

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Book SynopsisA pioneering marine biologist takes us down into the deep ocean to understand bioluminescence—the language of light that helps life communicate in the darkness—and what it tells us about the future of life on Earth in this “thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure” (The New York Times Book Review). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BOOKLIST • “Edith Widder’s story is one of hardscrabble optimism, two-fisted exploration, and groundbreaking research. She’s done things I dream of doing.”—James CameronEdith Widder’s childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist was almost derailed in college, when complications from a surgery gone wrong caused temporary blindness. A new reality of shifting shadows drew her fascination to the power of light—as well as the importance of optimism. As her vision cleared, Widder found the intersec

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Book SynopsisEsta es la historia de Michael Sayman, quien a sus trece años creó una empresa de desarrollo de aplicaciones iOS que llamó la atención de Mark Zuckerberg. Desde entonces, ha trabajado para Facebook, Google y, actualmente, para Roblox, la conocida empresa de juegos virtuales.  Emprendedor por naturaleza e hijo de inmigrantes hispanos, Michael luchó desde niño por encontrar su lugar en el mundo. En App Kid, nos cuenta cómo, a raíz del colapso del negocio familiar que llevaban sus padres, aprendió a programar por sí mismo, lanzando una aplicación para iPhone que llegó a recaudar miles de dólares al mes, lo suficiente para mantener a flote a su familia. Entrado en la adolescencia, nos comparte la increíble experiencia que vivió al pasar de la escuela secundaria directamente al mundo profesional, entrando a trabajar en Facebook como su empleado más joven

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Book SynopsisThis authoritative Bantam Classic edition presents readers with a wide-ranging selection of Benjamin Franklin’s most important writings, illuminating the complex and appealing character of this quintessential American who rose to fame as a publisher, inventor, educator, bon vivant, and statesman.Here are selections from Franklin’s newspaper articles, from the sage wisdom of Poor Richard’s Almanac, from his entertaining letters, from his scientific essays, from his political and revolutionary writings, plus a generous sampling of his famous aphorisms, poems, and humor. And, most important, here is a newly edited text of one of the most vital and important works of American literature, the Autobiography. As fascinating and as relevant as ever, this timeless collection of writings reveals an extraordinary man whose mind was always curious, always questioning, and who forever remained dedicated to the principles of truth and liberty.

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Book SynopsisA compelling account of surviving a freak accident, and a fascinating exploration of the science of trauma and recovery.    Late one night, while Rebecca Fogg was alone in her apartment, her hand was partially amputated in an explosion. Quick thinking saved her life, but the journey to recovery would be a slow one. As the doctors rebuilt her hand, Rebecca (who also survived 9/11) began rebuilding her sense of self by studying the physical and psychological process of recovery.   Interspersing the personal with the medical, Rebecca charts her year of rehabilitation, touching on the marvelously adaptable anatomy of the hand; how the brain’s fight-or-flight mechanism enables us to react instantly to danger; and why trauma causes some people to develop PTSD and gives others a whole new lease on life.   Told with emotional and intellectual clarity, Beautiful Trauma is a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit and the wonde

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “I’ve read kind of all the books on this subject . . . and this is the one you want to read.”—Rachel Maddow Before Ukraine, before impeachment: This is the never-before-told inside story of the high-stakes, four-year-long investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia ties—culminating in the Steele dossier, and sparking the Mueller report—from the founders of political opposition research company Fusion GPS.Fusion GPS was founded in 2010 by Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, two former reporters at The Wall Street Journal who decided to abandon the struggling news business and use their reporting skills to conduct open-source investigations for businesses and law firms—and opposition research for political candidates. In the fall of 2015, they were hired to look into the finances of Donald Trump.What began as a march through a mind-boggling trove

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Book SynopsisAn urgent, on-the-scene account of chaos and compassion on the front lines of ground zero for Covid-19, from a senior doctor at New York City’s busiest emergency room “Remarkable and inspiring . . . We’re lucky to have this vivid firsthand account.”—A. J. Jacobs, bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically When former New York Times journalist Dan Koeppel texted his cousin Robert Meyer, a twenty-year veteran of the emergency room at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in the United States, he expected to hear that things were hectic. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being overwhelmed, where do you think you are? Koeppel asked. Meyer’s grave reply—100—was merely the cusp of the crisis that would soon touch every part of the globe.  In need of an outlet to process the trauma of his working life over the coming months, Meyer continued to update Koeppel with what he’d seen and whom he’d treated. The result is an intimate record of historic turmoil and grief from the perspective of a remarkably resilient ER doctor. Every Minute Is a Day takes us into a hospital ravaged by Covid-19 and is filled with the stories of promises made that may be impossible to keep, of life or death choices for patients and their families, and of selflessness on the part of medical professionals who put themselves at incalculable risk.  As fast-paced and high-tempo as the ER in which it takes place, Every Minute Is a Day is at its core an incomparable firsthand account of unrelenting compassion, and a reminder that every human life deserves a chance to be saved.

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Book SynopsisA New Yorker best book of 2022 • This captivating memoir is a “startling testimony to the glories and sorrows of raising and harvesting plants and animals” (Anthony Doerr, best-selling author of All the Light We Cannot See), as an itinerant farmhand chronicles the wonders hidden within the ever-blooming seasons of life, death, and rebirth.Pig Years catapults American nature writing into the 21st century, and has been hailed by Lydia Davis and Aimee Nezhukumatathil as “engrossing” and “a marvel.” As a farmer in Upstate New York and Vermont, Ellyn Gaydos lives on the knife edge between loss and gain. Her debut memoir draws us into this precarious world, conjuring with stark simplicity the lifeblood of the farm: its livestock and crisp full moons, the sharp cold days lived near to the land. Joy and tragedy are frequent bedfellows. Fields go barren and animals meet their end too soon, but then their bodies become food in a time-old human ritual. Seasonal hands are ground down by the hard work, but new relationships are formed, love blossoms and Gaydos yearns to become a mother. As winter’s dark descends, Pig Years draws us into a violent and gorgeous world where pigs are star-bright symbols of hope and beauty surfaces in the furrows, the sow, even in the slaughter.In hardy, lyrical prose that recalls the agrarian writing of Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry, Gaydos asks us to bear witness to the work that sustains us all and to reconsider what we know of survival and what saves us. Pig Years is a rapturous reckoning of love, labor, and loss within a landscape given to flux.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWe still have time to change the world. From climate activist Greta Thunberg, comes the essential handbook for making it happen.You might think it's an impossible task: secure a safe future for life on Earth, at a scale and speed never seen, against all the odds. There is hope—but only if we listen to the science before it's too late.In The Climate Book, Greta Thunberg has gathered the wisdom of over one hundred experts—geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and Indigenous leaders—to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster. Throughout, illuminating and often shocking grayscale charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs, and illustrations underscore their research and their arguments. Alongside them, she shares her own stories of demonstrating and uncovering greenwashing around the world, revealing h

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Book SynopsisFrom the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, an enlightening and personal journey into the practice of groundbreaking science “[Giorgio Parisi is] an extraordinary scientist.” —Carlo RovelliWith In a Flight of Starlings, celebrated physicist Giorgio Parisi guides us through his unorthodox yet exhilarating work, starting with investigating the principles of physics by observing the flight of flocks of birds. Studying the movements of these communities, he has realized, proves an illuminating way into understanding complex systems of all kinds—collections of everything from atoms and planets to other animals, such as ourselves.Along the way, he reflects on the lessons he has taken from a life in pursuit of scientific truth: the importance of serendipity to the discovery of new ideas, the surprising kinship between physics and other disciplines, and the value of science to a thriving society. In so doing, he removes the practice of science from the confines of the laboratory and brings it into the real world.Part elegant scientific treatise, part thrilling journey of discovery, In a Flight of Starlings is an invitation to find wonder in the world around us.

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Book SynopsisAn elegantly written exploration of the cutting edge science of the strangest and most remarkable creatures on our planet by a leading marine biologistHundred-year-old giant clams, coral kingdoms that rival human cities, and jellyfish that glow in the dark: ocean invertebrates are among the oldest and most diverse organisms on earth, seeming to bend the ?rules? of land-based biology. Although sometimes unseen in the deep, the spineless creatures contain 600 million years of adaptation to problems of disease, energy consumption, nutrition, and defense. In The Ocean?s Menagerie, world-renowned marine ecologist Dr. Drew Harvell takes us diving from Hawaii to the Salish Sea, from St. Croix to Indonesia, to uncover the incredible underwater ?superpowers? of spineless creatures: we meet corals many times stronger than steel or concrete, sponges who create potent chemical compounds to fight off disease, and sea stars that garden the coastlines, keeping all the other nearby species in balance. As our planet changes fast, the biomedical, engineering, and energy innovations of these wonderous creatures inspire ever more important solutions to our own survival. The Ocean?s Menagerie is a tale of biological marvels, a story of a woman?s passionate connection to an adventurous career in science, and a call to arms to protect the world?s most ancient ecosystems.

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Book SynopsisTo his colleagues, Richard Feynman was not so much a genius as he was a full-blown magician: someone who “does things that nobody else could do and that seem completely unexpected.” The path he cleared for twentieth-century physics led from the making of the atomic bomb to a Nobel Prize-winning theory of quantam electrodynamics to his devastating exposé of the Challenger space shuttle disaster. At the same time, the ebullient Feynman established a reputation as an eccentric showman, a master safe cracker and bongo player, and a wizard of seduction.Now James Gleick, author of the bestselling Chaos, unravels teh dense skein of Feynman‘s thought as well as the paradoxes of his character in a biography—which was nominated for a National Book Award—of outstanding lucidity and compassion.

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Book SynopsisHere is a multidimensional playland of ideas from the world''s most eccentric Nobel-Prize winning scientist. Kary Mullis is legendary for his invention of PCR, which redefined the world of DNA, genetics, and forensic science. He is also a surfer, a veteran of Berkeley in the sixties, and perhaps the only Nobel laureate to describe a possible encounter with aliens. A scientist of boundless curiosity, he refuses to accept any proposition based on secondhand or hearsay evidence, and always looks for the 'money trail' when scientists make announcements. Mullis writes with passion and humor about a wide range of topics: from global warming to the O. J. Simpson trial, from poisonous spiders to HIV, from scientific method to astrology. Dancing Naked in the Mind Field challenges us to question the authority of scientific dogma even as it reveals the workings of an uncannily original scientific mind.

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Book Synopsis“[A] fascinating book...about the way four geniuses at Cambridge University revolutionized modern science.“ —NewsweekThe Philosophical Breakfast Club recounts the life and work of four men who met as students at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, William Whewell, and Richard Jones. Recognizing that they shared a love of science (as well as good food and drink) they began to meet on Sunday mornings to talk about the state of science in Britain and the world at large. Inspired by the great 17th century scientific reformer and political figure Francis Bacon—another former student of Cambridge—the Philosophical Breakfast Club plotted to bring about a new scientific revolution. And to a remarkable extent, they succeeded, even in ways they never intended. Historian of science and philosopher Laura J. Snyder exposes the political passions, religious impulses, friendships, rivalr

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Book SynopsisThe team of nurses that Tilda Shalof found herself working with in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a big-city hospital was known as “Laura’s Line.” They were a bit wild: smart, funny, disrespectful of authority, but also caring and incredibly committed to their jobs. Laura set the tone with her quick remarks. Frances, from Newfoundland, was famous for her improvised recipes. Justine, the union rep, wore t-shirts emblazoned with defiant slogans, like “Nurses Care But It’s Not in the Budget.” Shalof was the one who had been to university. The others accused her of being “sooo sensitive.”They depended upon one another. Working in the ICU was both emotionally grueling and physically exhausting. Many patients, quite simply, were dying, and the staff strove mightily to prolong their lives. With their skill, dedication, and the resources of modern science, they sometimes were almost too successful. Doctors and nurses alike wondered if w

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Book SynopsisAn inspirational story of hope and miracles as a small town orthopedic surgeon forever changes one woman’s life after performing a first-ever procedure that resulted in what others have recognized as the world’s most advanced amputee.

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Book SynopsisThe paperback edition brings the discussion of treatment options and research thoroughly up to date.Trade ReviewThe beauty of Havemann's narrative stance is that it not only transcends the illness but surprises and captivates the reader... -- Abraham Verghese Los Angeles Times Book Review [Havemann] takes us on his journey from a physically robust, high achiever to his new world of medication dependence, compromise, and, eventually, an almost spiritual epiphany of acceptance and appreciation. This is not a typical treatise on an individual's life with disease. It is filled with useful facts about PD, including diagrams, and a glossary that will be a useful resource for patients... Although this book would seem of primary interest to patients and families affected by PD, physicians will find the book engaging, easy to read, and valuable. We learn much from our patients, and Havemann's book is no exception. -- Matthew B. Stern Neurology Brutally honest. Havemann intertwines his personal story with scientific and medical information. He brings a journalistic style to the tale and explains PD and its treatments in easy-to-understand language. His description of the progressive nature of the disease is poetic and haunting. -- Robert A. Hauser Journal of the American Medical Association Havemann has written a challenging mixture of dispassionate appraisal of the facts and vivid portrayal of his personal experiences adapting to living with the disorder. -- Stephen B. Dunnett Nature MedicineTable of ContentsForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: As I Lay TremblingChapter 1. Denial and IgnoranceChapter 2. Myself Before Parkinson'sChapter 3. The Magnificent BrainChapter 4. Escaping AbroadChapter 5. The Darkest HourChapter 6. Today's DrugsChapter 7. Today's SurgeriesChapter 8. An Insidious BeastChapter 9. Keeping the Beast at BayChapter 10. Tomorrow's RemediesEpilogue: Light in the DarknessGlossaryNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisReflecting on the experiences and contributions of the company's engineers and physicists, Ndiaye traces Du Pont's transformation into one of the corporate models of American success.Trade ReviewFresh because of its innovative approach to the history of DuPont... Stimulating book. -- Terrence J. Gough Journal of Military History 2007 The reader who is well versed in the field will... gain insight into the significant contributions made by chemical engineers and into the interaction between technological developments and broad social, cultural, and political changes. -- Christiane Diehl Taylor Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 2007 Nylon and Bombs will no doubt be put to great use in the emerging field of engineering studies. -- Jody Roberts Technology and Culture 2008 A very important book that ought to be read by all chemical engineers who seek a broad understanding of the history of their profession. -- Robert W. Seidel Bulletin for the History of Chemistry 2008 Ndiaye makes a worthwhile contribution to the literature and opens up many questions with which specialists will want to engage. -- Jeff Hughes Isis 2008Table of ContentsTranslator's NoteIntroduction1. DuPont and the Rise of Chemical Engineering2. From Ammonia to Nylon: Technologies and Careers3. Culture and Politics at DuPont before World War II4. The Forgotten Engineers of the Bomb5. The Heyday and Decline of Chemical EngineeringConclusionNotesEssay on Sources and HistoriographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe sheer diversity of material offered here refreshingly transcends any exclusive restriction to Edisonia.-British Journal for the History of ScienceTrade Review"A choplicking feast for future Edison biographers - well into the next century, and perhaps beyond." - Washington Post "His lucidity comes through everywhere... His writing and drawing come together as a single, vigorous thought process." - New York Times "In the pages of this volume Edison the man, his work, and his times come alive... A delight to browse through or to read carefully." - Science "Beyond its status as the resource for Edison studies, providing a near inexhaustible supply of scholarly fodder, this series... will surely become a model for such projects in the future... The sheer diversity of material offered here refreshingly transcends any exclusive restriction to Edisonia." - British Journal for the History of Science"Table of ContentsCalendar of DocumentsList of Editorial HeadnotesPrefaceChronology of Thomas A. Edison, April 1881-March 1883Editorial Policy and User's GuideEditorial SymbolsList of Abbreviations1. April-June 18812. July-September 18813. October-December 18814. January-March 18825. April-June 18826. July-September 18827. October-December 18828. January-march 1883Appendix 1. Edison's Autobiographical NotesAppendix 2. Isolated Lighing Plant installations, May 1883Appendix 3. Specifications of Dynamos Produced at the Edison Machine Works, April 1881-March 1883Appendix 4. Cable Name Codes, 1881-1883Appendix 5. Edison's Patents, April 1881-March 1883BibliographyCredits Index

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Book SynopsisThis small gem of a book includes 20 color plates and 60 black-and-white illustrations, along with an annotated list of Darwin's publications and a chronology of his life.Trade ReviewThe ensemble of text and illustrations will render an indelible image of Darwin for those beginning to study him, and evolution, while a brief bibliography points the way to further exploration. Booklist 2008 This succinct biography spans Darwin's life in 15 brief chapters and reads like a museum guide, hitting the high points in an easily assimilated style. The copious illustrations, though, including reproductions of period paintings, title page facsimiles, and many of the author's own photographs, are worth poring over and may hold readers' attention longer than it takes to peruse the text. Patrons who want a quick, no-frills but still authoritative read on Darwin's life couldn't find a better source. Library Journal 2008 A splendid overview derived from a series of lectures, and beautifully illustrated, with a detailed publishing history of all of Darwin's works. -- Nicholas Basbanes finebooksmagazine.com 2009 Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man is the best brief biography on the market. Northern Territory News 2009 Berra moves quickly through the life, yet finds time to include telling details, as well as sketches of appealing secondary characters. -- David Lumsden Australian Book Review 2009 Berra, a retired professor of evolution who gives popular lectures on Darwin, writes leanly and to the point, but still produces a vivid and detailed portrait. -- Scott LaFee San Diego Union-Tribune 2009 This work will be useful for introductory students and the general public... Recommended. All undergraduate and public libraries. Choice 2009 This jewel box of a book offers an imminently readable tour of the great man. Every spread includes illustrations with fascinating captions. -- Jeffrey Cyphers Wright Brooklyn Rail 2009 Berra has done masterful work, providing a lively and succinct account of Darwin's life that will provide an excellent introduction for the new reader who is interested in Darwin as well as a helpful review for knowledgeable Darwin enthusiasts! -- Charles F. Urbanowicz Reports of the National Center for Science Education 2010Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. An Admirable Pedigree2. A Privileged Youth3. Exploration4. Discovery5. Maturity6. A Proposal7. Life at Down House8. Correspondence9. Daily Routine10. Taxonomy and Selection11. Alfred Russel Wallace and The Origin12. What Darwin Said13. Darwin's Bulldog14. A Man of Enlarged Curiosity15. Darwin's Death16. EpilogueAppendixesA. BooksB. ChronologyC. Darwin OnlineD. DatesReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisDrawing on newly unearthed documents, including a series of letters from Einstein to his sons, Neffe presents a rich psychological portrait of a man whose character has too often been lost in the bright glow of celebrity.Trade Review[Einstein's] are some of the most powerful ideas in all of science... Neffe does an especially thorough job tracing their origins in Einstein's early obsessions, and he shows how completely the latest cosmic theories are constructed atop the general theory of relativity. New York Times Book Review You would never know you were reading a translation. Converted into evocative, idiomatic English by Shelley Frisch, the book abandons the traditional chronological framework to make oblique swipes across Einstein's timeline-like those bullets flying through a train. Los Angeles Times Coupling insights into Einstein's character with clear descriptions of the physicist's groundbreaking research, Neffe creates a fascinating portrait of... one of the most intriguing figures of the 20th century. Publishers Weekly Neffe's biography reads more like an American novel. The language is fresh and lively-a nod to Neffe's English translator, Shelley Frisch. San Diego Union-Tribune A comprehensive, sympathetic, and very readable portrait of the man, the celebrity, the scientist, and the theories that transformed physics and the modern world... Stellar research and prose combine in a splendid biography of physics' most luminous supernova. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Table of ContentsTranslator's PrefacePrologue: The Immortal: Einstein's Secret1. His Second Birth: The Fateful Year 19192. How Albert Became Einstein: The Psychological Makeup of a Genius3. "A New Era!": From Industrialist's Son to Inventor4. Of Dwarfs and Giants: A Brief History of Science, According to Einstein5. The Burden of Inheritance: Einstein Detectives in Action6. "Elsa or Ilse": The Physicist and the Women7. The Miraculous Path to the Miraculous Year: Einstein's Angels8. Squaring the Light: Why Einstein Had to Discover the Theory of Relativity9. Why Is the Sky Blue? Einstein—A Career10. "Dear Boys . . . Your Papa": The Drama of the Brilliant Father11. Anatomy of a Discovery: How Einstein Found the General Theory of Relativity12. Lambda Lives: Einstein, "Chief Engineer of the Universe"13. Spacetime Quakes: The Theory of Relativity Put to the Test14. His Best Foe: Einstein, Germany, and Politics15. "I Am Not a Tiger": Einstein, the Human Side16. A Jew Named Albert: His God Was a Principle17. The End Justifies the Doubts: Einstein and Quantum Theory18. Of the Magnitude of Failure: The Quest for the Unified Theory19. From Barbaria to Dollaria: Einstein's America20. "People Are a Bad Invention": Einstein, the Atomic Bomb, McCarthy, and the EndNotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndex

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Book SynopsisA unique glance into the early world of science exploration, Kingdom of Ants is a delight to read and filled with intriguing information.Trade ReviewEdward O. Wilson, one of those rare scientists who can make biology and science history not only readable but entertaining, has written a book that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end. -- Lynne M. Hinkey Internet Review of Books 2011 By coupling excerpts from Mutis's forgotten diaries with recent findings on ant eating habits, reproductive behaviors, and emigration patterns, the authors give new relevance to one of the New World's oldest natural history studies. This interesting writing technique helps readers understand the continual nature of the process of scientific inquiry. Choice 2011 A unique glance into the early world of science exploration, Kingdom of Ants is a delight to read and filled with intriguing information. Southeastern Naturalist 2011Table of ContentsPrologue1. Who Was Mutis?2. The Making of an Eighteenth-Century Naturalist3. The Scientific Contributions of José Celestino Mutis4. Mutis Seeks Advice5. Mutis Begins His Study of Ants6. Ants Are Transported by Ships7. Ant Plants and Plant Ants8. Mutis Learns about the Mule-Train (Leafcutter) Ants9. Unending Struggles against the Mule-Train Ants10. Ant Wars11. Mutis Solves the Mystery of the Nomadic Pataloas12. Mutis Measures the Size of an Army-Ant Colony13. Mutis Tracks the Armies of Ants14. Mutis Studies the Gender of Ants and Makes an Amazing Discovery15. Mutis' Other Ants16. How Good a Scientist Was Mutis?EpilogueAcknowledgments

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Book SynopsisIt wasn’t supposed to be this hard. If America could send a man to the moon, shouldn’t the best surgeons in the world be able to build an artificial heart? In Ticker, Texas Monthly executive editor and two time National Magazine Award winner Mimi Swartz shows just how complex and difficult it can be to replicate one of nature’s greatest creations. Part investigative journalism, part medical mystery, Ticker is a dazzling story of modern innovation, recounting fifty years of false starts, abysmal failures and miraculous triumphs, as experienced by one the world’s foremost heart surgeons, O.H. “Bud” Frazier, who has given his life to saving the un-savable.  His journey takes him from a small town in west Texas to one of the country’s most prestigious medical institutions, The Texas Heart Institute, from the halls of Congress to the animal laboratories where calves are fitted

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Book SynopsisAndrei Sakharov holds an honoured place in the pantheon of the world's greatest scientists, reformers, and champions of human rights. Drawing from a 2014 Hoover Institution conference focused on Sakharov's life and principles, this book tells the compelling story of his metamorphosis from a distinguished physical scientist into a courageous, outspoken dissident humanitarian voice.

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Book SynopsisBoth recalling his life story and recounting many of the major advances in twentieth-century science, a renowned physicist shares his autobiography through letters.Trade Review"[The letters] cover a remarkable range of scientific interests, acquaintances, opinions and adventures… He says what you wouldn’t expect; if Dyson has a pattern, perhaps it is contrariety… The one Dysonian pattern for which the letters hold unequivocal evidence is delight. He uses the word often and invokes it even more…Maybe with some people, you don’t look for patterns. You just enjoy their multivariate company." -- Ann Finkbeiner, Nature"There is much in the letters collected here to enjoy; Mr. Dyson writes wonderfully well." -- Ray Monk, The Wall Street Journal"A firsthand account of one of the greatest periods of scientific discovery…. A historic account of modern science and some of its most influential thinkers… An informative collection." -- Library Journal"Who but Dyson formulates revolutionary physics while riding on a Greyhound bus through Iowa cornfields? In other episodes in this remarkable epistolary autobiography, readers join Dyson as he assesses with Gödel equations for a rotating version of Einstein’s universe, as he defends Feynman’s quantum theorems against Oppenheimer’s doubts, and as he explores with Bohr the prospects for a nuclear spaceship. Readers will naturally value what Dyson reveals about how he built his towering reputation as a scientist. But Dyson draws the substance of his narrative from letters he sent his parents between 1940 and 1980, letters in which he discloses quite unscientific aspects of his life—including the joys of romance, marriage, and fatherhood, as well as the trauma of divorce…. Dyson never lets readers forget that, for all of their exceptional intellectual gifts, scientists live human lives defined more by family ties and friendships than by laboratory results." -- Booklist [Starred Review]"Advocates of science will find in Dyson an admirable model. Why go to Mars when we could irrigate the Sahara, he asks. The science of space travel may be 10 times the benefit in the end, he writes, but 'the main purpose is a general enlargement of human horizons.' A pleasure for science students and particularly of science humanely practiced." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisIn Paths to Discovery a group of extraordinary Chicanas trace how their interest in math and science at a young age developed into a passion fed by talent and determination. Today they are teaching at major universities, setting public and institutional policy, and pursuing groundbreaking research. These testimoniospersonal storieswill encourage young Chicanas to enter the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering and to create futures in classrooms, boardrooms, and laboratories across the nation.Trade Review"This remarkable collection allows us to follow the career paths of a group of trailblazing Chicanas. Their personal stories become even more important when we consider the need for greater participation of Chicanas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." -- Sarita E. Brown * Excelencia in Education *

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