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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Vertesi has lifted the curtain for all to see. Embedded with various NASA projects for years, she takes readers into the heart of two of them. . . . [She] does not simply describe the nuts and bolts of how these missions operate. Rather, she draws sweeping conclusions about the very nature of scientific discovery—what gets found—and how it depends on the ways in which scientists collaborate. That has implications for just about any group of researchers in any field. . . . In the end, science from both missions flowed directly from the people involved. No matter how the lakes on Titan shimmer, or what the mineralogy of a particular Martian rock turns out to be, it was the people behind the spacecraft, keyboards and endless tele-conferences that drove what these interplanetary robots discovered. I’m glad to have come to know them even better through this book." * Nature *"A highly intelligent and well-structured book. . . . Vertesi provides some brilliant explanations, which are so masterful that they alone would make taking up the book worth the price. . . . It ofers a plethora of new information which enriches the discourse of organization science. It will likely serve as a blueprint for similar research programs in ethnographic studies of space science in the future." * Metascience *"Vertesi masterfully, and with intricate detail, shows how spacecraft take on a life nurtured by scientists and engineers who, by their very actions and approaches, embody them with sociological characteristics. . . . This work by Vertesi, with its enunciation of organized science, stands out as one of the most detailed studies on the sociology of scientific organizations, and their impact on the resulting science. It will be of great interest to all historians of science." * Technology and Culture *"Based on years of ethnographic observations, in Shaping Science: Organizations, Decisions, and Culture on NASA’s Teams Janet Vertesi tells the story of how this unruly combination of grand-scale missions to know more about space through robots, photos, and particles by multi-national distanced collaborations are made to work. . . . Shaping Science shows that science is an art—a collective act that organizes scientists, engineers, politics, robots, data, and the public. All these elements interact to create the output that then becomes our shared knowledge about the space beyond us." * Symbolic Interaction *"This carefully referenced work often cites how characteristics of these missions parallel other areas of STS. Among the many topics included are the role of 'personalities' on a mission, the value of the data to career success and mobility, and reflections on her own methodology. . . . Recommended." * Choice *"A fascinating, inside look at NASA missions to Saturn (Helen) andMars (Paris). . . . Vertesi has produced a compelling exploration of organizations’ influence on the production of scientific knowledge. The book makes a bold argument, supported by rich ethnographic detail. It is a fun, illuminating read, and scholars of science, technology, work, and organizations will find much to appreciate in its pages." * American Journal of Sociology *“In this important work, Princeton University sociologist Janet Vertesi amalgamates science and technology studies (STS) and more traditional sociology and anthropology to explore the manner in which science teams working on NASA planetary probes go about their work, create knowledge, and disseminate understanding about the evolution of the cosmos. . . . A path-breaking work and recommended for all seeking to understand the manner in which science teams operate in the modern era.” * Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly *"In this fascinating book focused on planetary science, the sociologist Janet Vertesi directs our attention to the organizational structure of scientific teams . . . Vertesi’s book is a fascinating intervention into questions about the relationship between organizational order and knowledge production." * Isis *"Vertesi takes us on a mission. Based on extraordinary access among the research teams of interplanetary spacecraft, she makes a convincing case that organizational differences make a difference in the types of knowledge produced by these scientists. The analysis is solid, the argument bold, and the writing lively." -- David Stark, Columbia University"Shaping Science is a masterful ethnography of work and organization. Vertesi shows us what ethnomethodological fieldwork can and should be. On top of that, the book transports us to one of the most significant and consequential space missions ever attempted by NASA. If you study science, technology, work, or organizations, this book is a must read." -- Stephen R. Barley, Christian A. Felipe Professor of Technology Management, University of California, Santa Barbara"What could be more fascinating than the social life of planetary science? Vertesi's book is among the very first to make legible and compare scientific collaborations in Big Science—while also showing how they affect knowledge work and epistemic outcomes. It shines important light on the people involved, the robots they create, and the way scientists and robots have intimate relationships in a highly organized science. The book is a must read in several fields, from organizational sociology and STS to human-machine interaction." -- Karin Knorr Cetina, University of Chicago"In this magnificent book, Vertesi reveals how even planetary science, the science of other worlds, is shaped by organizational dynamics here on earth. Drawing on a decade of rich ethnography with NASA's robotic spacecraft teams, she vividly illuminates the social life of these projects and how different organizational models produce different kinds of knowledge about planets. Anyone interested in how science is made in practice will be riveted, as I was." -- Judy Wajcman, Anthony Giddens Professor of Sociology, London School of EconomicsTable of ContentsPreface IntroductionPart 1: Orders Chapter 1: The Context Chapter 2: The Integrators Chapter 3: The Resolutions Chapter 4: The Collective Chapter 5: The EnvironmentPart 2: Outcomes Chapter 6: The Science Chapter 7: The Spacecraft Chapter 8: The Data Chapter 9: The Personalities Chapter 10: The Iterative Loop Conclusion Postscript: Methodological Reflections Acknowledgments Appendix: Acronym and Technical Dictionary Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisMedical Writings from Early Medieval England presents vernacular texts on health and healing—unique local remedies and translations of late antique Latin treatises—and offers insights into the history of science and medicine, scribal practices, and culture. This is first comprehensive edition and translation from Old English in more than 150 years.

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Book SynopsisThe dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific rivals and their race to survey all life.In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster''s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France''s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic, ever-changing swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible--how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life''s diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity''s role in shaping the fate of our planet, and on humanity itself. The rivalry between these two unique, driven indiv

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Book SynopsisWithin months of the start of the First World War, Germany began to run out of the raw materials it needed to make explosives. As Germany faced imminent defeat, chemists such as Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch came to the rescue with Nobel Prize winning discoveries that overcame the shortages and enabled the country to continue in the war. Similarly, Britain could not have sustained its war effort for four years had it not been for chemists like Chaim Weizmann who was later to become the first president of the State of Israel. Michael Freemantle tells the stories of these and many other chemists and explains how their work underpinned and shaped what became known as The Chemists’ War. He reveals: • how chemistry contributed to the care of the sick and wounded and to the health and safety of troops; • how coal not only powered the war but was also an important source of the chemicals needed for the manufacture of explosives, dyes, medicines and antiseptics; • how Britain’s production of propellants relied on the slaughter of tens of thousands of whales; • how a precious metal played a critical role in the war; • how poisonous chemicals were used as weapons of mass destruction for the first time in the history of warfare and how chemists developed gas masks for protection against these weapons; • how the British naval blockade of Germany imperilled agricultural production in the United States. The book will appeal to the general reader as well as the many scientists and historians interested in the Great War.Trade ReviewThis is an interesting book offering a different view from the large number that have been written on the politics and strategies of the war. It is well written, extensively referenced and includes a useful last chapter on the top 50 chemicals of the Great War. There is a lot of interesting chemistry but the human story is also strong. -- School Science Review - Alex Chaplin"this is a highly professional account" "he explains - in approachable, layman's terms - the basic ingredients of wartime gas chemistry" "the book's most original contribution lies in drawing attention to the "metals of war", such as nickel, tin, tungsten, chromium, manganese, and zinc" "such metals took a "starring role" on the battlefield" "well worth including in any working library" "Like its predecessor, The Chemists’ War is a good introduction to the subject in its widest dimensions." -- Roy MacLeod * Bulletin for the History of Chemistry *"...a remarkably diverse collection of essays..." "The book will appeal to the general reader as well as the many scientists and historians interested in the Great War" -- Brian Clegg * Popular Science *Table of ContentsMore than Chemical Warfare; The Neglected Face of the War; A Single Round of Firearm Ammunition; Whaling for World War One; Acetone and the Birth of a State; An Element of War; The Synthesis of War; Khaki and Indigo; Chemistry and the Zepellins; Chemistry and the Sinking of the Lusitania; The Potash Problem; Bacilli Killed More than Bullets; The Chemists of War; War, the Mother of Invention?; Images of War; Periodic Table of War; The Scientific Legacy of the War; Subject Index

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Book SynopsisA wide-ranging and original introduction to the Anthropocene (the Age of Humanity) that offers fresh, theoretical insights bridging the sciences and the humanitiesTrade Review“A very impressive book. . . . Merchant’s keen synthesis and original thinking will appeal to field experts.”—Miles Alexander Powell, Environment and History“A remarkably clear and accessible study of multiple dimensions of the environmental crisis and their effects on the humanities.”—J. R. McNeill, coauthor of The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945“A text of great importance that investigates how science, technology, and the humanities can create a new and compelling awareness of human impact on earth.”—Mary Evelyn Tucker, coauthor of Journey of the Universe“Carolyn Merchant has written a pithy, well‑rounded introduction to what the environmental humanities can offer in moving our planet toward an Age of Sustainability.”—Edward Melillo, author of Strangers on Familiar Soil“Carolyn Merchant provides a useful interdisciplinary primer on the supreme challenges of living responsibly in the era of continual climate change. Her tone is both analytical and personal, and she offers a vision for an ecologically just future.”—Jacob Darwin Hamblin, author of Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

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Book SynopsisEver since we started huddling together in communities, the story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. They have evolved and spread amongst us, shaping our culture through infection, disease, and pandemic. At the same time, our changing human culture has itself influenced the evolutionary path of microbes. Dorothy H. Crawford here shows that one cannot be truly understood without the other. Beginning with a dramatic account of the SARS pandemic at the start of the 21st century, she takes us back in time to follow the interlinked history of microbes and man, taking an up-to-date look at ancient plagues and epidemics, and identifying key changes in the way humans have lived - such as our move from hunter-gatherer to farmer to city-dweller -- which made us vulnerable to microbe attack. Showing how we live our lives today -- with increasing crowding and air travel -- puts us once again at risk, Crawford asks whether we might ever conquer microbes completely, or whether we need to take a more microbe-centric view of the world. Among the possible answers, one thing becomes clear: that for generations to come, our deadly companions will continue to shape human history.Oxford Landmark Science books are ''must-read'' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.Trade ReviewAdmirably clear and engaging. * BBC History *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1: How It All Began 2: Our Microbial Inheritance 3: Microbes Jump Species 4: Crowds, Filth, and Poverty 5: Microbes Go Global 6: Famine and Devastation 7: Deadly Companions Revealed 8: The Fight Back Conclusion: Living Together Glossary Notes and References Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA magnificent, definitive, and indefatigable tribute to an indefatigable man . . . Greene beautifully puts the record straight with a portrait of Wegener as a respected 'cosmic physicist.'—NatureIn this book Mott Greene has ably explained every detail of Wegener’s ideas and research and has created a well-deserved tribute to one of the most creative and energetic scientists of the twentieth century.—MetascienceA remarkably detailed and wonderfully well-written biography of Alfred Wegener . . . Includes insight into what makes a person such as Wegener a genius—what it was about him that led to an ability to create such a novel and correct view of nature. That is the true value of this exceptional book, to be able to feel as though one can literally experience the scientific genius that was Alfred Wegener.—ChoiceMott Greene's magnificent book reveals deep themes and connections to Wegener's many fruitful ideas and extraordinary scientific accomplishments, even as it examines the many distinct dimensions of thought and action that emanated from Wegener's apparently heedless embrace of all manner of risk-taking . . . Anglophone readers, especially, have never had such an opportunity to understand Alfred Wegener.—ScienceDirectThis biography is clearly a labor of love for its author. Greene worked on this book for more than twenty years, conducting archival research, visiting libraries and collections across Europe and in North America, and conducting interviews with key figures, including Wegener’s surviving family members . . . I came away with a renewed appreciation for Wegener as an engaged scientist who refused to let the boundaries of academic disciplines dampen his enthusiasm for scientific endeavor.—AAG Review of BooksMott Greene spent twenty years working on Alfred Wegener, a masterpiece in which he revolutionizes our understanding of Wegener, just as Wegener revolutionized our understanding of the Earth . . . a brilliant and compelling account of the life of one of the most talented, versatile, and remarkable scientists in history.—IsisGreene has created an important work that gives context to one of the most recent paradigm shifts in science . . . Greene tells the story with enough documentation to keep the story grounded in reality, yet uses his prose to maintain interest even after the 'eureka' moment, even after Wegener’s death on the ice.—Science & EducationTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. The Boy2. The Student3. The Astronomer4. The Aerologist5. The Polar Meteorologist6. The Arctic Explorer (1)7. The Atmospheric Physicist (1)8. The Atmospheric Physicist (2)9. At a Crossroads10. The Theorist of Continental Drift (1)11. The Theorist of Continental Drift (2)12. The Arctic Explorer (2)13. The Soldier14. The Meteorologist15. The Geophysicist16. From Geophysicist to Climatologist17. The Paleoclimatologist18. The Professor19. Theorist and Arctic Explorer20. The Expedition LeaderEpilogueNotesBibliographical EssayIndex

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Book Synopsis** GUARDIAN SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 **‘Popular science at its best’Mail on Sunday‘Eminently accessible and enjoyable’ObserverWith every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds in the Roman Senate, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding. In fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might also bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation. In Caesar’s Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe and across time to tell the epic story of the air we breathe.Trade ReviewAbsorbing, entertaining... provocative but compelling... eminently accessible and enjoyable. A real gas - in short! -- Robin McKie * Observer *Funny, clever and altogether effervescent... Kean writes superbly about science itself... A joy for any reader -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *There is no denying the pleasure and indeed the wealth of scientific information to be obtained from reading Caesar’s Last Breath. It will change forever the way I think about breathing. * Financial Times *Kean is the teacher you wish you'd had: genial, companionable and infectiously enthusiastic. This is an entertaining and accessible guide to the mysterious vapour of gases. Popular science at its best. -- Simon Humphreys * Mail on Sunday *It’s a helluva read. And it’s a gas. -- Tim Radford * The Guardian *An altogether excellent read, an invigorating and stylish mixture of chemistry, history and reportage that brings to light many of the untold stories of the air that surrounds and sustains us * Times Literary Supplement *This vibrant, fact-filled science book makes the chemistry of air riveting * Sunday Times Must Reads *Told with Kean’s trademark combination of goofy wisecracking and an exceptional knack for communicating the principles of science * Wall Street Journal *Fascinating stories, so insightful, informative, and disarmingly written. It gave this astronaut a new respect for the air around us all, and made me delightfully more aware of each breath I take. -- Col. Chris Hadfield, author of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on EarthBrims with such fascinating tales of chemical history that it'll change the very way you think about breathing.... Kean crams the book full of wild yarns told with humorously dramatic flair.... The effect is oddly intimate, the way all good storytelling is -- you feel like you're sharing moments of geeky amusement with a particularly hip chemistry teacher * San Francisco Chronicle *The most fun to be had from nonfiction is a good science book, with a writer of craft who can capture both the excitement and the elegance of science, the incredible fact that this is really how it works. Sam Kean is such a writer and Caesar's Last Breath is such a book. An enormous pleasure to read. -- Mark Kurlansky, author of CodSam Kean has done it again - this time clearly and entertainingly explaining the science of the air around us. He is a gifted storyteller with a knack for finding the magic hidden in the everyday. -- Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive

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Book Synopsis''The best book ever written'' Nicholas Lezard, GuardianRobert Burton''s labyrinthine, beguiling, playful masterpiece is his attempt to ''anatomize and cut up'' every aspect of the condition of melancholy, from which he had suffered throughout his life. Ranging over beauty, digestion, the planets, alcohol, goblins, kissing, poetry and the restorative power of books, among many other things, The Anatomy of Melancholy has fascinated figures from Samuel Johnson to Jorge Luis Borges since the seventeenth century, and remains an incomparable examination of the human condition in all its flawed, endless variety.Edited with an introduction by Angus GowlandTrade ReviewThe best book ever written -- Nick Lezard * Guardian *The greatest work of prose of the greatest period of English prose-writing -- Llewelyn PowysBurton's masterpiece. It is one of the finest prose works in English . . . it is funny, a laugh-aloud book, one that seems to convey the character of its writer with a rare clarity. It is an ode to reading that overflows with allusions and quotations, making it a book that feels, at times, as if it is about the whole of human knowledge. In its wonderfully capacious digressiveness, it pulsates with a life force that is, in itself, a charm against the terrors, the fears and the loneliness of melancholy * The Guardian *This is the best popular edition ever produced of one of the most amusing books in our language, a masterpiece of scholarship. It belongs on the shelves of everyone who loves English literature and all those who aspire to do so * The Critic *

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Book SynopsisThe story of the most significant biological breakthrough of the century - the discovery of the structure of DNA.Trade ReviewThis timely reissue of Watso's feisty memoir gives a dramatic account of how the double helix was mapped. -- James Urquhart * FINANCIAL TIMES *An exhilarating memoir -- John Dugdale * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisVolume 3 of three-volume set containing complete English text of all 13 books of the Elements plus critical apparatus analyzing each definition, postulate, and proposition in great detail. Covers textual and linguistic matters; mathematical analyses of Euclid''s ideas; classical, medieval, Renaissance and modern commentators; refutations, supports, extrapolations, reinterpretations and historical notes. Vol. 3 includes Books X-XIII: Commensurable magnitudes, solids, cones, cylinders.

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Book Synopsis1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization takes readers on a journey through years of forgotten Islamic history to discover one thousand fascinating scientific and technological inventions still being used throughout the world today. Take a look at all of the discoveries that led to the great technological advances of our time; engineering, early medicinal practices, and the origins of cartography are just a few of the areas explored in this book. 1001 Inventions provides unique insight into a significant time period in Muslim history that has been looked over by much of the world. A time where discoveries were made and inventions were created that have impacted how Western civilization and the rest of the world lives today. The book will cover seven aspects of life relatable to everyone, including home, school, hospital, market, town, world and universe.Trade Review"...this heavily illustrated volume, edited by Salim T.S. Al-Hassani, stands on its own as an accessible history of the golden era that spanned from the 7th to the 17th century." --Boston Sunday Globe

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of BookAuthority’s Three Best New Robotics Audiobooks To Read in 2019"

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Book SynopsisTo begin to understand this apparent contradiction in terms, we must first understand the exacting nature of space technologies and the concerns of those who create them.Trade ReviewSoundly based on the secondary literature and on archival research in the United States and Europe and provides an excellent overview of the topic within Johnson's chosen boundaries... I can highly recommend Johnson's book to historians of both the Cold War military and civilian space programs. Journal of Military History Johnson has been inspired by engineering to write good history. -- Jon Agar British Journal for the History of Science 2004 A book for general readers interested in business and management issues in the space program. Choice 2003 Johnson's in-depth, nuts-and-bolts manual sheds much light on a seldom studied secret of our recent space history. Space Review 2006 Well written and engaging in style. Satellite Evolution Group 2007Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: Managment and the Conrol of Research Social and Technical Issues of Spaceflight Creating Concurrency From Concurrency to Systems Managment JPL's Journey from Missiles to Space Organizing the Manned Space Program Organizing ELDO for Failure ERSO's American Bridge across the Managment Gap Coordination and Control of High-Tech Research and Development

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Book SynopsisWhat are things made of?What is the sun?Why is there night and day, winter and summer?Why do bad things happen?Are we alone?Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Have you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emu''s egg? Or what about the great catfish that carries the world on its back? Has anyone ever told you that earthquakes are caused by a sneezing giant? These fantastical myths are fun - but what is the real answer to such questions?The Magic of Reality, with its explanations of space, time, evolution and more, will inspire and amaze readers of all ages - young adults, adults, children, octogenarians. Teaming up with the renowned illustrator Dave McKean, Richard Dawkins answers all these questions and many more. In stunning words and pictures this book presents the real story of the world around us, taking us on an enthralling journey through Trade ReviewIt's the clearest and most beautifully written introduction to science I've ever read. Again and again I found myself saying "Oh! So that's how genes work!" (or stars, or tectonic plates, or all the other things he explains). Explanations I thought I knew were clarified; things I never understood were made clear for the first time -- Philip PullmanI wanted to write this book but I wasn't clever enough. Now I've read it, I am -- Ricky GervaisThe Magic of Reality provides a beautiful, accessible and wide ranging volume that addresses the questions that all of us have about the universe...written with the masterful and eloquently literate style of perhaps the best popular expositor of science, Richard Dawkins, and delightfully illustrated by Dave McKean. What more could anyone ask for? -- Lawrence Krauss, author of Quantum Man, and A Universe from NothingFrom the first sentence it reads with the force and fluency of a classic ... a luminous, authoritative prose that transcends age differences * The Times *A charming and free-ranging history of science * The Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisAlthough eugenics is now widely discredited, some groups and individuals claim a new scientific basis for old racist assumptions. Pondering the continuing influence of racist research and thought, despite all evidence to the contrary, Robert Sussman explains why—when it comes to race—too many people still mistake bigotry for science.Trade ReviewNot only is this book a significant contribution to the view of race and racism in traditional ‘four-field’ anthropology in the U.S., but it is also important to the understanding of global notions of contemporary racism… The Myth of Race encourages us to understand where stereotypes and misinformation fit in our consideration of whether and how notions of biological race remain pervasive in today’s discourse and policy. -- Yolanda T. Moses * Times Higher Education *Explores how the faulty concept of race embedded in our culture affects where we live, go to school and work. It influences our choice in friends and our treatment in the healthcare and justice systems. -- Jeff Adachi * San Francisco Examiner *Sussman does a masterful job of tracing racist thought in western Europe and the U.S. from 15th-century polygenics through the eugenics of the 20th century to the continued racism and anti-immigration stances of today’s radical Right… Although the racists at whom Sussman directs his message are unlikely to read it or to credit it if they do, this book should be in every library, from high school through public to university, in hopes that it will affect some minds before they become completely shuttered by prejudice. -- L. L. Johnson * Choice *The idea of race, writes the author, is a cultural rather than biological reality. Tribes always believed that strangers were subhuman, but they could overcome their inferiority by joining the tribe—e.g., converting to Christianity or adopting Roman citizenship… Today, since racism is politically incorrect, Sussman maintains, supporters have migrated en masse to the anti-immigration movement… Sussman delivers a lucidly written, eye-opening account of a nasty sociological battle that the good guys have been winning for a century without eliminating a very persistent enemy. * Kirkus Reviews *Sussman, an anthropology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, explores and explodes the concept of race. He contends that, in the face of a longstanding scientific consensus that race possesses no biological basis, many people still mistakenly believe that traits like aggression, intelligence, and generosity can be traced to it. Noting that racial distinctions between humans have no biological basis is not new, Sussman makes his contribution by exposing the ways that academic ‘science’ is invoked to authorize an outmoded concept. He traces the history of ideas about race, moving briskly from the Spanish Inquisition to Linnaeus and Kant, and offering a detailed discussion of eugenics. Lest readers imagine this is all in the distant past, Sussman devotes his last three chapters to the funding mechanisms that keep racist research alive today. He shows that ‘science’ has been used in efforts to overturn civil rights legislation, and he examines the ways racist discourse has become intertwined with immigration policy. This book, which is both provocative and commonsensical, will be useful to scholars, but may also spark a broader conversation. * Publishers Weekly *Robert Sussman’s penetrating study of the major figures who constructed concepts of race lays bare the personal biases, enmity, and corruption that influenced the intellectuals and politicians who framed modern industrialized societies. It also reveals unexpected heroes whose clear-minded insights into human diversity presaged our modern understanding. The Myth of Race is a suspense-filled and richly scholarly tour de force. -- Nina G. Jablonski, Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State UniversityWhat is most remarkable is how Sussman manages to tie in past attitudes toward race with ongoing political developments. He demonstrates a seamless continuity of current attitudes with past ones in a way I have not seen attempted elsewhere, and in my view he succeeds brilliantly: the final chapters, in particular, make chilling reading. This is a book written straight from the heart, and it reads that way. -- Ian Tattersall, author of Race? Debunking a Scientific Myth

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Book SynopsisOn the bicentennial of his death, this beautifully illustrated volume pays tribute to the Scot who became the father of American ornithology. Alexander Wilson made unique contributions to ecology and animal behavior. His drawings of birds in realistic poses in their natural habitat inspired Audubon, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and other naturalists.Trade Review[Burtt and Davis] are in no doubt that their man is the one to deserve the title of ‘Father’ [of American ornithology]… And it is a strong case, convincingly made… This will be a very valuable resource for scholars, and the drawings themselves are attractive and persuasive evidence for the authors’ claims about Wilson’s originality and importance. The authors and publishers have done full justice to these illustrations in this handsome volume and they are beautifully laid out and reproduced. -- Jeremy Mynott * Times Literary Supplement *Burtt and Davis argue convincingly for Wilson’s contribution to modern scientific ornithology and celebrate Wilson as the man who inspired John James Audubon… This book…give[s] us Wilson’s wonderful illustrations—and a sense of the spirit of an extraordinary man whose curiosity reached far beyond the man-made world. -- Karin Altenberg * Wall Street Journal *Burtt and Davis include brief essays on the ornithologists whom Wilson read or corresponded with, providing a valuable overview of the burgeoning natural sciences of the early nineteenth century… They establish Wilson’s stature as a bird illustrator, and their handsome volume reproduces them beautifully… Burtt and Davis successfully make clear Wilson’s importance in establishing American ornithology on two firm pillars: international Linnaean binomial nomenclature and close observation of living birds as well as specimens… Wilson’s position as the founder of American ornithology was won with intense struggle from inauspicious beginnings, and it seems secure. -- Robert O. Paxton * New York Review of Books *It is as the author of American Ornithology—a nine-volume work that aimed to list every species in the U.S.—that Wilson will be remembered. Wilson’s books were revolutionary. He wrote his descriptions of birds from observing them in the field, rather than looking at stuffed birds in collections. It was an approach that helped promote the adoption of the scientific method in the U.S. He also penned his narrative so that readers would be able to identify birds themselves, making it the first field guide… Wilson’s life and his struggle to publish American Ornithology are fascinating. -- Peter Ranscombe * The Scotsman *Wilson was first to describe 26 species of North American birds, he has more birds named after him than any other American ornithologist, and John James Audubon, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Thomas Nuttall, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and Elliot Coues all were inspired by him, yet most people, when asked who the father of American ornithology is, say, wrongly, Audubon. This well-illustrated study, the first to reproduce many of Wilson’s drawings and draft plates from American Ornithology, his nine-volume masterwork, sets the record straight. -- Chuck Hagner and Matt Mendenhall * Bird Watching *Wilson has more birds named after him than any other American ornithologist, including Audubon, and now, thanks to Burtt and Davis, he has a superb modern-day biography and critical assessment, one every scholarly birder should buy and read. It’s entirely right that we regularly remember to give Alexander Wilson the credit for inventing the school and ethos of American bird-study. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Monthly *One of the objectives of this book is to publish all of Wilson’s previously unpublished illustrations… Wilson’s artwork is superb… The case Burtt and Davis make for Wilson being the true father of American ornithology is overwhelming, and in that sense they have succeeded admirably. -- Tim Birkhead * Times Higher Education *Alexander Wilson, the Scotsman who came to the United States in 1794…more than Audubon, deserves credit for having founded American ornithology, as biographers Edward Burtt and William Davis rightly insist. -- Christoph Irmscher * Weekly Standard *The book includes many letters to and from U.S. naturalists and dozens of beautifully reproduced and previously unpublished line drawings and paintings of birds that contributed to Wilson’s greatest tangible achievement, the encyclopedic nine-volume American Ornithology. Unlike most of his contemporaries, such as Audubon, Wilson argued for the need for field observation to truly understand and illustrate the character of wild creatures, and he traveled thousands of miles across a wild continent to accomplish this. This book is full of delightful anecdotes and excellent detailed drawings; it will do much to elevate the reputation of Wilson among those with an interest in birds, illustration, and history. -- D. Flaspohler * Choice *A Scottish emigré, Alexander Wilson (1766–1813) became the preeminent ornithologist of early America. His systematic approach to the study of birds and his nine-volume American Ornithology (1808–14) greatly influenced John James Audubon, in whose shadow Wilson has since remained… Burtt and Davis describe Wilson’s mentoring by such prominent figures as Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Bartram, and the Philadelphia family of artists, the Peales… The authors show that it is Wilson, rather than Audubon, who deserves the sobriquet of the father of American ornithology… This excellent work is highly recommended for birders and for readers who appreciate American art or natural history. -- Henry T. Armistead * Library Journal *Before Audubon and Birds of America, there was Alexander Wilson and American Ornithology, a nine-volume work published between 1808 and 1814 that singlehandedly transformed the study of birds in the wild and presaged the field guides of today. In addition to being the first to adopt the Linnaean system of binomial nomenclature to classify North American birds, Wilson was also one of the first to base his findings primarily on the ‘observation and description of live birds.’ By 1812, the Scottish poet had documented nearly 80% of bird species in the United States, and developed the discipline of ‘economic ornithology,’ whereby bird types are valued according to a kind of cost–benefit analysis (i.e. one that takes into account whether a bird is prone to destroy certain crops, whether they can be consumed, etc.)… What makes this book of such great value is the third chapter: ‘Illustrating American Ornithology.’ Composing over half of the book, this section features every illustration from Wilson’s landmark publication. Alongside excerpts from Wilson’s own commentary, the authors painstakingly detail how each sketch developed into its final iteration. A must-have for any serious bird-watcher. * Publishers Weekly *A definitive work on the history of bird art, ornithology, and nature writing. Volumes have been written on Audubon as though he were the dean of American ornithology, but Burtt and Davis reveal Alexander Wilson as providing the foundation. -- Bernd Heinrich, author of The Nesting SeasonOur knowledge of New World birds stems deeply from the adventurous spirit of a talented rebel poet, Alexander Wilson. This richly illustrated, very special book brings him back to life as an engaging and influential character whose passion for birds primed ours. I couldn’t put it down. -- Frank Gill, author of Ornithology: Third Edition

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Book SynopsisFor six centuries the Republic of Venice was a maritime empire, its sovereign power extending throughout much of the eastern Mediterranean an empire of coasts, islands and isolated fortresses by which, as Wordsworth wrote, the mercantile Venetians ''held the gorgeous east in fee''. Jan Morris reconstructs the whole of this glittering dominion in the form of a sea-voyage, travelling along the historic Venetian trade routes from Venice itself to Greece, Crete and Cyprus. It is a traveller''s book, geographically arranged but wandering at will from the past to the present, evoking not only contemporary landscapes and sensations but also the characters, the emotions and the tumultuous events of the past. The first such work ever written about the Venetian Stato da Mar', it is an invaluable historical companion for visitors to Venice itself and for travellers through the lands the Doges once ruled.

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Book SynopsisFocuses on the journalists and writers who wrote about science for a general audience in the second half of the nineteenth century. This title examines more than thirty of the popularizers of the day, investigating how they communicated with their audience. It offers insights into the role of women in scientific inquiry.Trade Review"The book is a substantial work of scholarship rather than a casual read, and it offers much for historians of science as well as students of popular writing." - Jon Turney, Times Higher Education "Bernard Lightman's excellent Victorian Popularizers of Science combines an unusually comprehensive sweep with strikingly meticulous research. In so doing, it makes a compelling case for the importance of the legions of self-conscious popularizers." - Gowan Dawson, Times Literary Supplement.

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Book SynopsisChronicling the development of scientific ideas, practices, and institutions from pre-Socratic Greek philosophy to late-medieval scholasticism, this title surveys the themes in the history of science, including developments in cosmology, astronomy, mechanics, optics, alchemy, natural history, and medicine.Trade Review"As entertaining and educational as that organized by the best tour operator." - Charles Burnett, New York Times Book Review "Solidly based on a competent knowledge of a huge variety of primary sources and secondary studies, engagingly written, and well produced, it provides us for the first time with an authoritative account of Western science from its beginnings to the height of medieval scientific achievement." - Richard C. Dales, American Historical Review"

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Book SynopsisA fine treatment of this critical time in geology's history. Although it goes against our standard histories of the field, Laudan defends her views convincingly. Her style is direct, with carefully reasoned personal opinions and interpretations clearly defined. Jere H. Lipps, The Scientist

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Book SynopsisHow did Europeans three centuries apart respond to two mysterious beastsa living rhinoceros previously known only from ancient texts and a nameless monster's massive bones? Juan Pimentel shows that their reactions reflect deep cultural changes but also the enduring power of image and imagination to shape our understanding of the natural world.Trade ReviewSophisticated and provocative, this is an outstanding study of the possible ways of interpreting unknown beings through an examination of their multifaceted and presumed pasts, shedding light on the changing understanding of scientific forms over 300 years. -- Stéphane Van Damme, European University InstituteIn a series of brilliantly illuminating juxtapositions, between Renaissance and Revolution, between the worlds of the East and West Indies, and, above all, between the enterprises of analysis and description, Pimentel’s astute book shows how the work of imagination and of ingenious imagery has long played a decisive if neglected role in making natural knowledge. -- Simon Schaffer, University of CambridgePimentel’s inspired pairing limns how image and imagination shape our understanding of nature. -- Barbara Kiser * Nature *[A] fascinating book…Pimentel rather brilliantly describes his book as a ‘historical essay with a tentative and slightly provocative character’ (for which praise must be shared with Peter Mason, for his excellent translation). And if that isn’t a wonderfully tempting hook for the reader, then what is? The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium is part detective story reconstructing the scientific process, and part historical study of how people reacted to the hitherto unknown and unusual. The parallels drawn by Pimentel are beautifully constructed and drip from the page like honey: a section describing the sea voyages of the fossils mirroring the political and intellectual shifts of the periods is especially effective…He has adeptly and eloquently brought back to life not only these two much-marvelled-at beasts but the minds of the people who sought to explain them and the worlds in which they lived. -- Simon Underdown * Times Higher Education *A dazzlingly strange and resolutely readable dual biography…The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium becomes as much an interrogation of history and science as it is a chronicle of these two animals’ stories. -- Colin Dickey * Los Angeles Review of Books *Pimentel is an agile and amiable companion through his rich materials…Each half of Juan Pimentel’s fantastic binomial rewards reading in its own right. -- Lorraine Daston * Times Literary Supplement *For the student of history, this will be a valuable contribution. -- J. E. Grinnell * Choice *One of the strengths of [Pimentel’s] book is the attention it gives to the relationship between imagination and images—pictures of things seen and then made available to those who have not seen. -- Steven Shapin * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisA Sunday Times ''Must Read'' book.Described by the Sunday Times as a gently studious Bill Bryson crossed with an upbeat and relaxed WG Sebald, Tide is a superb book... a delight to read. It is profound and powerful, and should win prizes.From Cnut to D-Day, the history and science of the unceasing tide is explored for the first time.Half of the world''s population lives in coastal regions lapped by tidal waters. Yet how little most of us know about the tide - a key force on our planet that has altered the course of history and will transform our future.Our ability to predict and understand the tide depends on centuries of science, from the observations of Aristotle and the theories of Newton to today''s supercomputer calculations. This story is punctuated here by notable tidal episodes in history, from Caesar''s thwarted invasion of Britain to the catastrophic flooding of Venice, and interwoven with a rich folklore that continues to inspire art and literature today.With Aldersey-Williams as our guide to the most feared and celebrated tidal features on the planet, from the original maelstrøm in Scandinavia to the world''s highest tides in Nova Scotia to the crumbling coast of East Anglia, the importance of the tide, and the way it has shaped - and will continue to shape - our civilization, becomes startlingly clear.Trade ReviewA spring tide of colour and historical anecdote laps over the more austere mudflats of the actual science. So much so that I find myself looking forward to the next piece of technical exposition -- Tom Whipple * The Times *Imagine, if possible, a gently studious Bill Bryson crossed with an upbeat and relaxed WG Sebald. It is a superb book... a delight to read. It is profound and powerful, and should win prizes. -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *This fascinating book deftly explores the dramatic history, critical importance, and scientific wonder of the tides. Hugh Aldersey-Williams is a marvelous guide who takes the reader on a sweeping and thought-provoking adventure into the heart of one of the most captivating, mysterious, and elemental forces of nature -- Eric Jay Dolin, author of Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American LighthousePrepare for a voyage with the best of companions - Hugh Aldersey-Williams is a storyteller supreme, and he's found a subject worthy of his talents -- Edward Dolnick, author of The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern WorldScience writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful -- Matt Ridley on 'Periodic Tales'Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in surprise -- Richard Cohen on 'Periodic Tales' * Sunday Times *Aldersey-Williams is full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well -- Graham Farmelo on 'Periodic Tales' * Sunday Telegraph *Engaging and thoughtful... Like some of the most compelling biographers, Aldersey-Williams partly inhabits his subject * Literary Review on The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century *Exposes new facts and ideas every other page -- Horatio Clare * Observer *Aldersey-Williams's corrective meshes a history of the science with tide-related technologies and tidally sculpted events. It's an eloquent ebb and flow * Nature *

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Book SynopsisJohn William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh (18421919), was an English physicist best known as the co-discoverer of the element argon. These highly influential volumes, first published between 1877 and 1878, contain Rayleigh's classic account of acoustics, which provided the foundations of modern acoustic theory.Table of Contents11. Aerial vibrations; 12. Vibrations in tubes; 13. Aerial vibrations in a rectangular chamber; 14. Arbitrary initial disturbance in an unlimited atmosphere; 15. Secondary waves due to a variation in the medium; 16. Theory of resonators; 17. Applications of Laplace's functions to acoustical problems; 18. Problem of a spherical layer of air; 19. Fluid friction; Appendix.

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Book SynopsisFrom one of the best writers on science, a remarkable portrait of Isaac Newton. The man who changed our understanding of the universe, of science, and of faith.Isaac Newton was the chief architect of the modern world. He answered the ancient philosophical riddles of light and motion; he effectively discovered gravity; he salvaged the terms time', space', motion' and place' from the haze of everyday language, standardized them and married them, each to the other, constructing an edifice that made knowledge a thing of substance: quantative and exact. Creation, Newton demonstrated, unfolds from simple rules, patterns iterated over unlimited distances.What Newton learned remains the essence of what we know. Newton's laws are our laws. When we speak of momentum, of forces and masses, we are seeing the world as Newtonians. When we seek mathematical laws for economic cycles and human behaviour, we stand on Newton's shoulders. Our very deeming the universe as solvable is his legacy.This was thTrade Review'The book has the magic of a wonderful laboratory experiment…A masterpiece of clarity – so difficult to write, so easy to read.' Michael Holroyd 'A fresh and brilliant portrait of his personality and life, the people who mattered to him, the influences which played on him, and the contexts of his achievements.' Oliver Sacks 'After reading Jim Gleick's beautifully written and intimate portrait of Newton, I felt as is I'd spent an evening by the fire with that complex and troubled genius.' Alan Lightman 'It's beautifully paced and very stylishly written: compact, atmospheric, elegant. It offers a brilliant and engaging study in the paradoxes of the scientific imagination' Richard Holmes

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Book SynopsisEntropic Creation is the first English-language book to consider the cultural and religious responses to the second law of thermodynamics, from around 1860 to 1920. According to the second law of thermodynamics, as formulated by the German physicist Rudolf Clausius, the entropy of any closed system will inevitably increase in time, meaning that the system will decay and eventually end in a dead state of equilibrium. Application of the law to the entire universe, first proposed in the 1850s, led to the prediction of a future ''heat death'', where all life has ceased and all organization dissolved. In the late 1860s it was pointed out that, as a consequence of the heat death scenario, the universe can have existed only for a finite period of time. According to the ''entropic creation argument'', thermodynamics warrants the conclusion that the world once begun or was created. It is these two scenarios, allegedly consequences of the science of thermodynamics, which form the core of this boTrade Review’... an exemplary history of ideas, which taxonomizes and critiques a spectrum of arguments about thermodynamics and cosmology, clearly demarcating newer from older ways of thinking. Particularly fascinating is his account of the staying power of the conservative and theological connotations of thermodynamic cosmology into the Cold War, when it became part of Soviet orthodoxy that laboratory physics could not be applied to the infinite universe. The book will interest scholars of science and religion as well as historians of physics.’ British Journal for the History of Science ’Pour découvrir en détail les tenants et les aboutissants de ces débats, rien de tel que le livre érudit, novateur et passionnant d’Helge Kragh. [...] Kragh montre en effet que les liens historiques entre philosophie, religion et science sont complexes. C’est un autre mérite de ce très bon livre.’ Pour la Science ’Je ne peux que recommander ce livre riche, original et passionnant, à toute personne qui s'intéresse à l'histoire de la physique, et en particulier celle de la cosmologie, mais aussi aux philosophes et théologiens qui abordent aujourd'hui le débat 'science-foi'.’ Archives Internationales d'Histoire des SciencesTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Some Early Ideas on Decay and Creation; Chapter 3 Thermodynamics and the Heat Death; Chapter 4 The Entropic Creation Argument; Chapter 5 Concepts of the Universe; Chapter 6 Post-1920 Developments; Chapter 7 Shadows from the Past;

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Book SynopsisThe Dutch physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (18531928) was a leading figure of theoretical physics of his time and won the Nobel Prize in 1902. In this 1895 work, he looks at electromagnetic phenomena (the propagation of light) in relation to moving bodies and optics.Table of ContentsEinleitung; Einige Definitionen und mathematische Bezeichnungen; 1. Die Grundleichungen für ein System in den Aether eingelagerter Ionen; 2. Electrische Erscheinungen in ponderablen Körpern; 3. Untersuchung der Schwingungen; 4. Die Bewegungsgleighungen des Lichtes für ponderable Körper; 5. Anwendung auf die optischen Erscheinungen; 6. Versuche, deren Ergebnisse sich nicht ohne weiteres erklären lassen.

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Book SynopsisIn Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science, Jim al-Khalili celebrates the forgotten pioneers who helped shape our understanding of the world. For over 700 years the international language of science was Arabic. Surveying the golden age of Arabic science, Jim Al-Khalili reintroduces such figures as the Iraqi physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who practised the modern scientific method over half a century before Bacon; al-Khwarizmi, the greatest mathematician of the medieval world; and Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a Persian polymath to rival Leonardo da Vinci. ''Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham''  Independent ''He has brought a great story out of the shadows''   Literary Review ''His command of Arabic and mathemaTrade ReviewBrings alive the bubbling invention and delighted curiosity of the Islamic world ... his command of Arabic mathematical physics invests his story with sympathy as well as authority -- Tim Radford * Guardian *A fascinating and user-friendly guide to this whole scientific movement -- Noel Malcolm * Seven, Sunday Telegraph *Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham. To think otherwise, as this book so powerfully reveals, is to do disservice to the tradition to which they belong -- Kenan Malik * Independent *Spry, informative and timely ... Al-Khalili takes the reader through a brisk survey of the highlights of the period -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *A fascinating introduction to a neglected area. His approachable style and ability to distil extensive knowledge into simple narrative makes Pathfinders an absorbing read -- Siobhan Murphy * Metro *Enjoyable and informative ... provides ample evidence for the compatibility of Islam and science -- Sameer Rahim * Daily Telegraph *He has brought a great story out of the shadows * Literary Review *This captivating book is a timely reminder of the debt owed by the West to the intellectual achievements of Arab, Persian and Muslim scholars * The Times *

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Book SynopsisStandardization is one of the defining aspects of modern life, its presence so pervasive that it is usually taken for granted. However cumbersome, onerous, or simply puzzling certain standards may be, their fundamental purpose in streamlining...Trade Review"Standards and Their Stories is an important, well-written, and extraordinarily provocative examination of a part of the world usually hidden from any sort of public view. The authors show how much of what we take for granted is the result of negotiation, compromise, and occasionally coercion. They do so by inventing a suite of new and innovative research methods. As a result, this book is likely to become not only 'the standard' for studies of this sort but also the starting point for new ways of investigating sociotechnical processes."—Lawrence Busch, Michigan State University"I sat down to read the book, read the first page, and paused while my face broke into a smile and a comfortable warm feeling came over my body. Yup, this was going to be a great book. Further reading confirmed the impression. Standards rule our lives. Yeah, standards, that dull, frustrating, topic studied by 'The Society of People Interested in Boring Things.' But this book proves that far from being dull, the stories behind standards are interesting, insightful, and revealing of the workings of bureaucracy. Standards are essential for different stuff made by different companies in different countries to work well together. Whether it is bananas or chocolate, application forms for terrorist training, or the sizes of people's rear ends (critical for airline seats), standards are essential part of life today (all these are covered in the book). This engaging book serves several purposes. It explains much of the history, rationale, and politics of standards. It shows why they have huge social impact, far beyond what most of us realize, often far beyond what was intended. And best of all, it is fun to read."—Don Norman, Northwestern University, author of The Design of Future Things

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