Biography: science, technology and medicine Books

Book SynopsisA fascinating look inside the success of Linux creator Linus Torvalds reveals an accidental innovator who helped create the revolutionary open source software movement and traces his life from his offbeat Finnish childhood.

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Book SynopsisA fast-paced, gripping insider account of the entrepreneurs and renegades racing to bring lab-grown meat to the world.The trillion-dollar meat industry is one of our greatest environmental hazards; it pollutes more than all the world''s fossil-fuel-powered cars. Global animal agriculture is responsible for deforestation, soil erosion and more emissions than air travel, paper mills and coal mining combined. It also depends on the slaughter of more than 60 billion animals per year, a number that is only increasing as the global appetite for meat swells. The whole world seems to be sleepwalking into a food crisis.But a band of doctors, scientists, activists and entrepreneurs have been racing to end animal agriculture as we know it, hoping to fulfill a dream of creating meat without ever having to kill an animal. This is the story of a group of seven vegans quietly working to solve one the most pressing issues we face today, creating the biggest upheaval to the foTrade ReviewA thorough, thoughtful dive into the revolution coming for our plates. I learned so muchA wild ride to the far horizon of our food system. Chase Purdy breaks important new ground in this gripping account about the innovators, activists and big-money investors who are reinventing meat as we know it. Not only are they changing the world - they're doing it a lot faster than you thinkThis is a fast-paced, early peek into what will soon be the topic at dinner for the next two decades: lab-grown meat. What do we call it, is it good, should I eat it? Read this and get ahead of the curveBillion Dollar Burger is a journalistic feat, offering us the first real, behind-the-scenes look at the wild world of vegans, scientists and venture capitalists racing to upend our plates. A thoughtful, entertaining, well-researched and essential bookCan humanity move beyond the slaughterhouse? Billion Dollar Burger is a compulsive and well-researched account of the scientists, entrepreneurs and activists trying to save the world through high-tech meatA deeply reported account of the science, politics, and personalities behind cell-cultured meat that every eater needs to read. Chase Purdy brings the stuff of science fiction to life in this fascinating book Chase Purdy brilliantly chronicles the emergence of a new industry poised to set us on the path to a more humane future, with dramatic implications for agriculture, the environment and the way we think about food -- Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots and Architects of IntelligenceA thoroughly enjoyable read. Chase Purdy offers us a window into this nascent industry at a particularly interesting time in the growth of the early pioneer cultured meat companies. He delivers an insightful narrative into the future of our food system and navigates the politics and personalities that are shaping the scaling, regulation and consumer acceptance of cultured meat -- Illtud Dunsford, CEO, Cellular Agriculture LtdA very interesting read. This advance in technology could have a massive influence on our future. Whether or not you'd serve lab-grown meat on your dinner table, it has the power to save billions of animals from exploitation and could enable us to conserve the planet -- Lucy Watson, bestselling author of Feed Me VeganA well-researched and insightful narrative of the "edible space race" . . . Billion Dollar Burger is an exciting and unpredictable journey into the heart of a growing new sector that will have huge consequences for the future of the planet -- Gege Li * Chemistry World *

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Book SynopsisAn award-winning science writer tours the globe to reveal what makes birds capable of such extraordinary feats of mental prowess Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent. At once personal yet scientific, richly informative and beautifully written, The Genius of Birds celebrates the triumphs of these surprising and fiercely intelligent creatures.Ackerman is also the author of Birds by the Shore: Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast.

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Book SynopsisThe biography of a groundbreaking explorer who blazed a trail for women in science.Trade Review'Shindler's wonderment at Dorothea is contagious ... She distils the driven energy, resilience and good-natured charm of this instinctive scientist' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisOffers a selection of personal papers. This title includes rhymes, an exchange with Queen Elizabeth of Belgium about fine music, and expressions of his devotion to Zionism.Trade Review"[Einstein] is revealed not only as a humane philosopher but as a natural aphorist, often with the graces of humor and humility."--Wall Street Journal "[This book] presents itself in such a modest and loving tone that it is fitting for the memory of the man it lets us hear. It is a fresh and delicious little anthology of citations from the body of Einstein's letters, journal entries and other written comment... These varied, penetrating, warm and open remarks to queens and schoolchildren, friends and antagonists, philosophers and sophomores have been sensitively chosen by two old friends of Einstein's and well translated. The German originals are included."--Scientific American "A thoroughly delightful book."--Choice "[This book] compiled by two of his closest colleagues in later life, Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann, aims to show what kind of a person Einstein was. By a series of quotations from letters, jottings and unpublished documents, for example, Dukas and Hoffmann demonstrate as clearly as anybody could expect that Einstein was a courteous, kindly, witty, fearless and lonely man... It is a bedside book."--Washington PostTable of ContentsForeword to the 2013 Paperback Edition v Publisher's Preface xiv Glimpses From His Archives 3 German Originals 117 Einstein: a Brief Chronology 165 Acknowledgments 167

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Book SynopsisGeorge Stephenson is among the most famous engineers of all time. His rise from 'rags to riches' is a stirring story of its kind. But much of the work of innovative engineers for his period lay not in the work itself but in persuading people that such work was desirable and necessary. It was in this field that George Stephenson excelled, providing openings in which his proteges could change the world. They did not let him down, and we should give him full credit for being 'The Father of the Railways'.

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Book SynopsisAt 19, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was in charge, under his father, of an engineering work that is the wonder of Europe: the Thames tunnel, completed in 1843. This book traces Brunel''s life and career, the man of immense energy who came to dominate civil engineering in the 19th century and whose legacy can still be seen nearly two centuries later. L.T.C. Rolt was one of the first narrative historians, an industrial pioneer and preservationist. During his life he was fundamental in establishing and promoting canals, waterways and railways. He was one of the first people in modern Britain to draw attention to the value of our canals as a means of transport and a source of pleasure. As well as his interest in canals he also turned his attention to neglcted railways and set up the first organisation to save and run a railway with a mainly volunteer workforce.

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Book SynopsisBrian Trubshaw's life as an experimental test pilot

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Book SynopsisThe first book to reveal the intensity of the relationship between Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace; an outstanding contribution to historical STEM literature

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Book SynopsisAn important new study with a vast scope: the people and events that made the achievements of Stephenson and Brunel possible

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Book SynopsisThe story of the one woman who, against all odds, stopped Thalidomide in its tracks because it poisoned a nation

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational MemoirAt the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer

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