Popular science Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewScales's genuine appreciation and awe for fish are contagious. She continually entices the reader by introducing exciting aspects of fish in each chapter. * Science *A delightful book that provides a welcome invitation to enter the amazing world of fish. * New Scientist *An engaging and informative bouillabaisse. * The Economist *A sprawling, ambitious underwater journey studded with fascinating tidbits. * New York Times Book Review *This aquarium of a book is an eloquent reminder of how remarkable [fish] are. * Natural History *Enthralling and thought-provoking * Countryman *Helen Scales invites us to dive below the waterline as she reveals the hidden but glorious lives of fish going about their rather fascinating business. * Coast *Eye of the Shoal is a book brimming with wonders. Shimmering colours, otherworldly abilities, and compelling dramas flood every page, as the masterful Helen Scales brings us eye-to-eye with the world of fishes – creatures who are at once thrillingly strange and startlingly ubiquitous. Whether you snorkel or scuba, whether you meet fish in a tank or on TV, this book is new portal to see our blue planet with new eyes, one that will make you love our world and its creatures all the more. -- Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an OctopusEye of the Shoal is like a beautiful glass bottomed boat that reveals this mysterious realm with joyful passion and perfect clarity. You couldn't have a more knowledgable guide on board than Helen. -- Dallas Campbell, science broadcaster and authorEye of the Shoal is an absorbing account of the least understood area of our planet. Helen brings the depths to life, not only with wondrous accounts from her extensive travels, but also by introducing us to some magnificently improbable characters (both human and piscine), and by astonishing us with mind-blowing facts on every page. -- James Harkin, QI's Head Elf and presenter on the award-winning podcast 'No Such Thing as a Fish'This fantastic and timely book will change your perspective on your pet goldfish, a fishmonger's window display, a darting flash of silver glimpsed from a boat and the colourful world of a coral reef. A must-read for anyone interested in life on Earth. -- Helen Czerski, physicist, oceanographer and author of Storm in a TeacupIf you already love fish wherever they swim, you'll be astonished by so many new discoveries in these pages. If you don't love fish – you surely will.' -- Carl Safina, author of The View From Lazy Point, and Beyond Words: What Animals Think and FeelTable of ContentsPrologue: The wandering ichthyologist Chapter 1: Ichthyo-curiosities Sedna the sea goddess Chapter 2: A view from the deep - introducing the fish How the flounder lost its smile Chapter 3: Outrageous acts of colour The salmon of knowledge Chapter 4: Illuminations O-namazu Chapter 5: Anatomy of a shoal Osiris and the elephantfish Chapter 6: Fish food Vatnagedda Chapter 7: Toxic fish Chipfalamfula Chapter 8: How fish used to be The Doctor of the sea Chapter 9: Fish symphonies The fish and the golden shoe Chapter 10: (Re)thinking fish Epilogue Appendix: Illustration species list Glossary Select bibliography and notes Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisFrom Galileo to today’s amateur astronomers, scientists have been rebels, writes Freeman Dyson. Like artists and poets, they are free spirits who resist the restrictions their cultures impose on them. In their pursuit of nature’s truths, they are guided as much by imagination as by reason, and their greatest theories have the uniqueness and beauty of great works of art.Dyson argues that the best way to understand science is by understanding those who practice it. He tells stories of scientists at work, ranging from Isaac Newton’s absorption in physics, alchemy, theology, and politics, to Ernest Rutherford’s discovery of the structure of the atom, to Albert Einstein’s stubborn hostility to the idea of black holes. His descriptions of brilliant physicists like Edward Teller and Richard Feynman are enlivened by his own reminiscences of them. He looks with a skeptical eye at fashionable scientific fads and fantasies, and speculates on the future of climate prediction, genetic engineering, the colonization of space, and the possibility that paranormal phenomena may exist yet not be scientifically verifiable.Dyson also looks beyond particular scientific questions to reflect on broader philosophical issues, such as the limits of reductionism, the morality of strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, the preservation of the environment, and the relationship between science and religion. These essays, by a distinguished physicist who is also a prolific writer, offer informed insights into the history of science and fresh perspectives on contentious current debates about science, ethics, and faith.

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Book SynopsisAn engaging and original history of the first hundred years of DNA, one of the greatest triumphs of modern science.

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Book Synopsis''I cannot recommend this book enough'' Dr Rupy Aujla''Your diet affects your body but it also affects your brain.Brain Food uses cutting-edge research to highlight the connection between nutrition and our brain''s health, busting through pseudoscience and demonstrating how we can all change our diet most effectively. Based partly on her own discoveries, and using emerging science, for example on the connection between the brain and the gut, Dr Lisa Mosconi, an expert in both neuroscience and nutrition, reveals the foods and drinks that can prevent dementia, stress, cognitive decline and memory loss - no matter how old we are.Innovative and timely, and with accompanying brain-boosting recipes and lists of what to eat and what to avoid, Brain Food provides the ultimate plan for maximizing our brain power.Reveals the foods that will keep your brain in tip-top shape AND prevent dementia''Daily Mail''A criTrade ReviewBrain Food is a critically important book. Food is medicine or it is poison. The brain uses 20-30% of the calories you consume. If you want to keep and save your brain you have to get your food right. Brain Food will help you do just that in a delicious, easy way. -- Daniel G. Amen, MD, Founder, Amen Clinics and author of Memory RescueIf we knew what our brains looked like, we'd take better care of them. Often surprising, always accessible, this fascinating book not only reveals the science behind neuro-nutrition, it shows us what we could be eating for maximum brain power. -- Sara Gottfried MD, New York Times bestselling author of Younger, The Hormone Reset Diet, and The Hormone CureThis is one of the most exciting reads on brain health that I have ever come across. As well as the fascinating and relatable science, Dr Mosconi has expertly complemented the wealth information with delicious recipes influenced by her work and emerging research into gut health. A doctor after my own heart! I cannot recommend this book enough and it gives yet further evidence about the true power of nutrition on our health. -- Rupy Aujla, author of The Doctor’s KitchenNatural food, rooted in the Mediterranean style and gut-friendly, is the miracle pill we have the opportunity to ingest 3 x a day for a healthy brain and body. Dr Lisa Mosconi explains the science and how to reap the benefits of foods in all their complexities and synergies eaten with pleasure at each meal. -- Jeannette Hyde, Author of The Gut MakeoverCan a Mediterranean diet help avert Alzheimer's? Mosconi's persuasive account of the surprising connection between food and brain health sparkles with well-researched nutritional evidence. Brain Food offers culinary wisdom and reasons for hope in equal measure. -- Richard Wrangham, PhD, Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and author of Catching FireOver the years, I have learned so much from the work of Dr. Mosconi, whose accomplished credentials spanning both neuroscience and nutrition are wholly unique. This book represents the first time her studies on the interaction between food and long-term cognitive function reach a general audience. Dr. Mosconi always makes the point that we would eat differently and treat our brains better if only we could see what we are doing to them. From the lab to the kitchen, this is extremely valuable and urgent advice, complete with recommendations that any one of us can take. -- Dr. Richard S. Isaacson, MD, author of The Alzheimer's Prevention and Treatment Diet, and Alzheimer's Treatment Alzheimer's Prevention: A Patient & Family GuideScientists know that diet plays a huge role in brain health - and now Brain Food distils this research into a practical guide. Dr. Mosconi provides accessible advice and lots of options for fuelling your brain and ageing well. This is an empowering resource for anyone who wants to take their brain health into their own hands (and spoons, and forks). -- Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author of The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Johnny Ball tells one of the most important stories in world history the story of mathematics. By introducing us to the major characters and leading us through many historical twists and turns, Johnny slowly unravels the tale of how humanity built up a knowledge and understanding of shapes, numbers and patterns from ancient times, a story that leads directly to the technological wonderland we live in today. As Galileo said, Everything in the universe is written in the language of mathematics', and Wonders Beyond Numbers is your guide to this language. Mathematics is only one part of this rich and varied tale; we meet many fascinating personalities along the way, such as a mathematician who everyone has heard of but who may not have existed; a Greek philosopher who made so many mistakes that many wanted his books destroyed; a mathematical artist who built the largest masonry dome on earth, which builders had previously declared impossible; a world-renowned pTrade ReviewThe great strength of this book is probably its wide coverage of practical applications of mathematics, especially in engineering and architecture. * The Mathematical Gazette *Johnny Ball's trademark enthusiasm for mathematics bubbles off every page. Clear, simple, readable, and informative – just as I expected. It's a winner! -- Ian Stewart, author of Significant FiguresI became an instant Johnny Ball fan when his TV series Think of a Number first aired in the UK, and I saw how he engaged and delighted my two young daughters in a way I, their maths professor dad, could not. With this new book, his passion for, and sheer enjoyment of, mathematics will surely entice yet more generations to the subject we both love. -- Keith Devlin, Stanford University mathematician, award-winning author and the 'Math Guy' on America's radio.I always found maths intriguing and baffling in equal measure - and the latter triumphed. If only I'd had Wonders Beyond Numbers when growing up. But I now have it and it is a re-awaking into a world of delight and wonder. It is a wonderful book. -- Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of BuckinghamTable of ContentsPreface: Mathematics means everything to me... Wow Factor Mathematical Index Explained Introduction: Russian Sums in an English Pub, Circa 1946 Chapter 1: The Most Ancient Mathematical Legend Chapter 2: The First Two Great Mathematicians Chapter 3: The Great Age of Grecian Geeks Chapter 4: Archimedes – the Greatest Greek of Them All Chapter 5: The Glory That Was Alexandria Chapter 6: Total Eclipse of the Greeks Chapter 7: Maths Origins, Far and Wide Chapter 8: Mathematics Was Never a Religion Chapter 9: Discovering the Unknown World Chapter 10: The Huge Awakening and a New Age of Learning Chapter 11: The New Age of Mathematical Discovery Chapter 12: How to Calculate Anything and Everything Chapter 13: A Mathematician With Gravitas Chapter 14: The Simple Mathematics That Underpins Science Chapter 15: The Many Tentacles of Mathematics Wow Factor Mathematical Index Bibliography Image credits Index

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Book Synopsis‘Fascinating’ – Brian Cox, Mail on Sunday Books of the Year Where are we? Who are we? Do our beliefs, hopes and dreams hold any significance out there in the void? Can human purpose and meaning ever fit into a scientific worldview? Award-winning author Sean Carroll brings his extraordinary intellect to bear on the realms of knowledge, the laws of nature and the most profound questions about life, death and our place in it all. From Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness and the universe itself, Carroll combines cosmos-sprawling science and profound thought in a quest to explain our world. Destined to sit alongside the works of our greatest thinkers, The Big Picture demonstrates that while our lives may be forever dwarfed by the immensity of the universe, they can be redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning.Trade Review‘It’s very much in the tradition of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, which is one of my all-time favourite science books. Books like that are not only about science, they put science in the wider context of our society…they explain and present not only the things we’ve learned about a relatively esoteric subject, but link those discoveries to our experience. Learning about nature teaches us about ourselves and how we should behave. I think that the best science books make that connection.’ -- Professor Brian Cox, ‘science writers on the books that inspired them’, Guardian‘An extraordinarily ambitious synthesis of science and philosophy…The Big Picture impresses. Carroll is a lively and sympathetic author who writes as well about biology and philosophy as he does about his own field of physics.’ * Clive Cookson, Financial Times *‘Bold...rich in detail and absorbing.’ * Tim Radford, Guardian *‘Sean Carroll’s lucid The Big Picture reveals how the universe works and our place in it. Carroll, a philosophically sophisticated physicist, discusses consciousness without gimmicks, and deftly shows how current physics is so solid that it rules out ESP for ever.’ * Observer *‘A humane and compelling story for our increasingly secular age.’ * Manjit Kumar, Literary Review *‘A highly enjoyable and lucid tour through a wide range of topics…even if you don’t agree with what [Carroll] says, you are unlikely to be enraged by such an urbane and engaging lecturer; more likely, you will be enthralled.’ * Wall Street Journal *‘Language, philosophy, quantum mechanics, general relativity – they’re all in The Big Picture. Sean Carroll is a fantastically erudite and entertaining writer.’ -- Elizabeth Kolbert, author of New York Times bestseller The Sixth Extinction‘Weaving the threads of astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy into a seamless narrative tapestry, Sean Carroll enthralls us with what we’ve figured out in the universe and humbles us with what we don’t yet understand. Yet in the end, it’s the meaning of it all that feeds your soul of curiosity.’ -- Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey‘Carroll beautifully articulates the world view suggested by contemporary naturalism. Thorny issues like free will, the direction of time, and the source of morality are clarified with elegance and insight... This is a book that should be read by everybody.’ -- Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics‘A tour de force that offers a comprehensive snapshot of the human situation in our infinitely strange universe, and it does this with highly accessible language and engaging storytelling.’ * Salon.com *‘Carroll’s new book reveals how physicists’ quest to better understand the fundamental laws of nature has led to astonishing insights into life, the universe, and everything.’ -- Sabine Hossenfelder, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies‘[Carroll] sets out to show how various phenomena, including thought, choice, consciousness, and value, hang together with the scientific account of reality that has been developed in physics in the past 100 years. He attempts to do all this without relying on specialized jargon from philosophy and physics and succeeds spectacularly in achieving both aims.’ * Science *‘From the Big Bang to the meaning of human existence, The Big Picture is exactly that – a magisterial, yet deeply fascinating, grand tour through the issues that really matter. Blending science and philosophy, Sean Carroll gives us a humane perspective on the universe and our place in it. As gripping as it is important, The Big Picture can change the way you think about the world.’ -- Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish‘Instead of feeling humbled and insignificant when gazing upward on a clear starry night, Carroll takes us by the hand and shows us how fantastic the inanimate physical Universe is and how special each animate human can be. It is lucid, spirited, and penetrating.’ -- Michael Gazzaniga, author of Who's in Charge? and Tales from Both Sides of the Brain‘In this timely exploration of the universe and its mysteries – both physical and metaphysical – Sean Carroll illuminates the world around us with clarity, beauty and, ultimately, with much needed wisdom.’ -- Deborah Blum, director, Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook‘A nuanced inquiry into ‘how our desire to matter fits in with the nature of reality at its deepest levels,’ in which Carroll offers an assuring dose of what he calls "existential therapy" reconciling the various and often seemingly contradictory dimensions of our experience.’ -- Maria Popova, Brain Pickings‘Sean Carroll is a leading theoretical cosmologist with the added ability to write about his subject with unusual clarity, flare, and wit.’ -- Alan Lightman, author of The Accidental Universe and Einstein’s Dreams‘Carroll is the perfect guide to this wondrous journey of discovery. A brilliantly lucid exposition of profound philosophical and scientific issues...’ * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *

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Book Synopsis'Kindness and co-operation have played a crucial role in raising humans to the top of the evolutionary tree ... We have thrived on the milk of human kindness.' Observer BY THE AUTHOR OF ARE WE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE? 'There is a widely-held assumption that humans are hard-wired for relentless and ruthless competition ... Frans de Waal sees nature differently - as a biological legacy in which empathy, not mere self-interest, is shared by humans, bonobos and animals.' Ben Macintyre, The Times Empathy holds us together. That we are hardwired to be altruistic is the result of thousands of years of evolutionary biology which has kept society from slipping into anarchy. But we are not alone: primates, elephants, even rodents are empathetic creatures too. Social behaviours such as the herding instinct, bonding rituals, expressions of consolation and even conflict resolution demonstrate that animals are designed to feel for each other. From chimpanzees caring for mates that have been wounded by leopards, elephants reassuring youngsters in distress and dolphins preventing sick companions from drowning, with a wealth of anecdotes, scientific observations, wry humour and incisive intelligence, The Age of Empathy is essential reading for all who believe in the power of our connections to each other.Trade ReviewHis writing and science are infectiously good -- Adam Rutherford * Guardian *There is a widely held assumption that humans are hard-wired for relentless and ruthless competition... Frans de Waal sees nature differently - as a biological legacy in which empathy, not mere self interest, is shared by humans, bonobos and animals -- Ben Macintyre * The Times *A pioneer in primate studies, Frans de Waal sees our better side in chimps, especially our capacity for empathy * Wall Street Journal *Freshly topical ... a corrective to the idea that all animals - human and otherwise - are selfish and unfeeling to the core * Economist *Warm, engaging and empathetic ... the more we learn about nature, the more richly we're able to imagine a better society * Independent *

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Book SynopsisThe full story of how our relationship with light shapes our health, productivity and mood. 'A sparkling and illuminating study, one of those rare books that could genuinely improve your life' Sunday Times 'Life changing' Daily Mail 'Fascinating and readable ... Geddes's lovely book will fill you with longing!' The Times Since the dawn of time, humans have worshipped the sun. And with good reason. Our biology is set up to work in partnership with it. From our sleep cycles to our immune systems and our mental health, access to sunlight is crucial for living a happy and fulfilling life. New research suggests that our sun exposure over a lifetime - even before we were born - may shape our risk of developing a range of different illnesses, from depression to diabetes. Bursting with cutting-edge science and eye-opening advice, Chasing the Sun explores the extraordinary significance of sunlight, from ancient solstice celebrations to modern sleep labs, and from the unexpected health benefits of sun exposure to what the Amish know about sleep that the rest of us don't. As more of us move into light-polluted cities, spending our days in dim offices and our evenings watching brightly lit screens, we are in danger of losing something vital: our connection to the star that gave us life. It's a loss that could have far-reaching consequences that we're only just beginning to grasp.Trade ReviewLife-changing * Daily Mail *Readable and frequently fascinating ... Geddes's lovely book will fill you with longing for bright summer days, blue skies and a baking hot sun dispensing vitamin D and happiness to all who bask in its glow. Roll on, summer! -- James Marriott * The Times *A fascinating and deeply researched study into the surprising importance of sunlight for our health and wellbeing. Geddes will convince even the most committed sofa sloths to step outside into the sun. -- Gaia VinceWhat a BRILLIANT book! The antidote to anecdote, a great survey of current evidence. Just what the midwife ordered! -- Professor Alice RobertsThis sparkling study explains how sunlight is vital to our physical and mental health: a book that could genuinely improve your life. * Sunday Times *Illuminating -- Sam Kean * The Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZEWhat the judges said: 'Every man and woman should read this book on gender bias ... an important, yet wickedly witty, book.' 'Fine's entertaining and thoughtful book is a valuable addition to the discussion about gender.' Ian Critchley, Sunday Times 'In addition to being hopeful, Fine is also angry. We should all be angry. Testosterone Rex is a debunking rumble that ought to inspire a roar.' Guardian'A densely packed, spirited book, with an unusual combination of academic rigour and readability ... The expression "essential reading for everyone" is usually untrue as well as a cliché, but if there were a book deserving of that description this might just be it.' Antonia Macaro, Financial TimesTestosterone Rex is the powerful myth that squashes hopes of sex equality by telling us that men and women have evolved different natures. Fixed in an ancestral past that rewarded competitive men and caring women, these differences are supposedly re-created in each generation by sex hormones and male and female brains.Testosterone, so we're told, is the very essence of masculinity, and biological sex is a fundamental force in our development. Not so, says psychologist Cordelia Fine, who shows, with wit and panache, that sex doesn't create male and female natures. Instead, sex, hormones, culture and evolution work together in ways that make past and present gender dynamics only a serving suggestion for the future - not a recipe.Testosterone Rex brings together evolutionary science, psychology, neuroscience and social history to move beyond old 'nature versus nurture' debates, and to explain why it's time to unmake the tyrannical myth of Testosterone Rex.For fans of Fine - whose Delusions of Gender 'could have far-reaching consequences as significant as The Female Eunuch' (Viv Groskop, Guardian) - and thousands of new readers, this is an upbeat, timely and important contribution to the debate about gender in society.Trade ReviewEvery man and woman should read this book on gender bias. Testosterone Rex is an important, yet wickedly witty, book about the 21st century which touches on the current debates around identity and turns everything on its head. Pressingly contemporary, it's the ideal companion read to sit alongside The Handmaid's Tale and The Power. -- Judges, 2017 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book PrizeFine's gift for rendering complex neurological concepts comprehensible is one of the many reasons why her book is so brilliant. She writes like a dream, not just by the lifelessly humble standards of most scientific prose, but by any literary measure, and her book sparkles with pithy wit. -- Decca Aitkenhead, GuardianIf you've ever thought that men are from Mars and women arefrom Venus, or that men don't listen and women can't read maps, this book isfor you. The expression "essential reading for everyone" is usually untrue aswell as a cliché, but if there were a book deserving of that description thismight just be it. -- Antonia Macaro, Financial TimesA cracking critique of the "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" hypothesis, Cordelia Fine takes to pieces much of the science on which "fundamental" gender differences are predicated. Graced with precisely focused humour, the author makes a good case that men and women are far more alike than many would claim. Feminist? Possibly. Humanist? Certainly. A compellingly good read. -- Professor Richard ForteyFine leavens the hard science with personal anecdote, and her entertaining and thoughtful book is a valuable addition to the discussion about gender. -- Ian Critchley, The Sunday TimesTestosterone Rex is packed with convincing evidence and astonishing facts, all of which seem so important that everybody should be made to read all of it immediately, or at least before typing another word on Twitter about political correctness gone mad. -- Katy Guest, The PoolFine dissects as she goes, bringing a probing intelligence not only to what we believe about gender, and why it's often wrong, but also to the history of how we came to think it was so ... Beliefs about men and women are as old as humanity itself, but Fine's funny, spiky book gives reason to hope that we've heard Testosterone Rex's last roar. -- Annie Murphy Paul, New York Times Book ReviewTestosterone Rex is one of those rare books that manages to effortlessly mix science, social commentary and a call to arms. It is witty, robust and angry but provides a new take - and new evidence - that helps us answer the age old question of where women stand in the world. -- Kit de WaalTestosterone Rex is a debunking rumble that ought to inspire a roar. -- Sarah Ditum * The Guardian *Fine does it again. The mistress of "I think you'll find it's more complicated than that" delivers a brilliant and witty riposte to the "boys will be boys" bores. Fascinating. -- Caroline Criado-PerezA fascinating, greatly contemplative discussion of sex and gender and the embedded societal expectations of both. -- Kirkus ReviewsIt is extraordinary how so much is attributed to such a minute quantity of hormone. Cordelia Fine combines formidable intellect, forensic analysis and devastating wit to expose those myths of sex, gender and human behaviour that might just reflect testosterone-fuelled, wishful thinking. This engaging, accessible and hopefully influential book doesn't disappoint, and makes crucial reading for those with an interest, from any perspective, in human behaviour. -- Professor Mark Elgar * School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne *The delusion that there are distinct and unique male and female natures, put in place by an unholy alliance of genes, hormones and neurones, remains alive and well. Cordelia Fine dismantles this myth with style, wit and scientific precision. This combination of scientific responsibility and general accessibility is desperately needed if we are to escape the serious social damage caused by such widely disseminated pseudoscience. -- Professor John Dupré * Director, Egenis, Centre for the Study of Life Sciences, University of Exeter *Goodbye beliefs in sex differences disguised as evolutionary facts. Welcome the dragon slayer: Cordelia Fine wittily but meticulously lays bare the irrational arguments that we use to justify gender politics. -- Professor Uta Frith * Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development, University College, London *This is an important, well researched book that presents biological, psychological and social science research to explain why men and women are far less different than many would have you believe. If that sounds dry, it ain't. Fine lives up to her name - she is an extremely talented writer. -- Professor Michael Jennions * Evolutionary Ecology, Australian National University *Cordelia Fine has done it again: she debunked the idea of a female brain in Delusions of Gender and has now slain Testosterone Rex. This is obligatory reading for anyone interested in gender equality at work or home - your views on sex differences will never be the same. -- Catherine Fox * journalist and author of Seven Myths About Women at Work *This book is brilliant * New Scientist *Ms Fine's is a provocative and often fascinating book. * The Economist *Fine knocks it out of the park with her smart and eye-opening Testosterone Rex ... After reading it, my new resolution is to never say "Boys will be boys" again. Because while boys are, of course, boys, we owe it to them-and to girls-to understand that they are not defined by this single hormone. -- Adrian Laing, The Amazon Book Review EditorFilled with interesting facts, studies and arguments, it's an impressive work, sure to be useful when faced with gender essentialists who argue that asking for progressive change such as fair representation, or less sexist adverts, is a futile fight against nature. -- Let Toys Be ToysTestosterone Rex is an important book. It helps us think about the kind of society we expect to see or hope to build. It questions whether we have to accept existing gendered norms about male and female behaviour. -- Sian Norris, Open DemocracyWatching Fine take these gendered claims painstakingly, methodically, devastatingly to pieces should rank among the great works of art that humanity has ever produced. Buy a box set of this and Delusions of Gender. Buy twelve. Distribute them to your loved ones. Absolutely everyone in the world should read it. You'll thank me later. -- Reading the EndEndless books claim that the brains of men and women are wired differently. They set out to convince us that women are somehow biologically suited to getting the creases out of clothes while men peruse maps. This brilliant book proves our attitudes to men and women are cultural, not natural. Fine makes the neuroscience clear and provides a wealth of ammunition to debunk the myth that sex inequality is just something we're born with. * The Observer *

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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 SynopsisOn 14 September 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were detected for the first time and astronomy changed for ever.Until then, investigation of the universe had depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible light, radio, X-rays and the rest. But gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of space and time - are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop light dead.At the two 4-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In 2015 they spotted the ripples produced by two black holes spiralling into each other, setting spacetime quivering.This was the first time black holes had ever been directly detected - and it promises far more for the future of astronomy. Brian Clegg presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a new, powerful path to understand the workings of the universe.

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Book Synopsis'I loved it. She is in my view the best science writer around - a true descendant of Oliver Sacks' Sathnam Sanghera, author of The Boy with the TopknotThe brain is the most complex structure in the universe. In Brainstorm the Wellcome Prize-winning author of It’s All in Your Head uncovers the most eye-opening symptoms medicine has to offer.‘Powerfully life-affirming... Brainstorm is testament to O'Sullivan's unshowy clarity of thought and her continued marvelling at the mysteries of the brain’ GuardianBrainstorm examines the stories of people whose symptoms are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a teenager who one day arrives home with inexplicably torn clothes; a girl whose world turns all Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving. The brain is the most complex structure in the universe, and neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues – it’s the ultimate in medical detective work. In this riveting book, one of the UK’s leading neurologists takes you with her as she follows the trail of her patients’ symptoms: feelings of déjà vu lead us to a damaged hippocampus; spitting and fidgeting to the right temporal lobe; fear of movement to a brain tumour; a missed heart beat to the limbic system.It’s a journey that will open your eyes to the unfathomable intricacies of the brain, and the infinite variety of human capacity and experience.Trade ReviewPowerfully life-affirming... Brainstorm is testament to O'Sullivan's unshowy clarity of thought and her continued marvelling at the mysteries of the brain -- Colin Grant * Guardian *A fascinating attempt to draw the lay reader into understanding more about the function and malfunction of the brain by using real-life stories... O'Sullivan is a good, clear writer, lacks pomposity and avoids cliché -- her first book, It's All in Your Head, won the Wellcome Prize -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *O'Sullivan writes beautifully and is full of wonder... a pleasure -- John Preston * Mail on Sunday *A tremendously interesting work of medical humanity... The main effect of this fascinating collection of clinical stories, by the end, is to make any reader without brain dysfunction exceedingly grateful for the fragile miracle going in inside their own skull every second -- Steven Poole * Daily Telegraph *I loved it. She is in my view the best science writer around - a true descendant of Oliver Sacks * Sathnam Sanghera, author of The Boy with the Topknot *

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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 SynopsisThe third volume in Leonard Susskind's one-of-a-kind physics series cracks open Einstein's special relativity and field theory In the first two books in his wildly popular The Theoretical Minimum series, world-class physicist Leonard Susskind provided a brilliant first course in classical and quantum mechanics, offering readers not an oversimplified introduction, but the real thing - everything you need to start doing physics, and nothing more. Now, thankfully, Susskind and his former student Art Friedman are back, this time to introduce readers to special relativity and classical field theory. At last, waves, forces and particles will be demystified. Using their typical brand of relatively simple maths, enlightening sketches and the same fictional counterparts, Art and Lenny, Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory takes us on an enlightening journey through a world now governed by the laws of special relativity. Starting in their new watering hole,Trade ReviewWitty and insightful ... I found it thrilling -- Robert P. Crease * Nature *This is quantum mechanics for real. This is the good stuff, the most mysterious aspects of how reality works, set out with crystalline clarity. If you want to know how physicists really think about the world, this book is the place to start -- Sean Carroll, physicist, California Institute of Technology * author of The Particle at the End of the Universe *

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Book SynopsisUncover one of the most exciting frontiers of modern physics in this fascinating, insightful and accessible overview of Chaos theory.An exceedingly readable introduction to a new intellectual world' ObserverFrom the turbulence of the weather to the complicated rythmns of the human heart, chaos' is at the centre of our day to day lives. Cutting across several scientific disciplines, James Gleick explores and elucidates the science of the unpredicatable with an immensely readable narrative style and flair.An awe-inspiring book. Reading Chaos gave me the sensation that someone had just found the light-switch' Douglas AdamsTrade ReviewFascinating... Almost every paragraph contains a jolt * New York Times *Highly entertaining...a startling look at newly discovered universal laws * Chicago Tribune *

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Book SynopsisHow easy is it to fall off a log? Where is the middle of nowhere? Do we really have no bananas? The readers of OLD GIT magazine are a batty, befuddled, potty-mouthed bunch, who seem to spend a significant chunk of their spare time corresponding with the publication''s popular letters page. DO ANTS HAVE ARSEHOLES? is a very funny, very silly collection of questions and answers taken from this column, none of which has any basis whatsoever in fact. A must for all those who relish a heady mixture of shaggy-dog stories, toilet humour and utter lack of insight.Trade ReviewA very funny spoof of pop-science collections * Telegraph *The finest example of man-friendly Q&A bog books out there * Zoo *Every year, one funny book seems to stand out from all the others. This year, it's Do Ants Have Arseholes?... a rip-roaring parody... * The Spectator *The book being touted as this year's can't-miss, downstairs-loo-fixture of a dead-cert publishing-phenomenon-cum-stocking-filler sensation... * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisFor fans of pop science, How Things Work, How It's Made, maker culture, and visual information, here's an entertaining photo exploration and literal inside look at a fun range of the everyday objects around us.

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Book Synopsis1856. Eighteen-year-old chemistry student William Perkin's experiment has gone horribly wrong. But the deep brown sludge his botched project has produced has an unexpected power: the power to dye everything it touches a brilliant purple. Perkin has discovered mauve, the world's first synthetic dye, bridging a gap between pure chemistry and industry which will change the world forever.From the fetching ribbons tying back the hair of every fashionable head in London to the laboratories in which scientists developed modern vaccines against cancer and malaria, Simon Garfield tells the story of how the colour purple became a sensation.Trade ReviewA book about science which also happens to be a miniature work of art * * Daily Telegraph * *Intriguing and elegant * * Guardian * *Thoroughly researched and beautifully written * * New Scientist * *By bringing Perkin into the open and documenting his life and work, Garfield has done a service to history * * Chicago Tribune * *Simon Garfield's history of the synthetic dye industry mixes chemistry and social history into quite a colourful tale * * Observer * *A one-man Blue Peter team for intelligent adults, a great British explainer * * Observer * *Witty, erudite and entertaining * * Esquire * *Garfield has a talent for being sparked to life by esoteric enthusiasm and charming readers with his delight * * The Times * *A sort of museum between hard covers . . . as good as pop history gets * * Sunday Express * *Simon Garfield has made his name as an author who can spin fascinating narratives out of subjects that seem, on the face of it, narrow to the point of being dull * * Financial Times * *

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Book SynopsisTHE CLASSIC GUIDE, NOW FULLY REVISED AND UPDATEDWhy do we need Statistics?What do terms like ''dispersion'', ''correlation'', ''normal distribution'' and ''significance'' actually mean?How can I learn how to think statistically?This bestselling introduction is for anyone who wants to know how statistics works and the powerful ideas behind it. Teaching through words and diagrams instead of requiring you to do complex calculations, it assumes no expert knowledge and makes the subject accessible even to readers who consider themselves non-mathematical. This clear and informative ''tutorial in print'' includes questions for you to respond to in the light of what you have read so far, ensuring your developing ability to think statistically.

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Book SynopsisThe Cenozoic era began about 70 million years ago and still continues. In British Cenozoic Fossils 354 species from this period are classified and illustrated with accurate line drawings. This new edition has been fully revised and updated, reflecting advances in our undcerstanding of the fossil record over the past years.

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Book Synopsis110 times wider than Earth; 15 million degrees at its core; an atmosphere so huge that Earth is actually within it: come and meet the star of our solar systemLight takes eight minutes to reach Earth from the surface of the Sun. But its journey within the Sun takes hundreds of thousands of years. What is going on in there? What are light and heat? How does the Sun produce them and how on earth did scientists discover this? In this astonishing and enlightening adventure, you''ll travel millions of miles from inside the Sun to its surface and to Earth, where the light at the end of its journey is allowing you to read right now. You''ll discover how the Sun works (including what it sounds like), the latest research in solar physics and how a solar storm could threaten everything we know. And you''ll meet the groundbreaking scientists, including the author, who pieced this extraordinary story together.Trade ReviewThis is a fabulous introduction to our home star, written with an insight and an enthusiasm that makes it very approachable... there's far more to the Sun than you might suspect -- Helen Czerski, author of 'The Storm in a Teacup'Wonderful...makes you simply gaze out of the window pondering for a while. The future of solar science is bright, and Lucie Green an inspiring guide -- Lewis Dartnell * Daily Telegraph *This book takes a fascinating look at a literally brilliant subject... one of the most enjoyable books about science you could hope to find -- Paul Sutherland * Book of the Month - BBC Sky at Night Magazine *Thrilling ... Lucie Green's huge enthusiasm for the Sun is apparent throughout -- Pippa Goldschmidt * Spectator *Green, a solar physicist at University College London, is an engaging and careful companion. She is clearly enamoured of her subject and keen to acknowledge those who have gone before her ... Reading this book confirms what I felt as a student: that truly understanding the Sun is as much about philosophy as it is about physics -- Anjana Ahuja * Financial Times *Green's enthusiasm for her subject is infectious ... [a] fine book -- Marcus Chown * Times Higher Education *The author's passionate enthusiasm for her subject shines through on every page ... an outstanding and eminently readable book which conveys a remarkably comprehensive and wide-ranging account of our nearest star -- Iain Nicholson * Astronomy Now *Professor Green has been studying the sun for 20 years and her passion for her 'favourite star' burns from every page -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisThe Trouble with Physics is a groundbreaking account of the state of modern physics: of how we got from Einstein and Relativity through quantum mechanics to the strange and bizarre predictions of string theory, full of unseen dimensions and multiple universes.Lee Smolin not only provides a brilliant layman''s overview of current research as we attempt to build a ''theory of everything'', but also questions many of the assumptions that lie behind string theory. In doing so, he describes some of the daring, outlandish ideas that will propel research in years to come.

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Book SynopsisSimple and accessible, Science in Seconds is a visually led introduction to 200 key scientific ideas. Each concept is readily absorbed through an easy-to-understand picture and a concise explanation. Concepts span all of the key scientific disciplines including Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, Biotechnology, Anatomy and Physiology, Medicine, Earth Science, Energy Generation, Astronomy, Spaceflight and Information Technology. Incredibly quick - clear artworks and simple explanations that can be easily remembered. Based on scientific research that the brain best absorbs information visually. Compact and portable format - the ideal, handy reference.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Physics. Chemistry. Biology. Ecology. Biotechnology. Anatomy and physiology. Medicine. Earth science. Energy generation. Astronomy. Spaceflight. Information technology. Glossary. Index.

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Book SynopsisYou cannot hide from radioactivity. Even the book you are holding is slightly radioactive, but there are more serious risks. Radioactivity - the breakdown of unstable atomic nuclei, releasing radiation - is a fundamental process in nature. It is a process that has been harnessed to provide wide and important applications in science, medicine, industry, and energy production. But it remains much misunderstood - and feared, perhaps because nuclear radiation cannot be detected by human senses, and can undoubtedly do great harm if appropriate precautions are not taken. In recent times there have been increasing concerns about nuclear terrorism.The traces of radioactive atoms in rocks have allowed us to understand the nature and history of the Earth, in particular to date events in that history. Radioactive dating has been used for a variety of purposes, from determining the age of the first hominids to the dating of the Turin Shroud. The discovery of radioactivity has improved our survival kit, but also gave us the chance to reach a new level of awareness on the history of our species and its environmental impacts. In this Very Short Introduction, Claudio Tuniz explains the nature of radioactivity and discuss its role in nature. Describing radioactivity in the stars and in the Earth, he also looks at its wide range of applications in biomedicine and in science, as well as the mechanisms of nuclear fission and fusion, and the harnessing of nuclear power. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewan enjoyable discussion of the light and dark side of radioactivity. * Times Higher Education Supplement *Table of ContentsPROLOGUE; EPILOGUE; REFERENCES; FURTHER READING

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Book SynopsisArtificial Intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction.Half a century of research has resulted in machines capable of beating the best human chess players, and humanoid robots which are able to walk and interact with us. But how similar is this 'intelligence' to our own? Can machines really think? Is the mind just a complicated computer program? Addressing major issues in the design of intelligent machines, such as consciousness and environment, and covering everything from the influential groundwork of Alan Turing to the cutting-edge robots of today, Introducing Artificial Intelligence is a uniquely accessible illustrated introduction to this fascinating area of science.

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Book SynopsisSeventy years ago, Erwin Schrödinger posed a profound question: ''What is life, and how did it emerge from non-life?'' This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology? What could have led the first replicating molecules up such a path? Now, developments in the emerging field of ''systems chemistry'' are unlocking the problem. Addy Pross shows how the different kind of stability that operates among replicating molecules results in a tendency for chemical systems to become more complex and acquire the properties of life. Strikingly, he demonstrates that Darwinian evolution is the biological expression of a deeper, well-defined chemical concept: the whole story from replicating molecules to complex life is one continuous process governed by an underlying physical principle. The gulf between biology and the physical sciences is finally becoming bridged.This new edition includes an Epilogue describing developments in the concepts of fundamental forms of stability discussed in the book, and their profound implications.Oxford Landmark Science books are ''must-read'' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.Trade ReviewIn this inspiring book, Pross provides an engaging account of the view that systems chemistry can bridge the hitherto unassailable abiogenic/biogenic divide. In a carefully constructed, almost forensic, analysis, he confronts crucial issues, such as the conceptual gulf between the biochemist's chicken and egg problem...and the fundamental role of dynamic kinetic stability in the process of life. * Ben Mepham, The Biologist *Table of ContentsPrologue 1: Living things are so very strange 2: Historic quest for a theory of life 3: Understanding 'understanding' 4: Stability and instability 5: The knotty origin of life problem 6: Biology's crisis of identity 7: Biology is chemistry 8: What is Life? References and Notes Index

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Book Synopsis‘Probably the most readable, exciting and authoritative writer on science we have. A new Lawrence Krauss book always goes to the top of the curious mind’s wish list.’ Stephen Fry 'A great educator as well as a great physicist?' Richard DawkinsIn the beginning there was light but more than this, there was gravity. After that, all hell broke loose... This is how the story of the greatest intellectual adventure in history should be introduced - how humanity reached its current understanding of the universe, one that is far removed from the realm of everyday experience. Krauss connects the world we know with the invisible world all around us, which is removed from intuition and direct sensation. He explains our current understanding of nature and the struggle to construct the greatest theoretical edifice ever assembled, the Standard Model of Particle Physics -- and then to understand its impliTrade Review“I loved the fight scenes and the sex scenes were excellent.” -- Eric Idle'In the span of a century, physics progressed from skepticism that atoms were real to equations so precise we can predict properties of subatomic particles to the tenth decimal place. Lawrence Krauss rightly places this achievement among the greatest of all stories, and his book—at once engaging, poetic and scholarly—tells the story with a scientist’s penetrating insight and a writer’s masterly craft.' -- Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, and Director, Center for Theoretical Physics, Columbia University"Unlike some very clever scientists, Lawrence Krauss is not content to bask on the Mount Olympus of modern physics. A great educator as well as a great physicist, he wants to pull others up the rarefied heights to join him. But unlike some science educators, he doesn’t dumb down. In Einstein’s words, he makes it 'as simple as possible but no simpler.'" -- Richard Dawkins, author of The Magic of Reality“In every debate I’ve done with theologians and religious believers their knock-out final argument always comes in the form of two questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? and Why are we here? The presumption is that if science provides no answers then there must be a God. But God or no, we still want answers. In A Universe From Nothing Lawrence Krauss, one of the biggest thinkers of our time, addressed the first question with verve, and in The Greatest Story Ever Told he tackles the second with elegance. Both volumes should be placed in hotel rooms across America, in the drawer next to the Gideon Bible." -- Michael Shermer, Publisher Skeptic magazine, columnist Scientific American, Presidential Fellow Chapman University, author The Moral Arc."A Homeric tale of science, history, and philosophy revealing how we learned so much about the universe and its tiniest parts." -- Sheldon Glashow, Nobel Laureate, 1979 in physics“The Greatest Story Ever Told—So Far ranges from Galileo to the LHC and beyond. It's accessible, illuminating, and surprising—an ideal guide for anyone interested in understanding our accidental universe.” -- Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction“College students, hippies, squares, Christians, Muslims, democrats, republicans, libertarians, theists, even atheists—all of us—sit around BS-ing like: ‘So, how did all this, I mean everything, all of us, the whole universe, you know, man, everything, how did this all get here?’ While we were doing that, Lawrence Krauss and people like him were doing the work to figure it out. Then Krauss wrote this great book about it. ‘Wow, man, you mean, like we’re getting closer to really knowing? I guess we’ll have to go back to talking about politics and sex.’” -- Penn Jillette, author of Presto!“Discovering the bedrock nature of physical reality ranks as one of humanity’s greatest collective achievements. This book gives a fine account of the main ideas and how they emerged. Krauss is himself close to the field, and can offer insights into the personalities who have led the key advances. A practiced and skilled writer, he succeeds in making the physics ‘as simple as possible but no simpler.’ I don’t know a better book on this subject.” -- Martin Rees, author of Just Six Numbers“It is an exhilarating experience to be led through this fascinating story, from Galileo to the Standard Model and the Higgs boson and beyond, with lucid detail and insight, illuminating vividly not only the achievements themselves but also the joy of creative thought and discovery, enriched with vignettes of the remarkable individuals who paved the way. It amply demonstrates that the discovery that ‘nature really follows the simple and elegant rules intuited by the 20th- and 21st-century versions of Plato’s philosophers’ is one of the most astonishing achievements of the human intellect.” -- Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus), MIT“Charming... Krauss has written an account with sweep and verve that shows the full development of our ideas about the makeup of the world around us... A great romp.” -- Walter Gilbert, Nobel Award, Chemistry, 1980“History of science with an edge—humorous, personal, passionate, yet intellectually serious and authoritative.” -- Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate, Physics"Krauss beautifully explains how our refusal to believe that there are unknowable cosmic truths has rewarded humanity with brilliantly precise answers to puzzles previously obscured by the fog of dogmatic assurance… The scope of this book is truly impressive." -- Science Magazine"A masterful blend of history, modern physics, and cosmic perspective that empowers the reader to not only embrace our understanding of the universe, but also revel in what remains to be discovered." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson, American Museum of Natural History"A rich, definitely not-dumbed-down history of physics... An admirable complement to the author's previous book and equally satisfying for those willing to read carefully." -- Kirkus Reviews"This truly is the greatest story: how the universe arose, what it’s made of, how it works. Krauss is a warm and authoritative guide to what future generations will surely say is one of our species’ greatest accomplishments." -- Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Language Instinct and The Blank Slate"In confident...prose, Krauss tells a story that both celebrates and explores science. Through it, he reminds readers why scientists build such complicated machinery and push the boundaries of the quantum world when nothing makes sense: “For no more practical reason than to celebrate and explore the beauty of nature.”" -- Publishers Weekly"The story of reality—or at least as we understand it—this book is a testament to perseverance, a riveting account of dogged scientific effort to comprehend the fundamental forces of nature. Krauss (director, Origins Project, Arizona State Univ.; Fear of Physics) has a knack for making complex concepts accessible to lay readers who are willing to put in time and energy… A must-read for anyone who enjoyed Krauss’s previous titles, especially A Universe from Nothing, and those interested in delving into the history of science." -- Library Journal

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Book SynopsisWith devastating logic and clarity, Dr Pandora Pound, Research Director at Safer Medicines Trust, comprehensively dismantles the case for animal research, bringing to an end the 150-year-old debate about its value once and for all. Focusing on the science rather than animal suffering – and including no distressing details – she provides a riveting account of how the practice became so well established, before proceeding to painstakingly reveal the futility and shockingly poor quality of most animal studies. Medical progress is being thwarted by an obsolete and harmful practice, but Pound showcases the awe-inspiring technologies, both old and new, that would revolutionise medicine if only it could escape the stranglehold of animal research. Rat Trap slays the many myths about animal research and shows that, far from being a necessary evil, it is one of the most important and urgent scientific issues of our time. ‘What a corker of a book! A superb analysis of the promises and pitfalls limiting the use of animals in medical research. Lucid and elegantly written. Highly recommended.’ -- Dr James Le Fanu, doctor, columnist for the Daily Telegraph and author of Too Many Pills and The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine. ‘Beautifully written, her arguments hum with clarity. Destined to be a classic and to make a difference in the world.’ -- Dr Ricardo Blaug, political scientist and author of How Power Corrupts. ‘Dr Pandora Pound transformed the debate on animal experiments in 2004 as lead author of the landmark study ‘Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans?’. Published in the prestigious British Medical Journal, it provoked a storm of controversy – and a series of scientific studies revealing the startling unreliability of animals as surrogates for humans in medical research. As a result, reports of ‘breakthroughs’ based on animal studies now routinely carry disclaimers about the implications for patients. In Rat Trap, Dr Pound brings us up to date with this deeply controversial issue. She sets out the evidence for animal models being abandoned as a matter of urgency, and shows how resistance from some elements of the scientific community poses a grave threat to medical progress.’ -- Robert Matthews, visiting professor in statistical science, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and author of Chancing It and 25 Big Ideas

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Book SynopsisA deck of cards to show you how and when to spot 40 constellations across the sky, explaining the key features to look out for as well as the myths and legends behind each one.

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Book Synopsis'Exhilaratingly whizzes through billions of years . . . Gee is a marvellously engaging writer, juggling humour, precision, polemic and poetry to enrich his impossibly telescoped account . . . [making] clear sense out of very complex narratives' - The Times'Henry Gee makes the kaleidoscopically changing canvas of life understandable and exciting. Who will enjoy reading this book? - Everybody!' Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and SteelFor billions of years, Earth was an inhospitably alien place – covered with churning seas, slowly crafting its landscape by way of incessant volcanic eruptions, the atmosphere in a constant state of chemical flux. And yet, despite facing literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter, life has been extinguished and picked itself up to evolve again. Life has learned and adapted and continued through the billions of years that followed. It has weathered fire and ice. Slimes begat sponges, who through billions of years of complex evolution and adaptation grew a backbone, braved the unknown of pitiless shores, and sought an existence beyond the sea.From that first foray to the spread of early hominids who later became Homo sapiens, life has persisted, undaunted. A (Very) Short History of Life is an enlightening story of survival, of persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life has always existed, and continues to exist today. It is our planet like you’ve never seen it before.Life teems through Henry Gee’s lyrical prose – colossal supercontinents drift, collide, and coalesce, fashioning the face of the planet as we know it today. Creatures are engagingly personified, from ‘gregarious’ bacteria populating the seas to duelling dinosaurs in the Triassic period to magnificent mammals with the future in their (newly evolved) grasp. Those long extinct, almost alien early life forms are resurrected in evocative detail. Life’s evolutionary steps – from the development of a digestive system to the awe of creatures taking to the skies in flight – are conveyed with an alluring, up-close intimacy.Trade Review'Gee's prose is so infectiously enthusiastic, and his tone so accessible, that you'll find yourself racing through as if you were reading a novel - and you'll never find yourself scrambling for a good fact to wheel out at an awkward pause in conversation again.' * Reader's Digest *Exhilaratingly whizzes through billions of years . . . Gee is a marvellously engaging writer, juggling humour, precision, polemic and poetry to enrich his impossibly telescoped account . . . [making] clear sense out of very complex narratives * The Times *A scintillating, fast-paced waltz through four billion years of evolution, from one of our leading science writers . . . His poetic prose animates the history of life, from the first bacteria to trilobites to dinosaurs to us. -- Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh paleontologist and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the DinosaursThis is now the best book available about the huge changes in our planet and its living creatures, over the billions of years of the Earth’s existence . . . Henry Gee makes this kaleidoscopically changing canvas of life understandable and exciting. Who will enjoy reading this book? Everybody! -- Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and SteelHenry Gee’s whistle-stop account of the story of life (and death — lots of death) on Earth is both fun and informative. Even better, it goes beyond the natural human inclination to see ourselves as special and puts us in our proper place in the cosmic scheme of things -- John GribbinDon’t miss this delightful, concise, sweeping masterpiece! Gee brilliantly condenses the entire, improbable, astonishing history of life on earth — all 5 billion years - into a charming, zippy and scientifically accurate yarn. -- Daniel E. Lieberman, Professor of Biological Sciences, Harvard University

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER I wanted to know what they were experiencing, and why to us they feel so compelling, and so close. This time I allowed myself to ask them the question that for a scientist was forbidden fruit: Who are you? Weaving decades of field observations with exciting new discoveries about the brain, Carl Safina's landmark book offers an intimate view of animal behavior to challenge the fixed boundary between humans and animals. Travelling to the threatened landscape of Kenya to witness struggling elephant families work out how to survive poaching and drought, then on to Yellowstone National Park to observe wolves sort out the aftermath of one pack's personal tragedy, the book finally plunges into the astonishingly peaceful society of killer whales living in the crystalline waters of the Pacific Northwest. Beyond Words brings forth powerful and illuminating insight into the unique personalities of animals through extraordinary stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness and empathy calls us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals. Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world.Trade ReviewDr. Safina is a terrific writer, with a contagious enthusiasm ... draws out haunting resonances between animal lives and our own ... Captivating * New York Times *At once moving and surprising, Beyond Words asks us to reexamine our relationship to other species-and to ourselves -- Elizabeth Kolbert, author of * The Sixth Extinction *This book breathes love of and respect for animals and is rich with observations and extraordinary travel experiences. It is a delightful and enlightening account of both how we relate to them and how they relate to each other -- Frans de WaalCombines lambent writing with dazzling facts, while also illuminating our knowledge of significant and engaging subjects ... Exemplary * Washington Post *Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world * Psychology Today *Safina's engaging writing takes readers along on his journey ... The result is a meandering, entertaining tour of the animal kingdom, with pit stops for both amusing anecdotes and the latest scientific studies of animal behavior ... entertaining and informative * Slate *Brilliant ... makes intimate these wild animals in vivid family portraits ... Safina is a font of research, his wonder contagious * Elle *Safina offers a rich and often heart-touching account of his journeys with scientists exploring the minds and emotions of elephants, wolves, and dolphins. His compassion and empathy for animals shines throughout, and he uses both to illuminate the booming field of animal cognition. A beautifully written, accessible, and compelling read -- Virginia Morrell, author of * Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel *

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Book SynopsisIs science the only path to knowledge?In this sparkling and provocative book, Jonah Lehrer explains that when it comes to understanding the brain, art got there first. Taking a group of celebrated writers, painters and composers, Lehrer shows us how artists have discovered truths about the human mind - real, tangible truths - that science is only now rediscovering. We learn, for example, how Proust first revealed the fallibility of memory; how George Eliot understood the brain''s malleability; how the French chef Escoffier intuited umami (the fifth taste); how Cézanne worked out the subtleties of vision; and how Virginia Woolf pierced the mysteries of consciousness. It''s a riveting tale of art trumping science again and again.Trade ReviewIf all science books were as successful in bridging the divide between art and science as this one is, there would no longer be a divide to bridge. -- Christopher Potter * * Sunday Times * *In this amazing first book [Lehrer] bridges 'the two cultures' with ease and grace. His clear and vivid writing - incisive and thoughtful, yet sensitive and modest - is a special pleasure. * * Oliver Sacks * *Still only in his mid-twenties, Lehrer is a dazzlingly clever young man whose writing bears witness to both the clarity of his scientific training and the humanity of his literary studies. The Whitmanesque electricity of all the thought and heart he has put into this book fizzes from each sentence. * * Telegraph Review * *There is more content here than in many books three times as long . . . I've heard it said that we live in a golden age as far as science writing is concerned. I've no idea, but I do know a golden book when one bumps into me, and this is one. * * Irish Times * *A slim, brainy book about the brain, modernist art, and literature . . . Lehrer writes skillfully and coherently about both art and science - no small feat. * * Entertainment Weekly * *Lehrer is gifted with the ability to find philosophy in science and stray bits of science buried amid the rubble of literary history. He is less critic than armchair philosopher, searching for meaning anywhere great thinkers have left their footprints. * * San Francisco Chronicle * *A precocious and engaging book that tries to mend the century-old tear between literary and scientific cultures . . . Lehrer is smart, and there are some fun moments in these pages. * * New York Times Book Review * *In this fascinating and unusual book, Lehrer makes an insightful case for Art triumphing over Science . . . Lehrer takes the modern-day reader into the archives of literary history, pondering over the musings of poets, writers, artists and composers in order to prove his theory. * * The Skinny * *The self-help book to end all self-help books . . . A sort of one-man third culture, healing the rift between the sciences and humanities by communicating and contrasting their values in a way that renders them comprehensible to partisans of either camp . . . Not everything that is true can be proved. Lehrer's quotation from Escoffier is well chosen: "No theory, no formula, and no recipe can take the place of experience." * * Guardian * *In 1959, C P Snow asserted that there were two cultures in the educated world, the scientific and the artistic, separated by "mutual incomprehension". Books such as Lehrer's show that the border between the two - though still real - is wearing amazingly thin. * * Scotsman * *Unlike many popularisers of science, Lehrer finds equal and complementary value in our available ways of considering the universe. * * Financial Times * *Perceptive and skilfully persuasive. * * Times * *Jonah Lehrer's new book confirms what his fans have known all along - that he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing than a lot of writers. -- Malcolm Gladwell, author of THE TIPPING POINT and OUTLIERS

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Book SynopsisThe master cosmologist and astrophysicist unlocks the secrets of the universe in a clear and accessible way for children.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWhat we do and do not know about evolution, by one of the field's pioneering thinkers.Trade Review"Mayr is one of the influential scientists of the last century. This compact book delivers the wealth of his 70 year career in a single, well measured punch." GLASGOW HERALD "We are taken all the way from Darwin to the frontiers of biology, including ideas on the causes of altruism and the consequences for humans now that natural selection is no longer happening to us." OBSERVER

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Book SynopsisTrade Review...interesting to anyone curious about the science of the shore. Library Journal ...for the serious minded beachgoer... Los Angeles Times Fascinating phenomena - from surf beat, edge waves and beach cusps to the dunes known as barchans - bob through this crisply written guide to ecology and geology at the edge. Nature ...offers material not only for science junkies but for anyone who loves the beach experience. Richmond Times-Dispatch It is an easy read for those who live by the shore and want a good, simple understanding of why it's there, what is going on now, and what might happen in the future... -- Andrew D. Short Oceanography Engaging and easy to read... This book helps readers understand the physical processes that form that shore... Highly recommended. Choice a good comprehensive introduction to the shore... -- Judith S. Weis Quarterly Review of BiologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Beaches 2. Wind 3. Waves 4. Tides 5. Sediments 6. Barrier Islands and Tidal Inlets 7. Sand Dunes and Salt Marshes 8. Sea Level and Sea-Level Rise 9. Storms and Storm Surges 10. Erosion and Shore Protection Appendix 1. Units of Speed: Approximate Conversion Factors Appendix 2. Beaufort Scale Appendix 3. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisApplying his controversial theory of evolution to the origins of the human species, Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man was the culmination of his life's work. In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin refused to discuss human evolution, believing the subject too 'surrounded with prejudices'. He had been reworking his notes since the 1830s, but only with trepidation did he finally publish The Descent of Man in 1871. The book notoriously put apes in our family tree and made the races one family, diversified by 'sexual selection' - Darwin's provocative theory that female choice among competing males leads to diverging racial characteristics. Named by Sigmund Freud as 'one of the ten most significant books' ever written, Darwin's Descent of Man continues to shape the way we think about what it is that makes us uniquely human. In their introduction, James Moore and Adrian Desmond, acclaimed biographers of Charles Darwin, call for a radicalTrade Review“[Darwin’s] second great book . . . An intellectually daring feat.” —Richard O. Prum, in The Evolution of Beauty

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Book SynopsisDon''t You Have Time to Think? collects the witty, eccentric and moving letters letters of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. Richard Feynman was no ordinary genius. Brilliant, free-spirited and irreverent, he upset those in authority, gave captivating lectures, wrote equations on napkins in strip joints and touched countless lives everywhere. He also wrote hundreds of letters to friends, family, critics, colleagues and devoted fans around the world. Now these letters have been brought together for the first time. From down-to-earth advice to eager students to discussions of time travel and the atom bomb, and from blunt rebuttals to journalists to poignant exchanges with his first wife as she lay dying, they will introduce you to a unique person whose wisdom and lust for life inspired all those who came into his orbit. ''Nobel-winning physicist, expert bongo-player, safe-cracker and all-round genius, Feynman was, as thi

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Book SynopsisIf there is one dominant myth about the world, one huge mistake we all make it is that we all go around assuming the world is much more of a planned place than it is.'From the industrial revolution and the rise of China, to urbanisation and the birth of bitcoin, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the ground up. In this wide-ranging and erudite book, Matt Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future.As compelling as it is controversial, as authoritative as it is ambitious, Ridley's deeply thought-provoking book will change the way we think about the world and how it works.Trade Review‘He argues we live in a bottom-up world…a compelling argument and in this fascinating work, an evolution from Ridley’s other books, such as The Rational Optimist of The Origins of Virtue, he takes it to all realms of knowledge and how new ideas emerge… Ridley has amassed such a weight of fascinating evidence and anecdote that the pages fly by’ Ed Conway, The Times ‘Intriguing and artfully argued’ Ian Critchly, The Sunday Times ‘This is a book of remarkable scope (when Ridley says everything, he isn’t exaggerating), clearly written by a polymath who reads whatever is interesting, old and new. What’s more, it does not have the feel of a book written on commission so much as one that has been slowly assembling its own emergent thesis over time, tentatively testing and sometimes rejecting ideas along the way. As so often in nature, something wonderful has thereby come about’ Literary Review ‘The book displays his wide and deep knowledge of many different fields. It is fast paced and elegantly written. Few readers will come away without fresh information and a challenge to their preconceptions’ Prospect ‘Readable, provocative and infuriating’ New Statesman Praise for Matt Ridley: ‘What a superb writer he is, and he seems to get better and better.' Richard Dawkins, author of ‘The Selfish Gene’ Praise for ‘The Rational Optimist’: ‘A triumphant blast on the vuvuzela of common sense’ Boris Johnson ‘A glorious defence of our species… a devastating rebuke to humanity's self-haters’ Sunday Times ‘No other book has argued with such brilliance against the automatic pessimism that prevails’ Ian McEwan ‘His theory is, in a way, the glorious offspring that would result if Charles Darwin’s ideas were mated with those of Adam Smith’ The Economist ‘As a work of bold historical positivity it is to be welcomed. At every point cheerfulness keeps breaking through’ The Times

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