Science & Nature Books

Book SynopsisA fascinating and terrifying memoir of one woman''s extraordinary effort to save her husband''s life (Scientific American) - and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more.Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poisoning quickly turned critical, and by the time Tom had been transferred via emergency medevac to the world-class medical center at UC San Diego, where both he and Steffanie worked, blood work revealed why modern medicine was failing: Tom was fighting one of the most dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the world.Frantic, Steffanie combed through research old and new and came across phage therapy: the idea that the right virus, aka the perfect predator, can kill even the most lethal bacteria. Phage treatment had fallen out of favor almost 100 years ago, after antibiotic use went mainstream. Now, with time running out, Steffanie appealed to phage researchers all over the world for help. She found allies at the FDA, researchers from Texas A&M, and a clandestine Navy biomedical center - and together they resurrected a forgotten cure.A nail-biting medical mystery, The Perfect Predator is a story of love and survival against all odds, and the (re)discovery of a powerful new weapon in the global superbug crisis.

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Book Synopsis''A superbly written, riveting book.''MARTIN REES, Astronomer Royal''I am overcome with admiration for its range and profundity. An amazing achievement.''MICHAEL FRAYN''A wonderful book.''TOM STOPPARDA groundbreaking exploration of how the interplay of physics and mathematics has enriched our understanding of the universe - essential reading for anyone who wants to grasp how physicists are attempting, in Stephen Hawking''s words, to ''know the mind of God''.Searching for the fundamental laws of the universe, physicists have found themselves developing ambitious mathematical ideas. But without observation and experiment as their guide, are they now doing fairy-tale physics' as their detractors claim?In The Universe Speaks in Numbers, Graham Farmelo argues that today's greatest scientific minds are working in a tradition that dates back to Newton. He takes us on an adventure, from the Enlightenment

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Book SynopsisWhat is quantum mechanics? Learn from the experts in the ALL-NEW LADYBIRD EXPERT SERIESA clear, simple and entertaining introduction to the weird, mind-bending world of the very, very small.Written by physicist and broadcaster Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Quantum Mechanics explores all the key players, breakthroughs, controversies and unanswered questions of the quantum world.You''ll discover:- How the sun shines- Why light is both a wave and a particle- The certainty of the Uncertainty Principle- Schrodinger''s Cat- Einstein''s spooky action- How to build a quantum computer- Why quantum mechanics drives even its experts completely crazy''Jim Al-Khalili has done an admirable job of condensing the ideas of quantum physics from Max Planck to the possibilities of quantum computers into brisk, straightforward English'' THE TIMESTrade ReviewJim Al-Khalili has done an admirable job of condensing the ideas of quantum physics from Max Planck to the possibilities of quantum computers into brisk, straightforward English * The Times *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisUncover what lies at the deepest depths of our oceans...In ten brief and informative essays, marine biologist and TV science advisor Professor Jon Copley journeys to one of the most mysterious and fascinating environments on Earth, the deep sea. Discover what makes this unique habitat such a challenging environment, the creatures that call it home and how ocean explorers are able to utilise the latest technology to aid their research and travel miles below the ocean surface.The Deep Sea: 10 things you should know is a brilliant guide to one of the most fascinating and curious places known to humankind.

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Book SynopsisLooking to bridge the gap between GCSE and A-Level Biology? Look no further than this brilliant Head Start book. It recaps important GCSE topics you'll need to remember, with clear study notes, examples and practice questions to test your understanding. Then to help you master those big ideas early on, we''ve added in straightforward explanations of key topics you'll meet at A-Level. It's the perfect way to jumpstart your prep, whichever exam board you're studying! Plus, it also comes with a free Online Edition to read on your pc or tablet.Whilst you''re getting ahead, why not hone your Maths skills too with our superb guide to Essential Maths Skills for A-Level Biology (9781847623232)!

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Book SynopsisThis fantastic CGP Exam Practice Workbook is the perfect companion for Year 1 & 2 of AQA A-Level Biology. It’s packed with ultra-realistic exam questions covering every topic students need to know, including a section of mixed (synoptic) questions. We’ve added in exam tips throughout to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises in their exams! To round things off there are fully worked answers and mark schemes for every question. For study notes and even more practice don’t miss the CGP AQA A-Level Biology Complete Revision & Practice guide (9781789080261).

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Book Synopsis'BRILLIANT' Chris Evans, Virgin Radio Breakfast ShowWhen was the last time you listened to someone, or someone really listened to you? This life-changing book will transform your conversations forever. At work, we're taught to lead the conversation. On social media, we shape our personal narratives. At parties, we talk over one another. So do our politicians. We're not listening. And no one is listening to us.Now more than ever, we need to listen to those around us. New York Times contributor Kate Murphy draws on countless conversations she has had with everyone from priests to CIA interrogators, focus group moderators to bartenders, her great-great aunt to her friend's toddler, to show how only by listening well can we truly connect with others. Listening has the potential to transform our relationships and our working lives, improve our self-knowledge, and increase our creativity and happiness. While it may take some effort, it's a skill that can be learnt and perfected. When all we crave is to understand and be understood, You're Not Listening shows us how.* With a new afterword by the author *'This book couldn't be more timely. Inspiringly profound...smart and playful' Observer'I'll be adopting Murphy's advice' Sunday Times, StyleTrade ReviewThe premise of this book couldn't be more timely... inspiringly profound… Smart and playful... It feels like a reiteration of something essential... Murphy is here to remind us – entertainingly and compellingly – exactly why it matters so much, especially right now. Hear, hear. -- Viv Groskop * Observer *Gripping from start to finish... brilliant…extraordinarily interesting…full of meat and gold. -- Chris Evans * Virgin Radio Breakfast Show *Fiercely topical... You're Not Listening is an intriguing and constructive take on the problem... and a manual for better communication. Murphy’s book is intelligent and thought-provoking… Listening is when someone take a real interest in who you are…a moment of attunement and understanding that sticks in both heads. We could all do with some of that. -- Melanie Reid * The Times *It’s time for a spot of re-education... A fascinating guide to something we assume we do automatically, yet for the most part do very badly... The art of listening is really the art of being human. -- Stephen Moss * Guardian *We are losing this most crucial, arguably, of our skills in the modern world... I'll be adopting Murphy's advice... and I will be employing "support" responses everywhere. -- Charlotte Edwardes * Sunday Times Style Magazine *

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Book SynopsisYou'll find everything you need for both years of A-Level AQA Chemistry in this CGP Complete Revision & Practice Guide! It has straightforward study notes, helpful examples and full-colour diagrams. We've included more challenging exam practice than ever before with plenty of practice questions and exam-style questions (with detailed answers) for every topic - plus a section of mixed (synoptic) practice testing different parts of the course. To round things off there are sections of in-depth advice on Practical Skills and how to pick up top marks in the exams. There's even a free Online Edition of the whole book - just use the code printed inside the book to access it on your PC, Mac or tablet. For even more practice don't miss CGP's A-Level Chemistry Exam Practice Workbook (9781782949138).

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Book SynopsisThis new and improved CGP Complete Revision & Practice Guide is the perfect companion for A-Level AQA Physics - it's ideal for reference throughout both years and preparing for those final exams! It has straightforward study notes, helpful examples and full-colour diagrams. We've included more challenging exam practice than ever before with plenty of practice questions and exam-style questions (with detailed answers) for all the Core Content and Options 9-12 - plus a section of mixed (synoptic) practice testing different parts of the course. To round things off there are sections of in-depth advice on Practical Skills and how to pick up top marks in the exams. There's even a free Online Edition of the whole book - just use the code printed inside the book to access it on your PC, Mac or tablet. For even more practice don't miss CGP's A-Level Physics Exam Practice Workbook (9781782949169).

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Book SynopsisThis superb Complete CGP Revision & Practice covers both years of OCR A A-Level Chemistry - and it's fully up to date for the latest specifications! It has straightforward study notes, helpful examples and full-colour diagrams. We've included plenty of exam practice with practice questions and exam-style questions (with detailed answers) for every topic - plus a section of mixed (synoptic) practice testing different parts of the course. To round things off there's a section of advice on Practical Skills. There's even a free Online Edition of the whole book - just use the code printed inside the book to access it on your PC, Mac or tablet. Don't miss our OCR A A-Level Chemistry Exam Practice Workbook (9781782949220) for even more practice.

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Book SynopsisTHE BRILLIANT AND HUGELY INFLUENTIAL BOOK BY THE WINNER OF THE 2017 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOKS PRIZE'Fun, droll yet deeply serious.' New Scientist'A brilliant feminist critic of the neurosciences ... Read her, enjoy and learn.' Hilary Rose, THES'A witty and meticulously researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex differences.' Carol Tavris, TLSGender inequalities are increasingly defended by citing hard-wired differences between the male and female brain. That's why, we're told, there are so few women in science, so few men in the laundry room - different brains are just suited to different things.With sparkling wit and humour, Cordelia Fine attacks this 'neurosexism', revealing the mind's remarkable plasticity, the substantial influence of culture on identity, and the malleability of what we consider to be 'hardwired' difference. This modern classic shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made - not born.Trade ReviewWe are all in [Fine's] debt. She has the expertise to check the research references cited by academic as well as popular books on the subject, and she has the clarity and wit to impart her findings to the lay reader. She exposes shockingly lightweight research that is taken seriously and nuanced research that is misreported. -- GuardianThe hard data is illuminating, and engaging, but Fine manages a light touch throughout. This is a truly startling book. -- Independent on SundayTwo books came out this year (2010) which, in the long-term, could change how we view gender for ever. ... Cordelia Fine's 'Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences' (Icon Books) finally debunked the myth that men and women's minds are significantly different .... Both books were favourably reviewed and hotly discussed. Over time their conclusions could have far-reaching consequences as significant as 'The Female Eunuch.' -- Viv Groskop, GuardianA fascinating subject. A bracing argument. -- Evening Standard'Delusions of Gender' ... carefully and with great precision demolishes the nonsense that pervades the popular and technical literature pretending to be scientific fact, exposing it as truthiness which is nowhere close to truth. ... When I first heard about this book it was clear, even before reading it, that this is the book we've been waiting for. Now, having read it, I can assure you that it is even better than I thought it could be. ... Buy it. Get your friends, your colleagues, your family members to buy it, or buy it for them. Get it to your local school board. Make it required reading, not only in gender studies, but in freshman sociology, biology, education and business courses. Get it on the New York Times bestseller list. ... Our culture is saturated with sloppy self-reinforcing non-thinking about gender. It will take a monumental effort to get it off those tracks. 'Delusions of Gender' is an excellent place to start. -- Professor Judy Roitman, Association for Women in Mathematics NewsletterFine is fun, droll yet deeply serious. Setting a cracking pace, Delusions tackles the power of implicit association (those unconscious associations we make about men and women) and of negative stereotyping, plus the empathising/systematising theory proposed by psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, and the messy world of brain scans and genetic research. Her conclusion: we are in thrall to "neurosexism". -- New ScientistThe result of Fine's irritation is a witty and meticulously researched exposé of the sloppy studies that pass for scientific evidence in so many of today's bestselling books on sex differences... Can we stop talking about brains now? Those who can't, and anyone else who would like to know what today's best science reveals about gender differences - and similarities - could not do better than read this book. -- Carol Tavris, TLS['Brain Storm' and 'Delusions of Gender' are] well-informed, well-argued and (for science books, perhaps unusually) well-written interventions in ... one of the most important debates in current sexual politics. -- Trouble and Strife JournalIf you believe that the tide of blue and pink that greets children whenever they walk into a toy or children's clothes shop is just about colours ... think again. -- Working MumsThis is a book with such a large scope that it's near-impossible to overestimate its importance. Much like 'The Spirit Level' did for socio-economics, this book ropes together decades' worth of studies on gender differences and casts a cool, calm eye (and an arched brow) over them all... This book will cast a light on gender assumptions you didn't know you had, and it's hilarious - with chapter titles such as 'We Think, Therefore You Are' and 'Sex and Premature Speculation,' Dr Fine is a brilliant tour guide - making light, fun and engaging work of the research. By debunking the rubbish, this book opens up possibilities for a (slightly) clearer vision of the future. Not to be missed. -- Fat QuarterIn 'Delusions of Gender' Cordelia Fine does a magnificent job debunking the so-called science, and especially the brain science, of gender. If you thought there were some inescapable facts about women's minds - some hard wiring that explains poor science and maths performance, or the ability to remember to buy the milk and arrange the holidays - you can put these on the rubbish heap. Instead, Fine shows that there are almost no areas of performance that are not touched by cultural stereotypes. This scholarly book will make you itch to press the delete button on so much nonsense, while being pure fun to read. -- Emeritus Professor Uta Frith, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Research Foundation Professor, University of Aarhus'Cordelia Fine has a first-rate intellect and writing talent to burn. In her new book, Delusions of Gender, she takes aim at the idea that male brains and female brains are "wired differently", leading men and women to act in a manner consistent with decades-old gender stereotypes. Armed with penetrating insights, a rapier wit, and a slew of carefully researched facts, Fine lowers her visor, lifts her lance, and attacks this idea full-force. Whether her adversaries can rally their forces and mount a successful counter-attack remains to be seen. What's certain at this point, however, is that in Delusions of Gender Cordelia Fine has struck a terrific first blow against what she calls "neurosexism". -- Professor William Ickes, author of 'Everyday Mind Reading: Understanding What Other People Think and Feel.'Fine turns the popular science book formula on its head. -- USA TodayThe author, Cordelia Fine, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from University College London, is an acerbic critic, mincing no words when it comes to those she disagrees with. But her sharp tongue is tempered with humor and linguistic playfulness, as the title itself suggests.... It's too late to tell that to Dr. Sax, a proponent of single-sex education, who cited the Connellan study as evidence that 'girls are born prewired to be interested in faces while boys are prewired to be more interested in moving objects.' But it's not too late to read this book and see how complex and fascinating the whole issue is. -- New York TimesSo both sexes should rejoice at Cordelia Fine's new book, Delusions of Gender, a vitriolic attack on the sexism masquerading as psychology that is enjoying a renaissance. -- Rosamund Irwin, London Evening StandardImpeccably researched and bitingly funny. -- Rosamund Irwin, London Evening StandardFine's tone is witty but the citations are detailed and the bibliography extensive...This book is an entertaining weapon in that fight (for education and social justice) and will make a nice "thwok" sound bouncing off the heads of sexists. -- Sarah Ensor, Socialist reviewFine's conclusions provide a timely warning against taking too seriously the deluge of books and articles that would have us believe that men are biologically advantaged when it comes to mathematics, racing, driving or map reading - and that women are naturally more intuitive and nurturing, so better at childcare and multitasking. -- Claire Jones, GuardianIn Delusions of Gender the psychologist Cordelia Fine exposes the bad science, the ridiculous arguments and the persistent biases that blind us to the ways we ourselves enforce the gender stereotypes we think we are trying to overcome. -- Terri Apter, GuardianFine eviscerates both the neuroscientists who claim to have found the answers and the popularisers who take their findings and run with them. -- Katherine Bouton, Deputy Editor of New York Times Magazine.Timely and provocative, her argument is also excellent at debunking oversimplified theories, for instance, that biology is destiny. -- MetroA well-stocked armoury that includes extensive research, sharp whit and a probing intelligence, and which refuses to be satisfied with the delusional myth-making that often passes for popular science. -- MetroFine offers persuasive proof that many of the claims we commonly swallow about male and female brains are based on very bad science indeed. Her entire book ... is worth a read, and perhaps should be taught in high school and college science classes. Maybe if young women were exposed to the truth about their brains, they'd no longer feel like they had to chuck their gender overboard in order to pursue their dreams. -- Anna North, JezebelWith Delusions of Gender, we welcome a brilliant feminist critic of the neurosciences ... In a book that sparkles with wit, which is easy to read but underpinned by substantial scholarship and a formidable 100-page bibliography, she attacks the ready generalisations on sexual differences made by neuroscientists and their media exegetes ... every page of Fine's brilliant, spiky book reminds us that science is part of culture and that the struggle against sexism in the neurosciences and the struggle against sexism in society are intimately linked. Read her, enjoy and learn. -- Hilary Rose, THESAn excellent introduction to the scientific method ... mind-opening ... prepare to be a relative expert on the subject. -- British Neuroscience Association BulletinA pinnacle piece of feminist literature, which I thoroughly recommend and could quote all day. -- Fran Hall, Huffington Post[a] brilliant debunking of "neuro-sexism" ... a powerful case that who we are is much more closely attuned to the culture that surrounds us, than to the biology of our brains. -- MslexiaFor anyone interested in the brain, research methods, applied science, gender, parenting, the workplace, human nature or general sass, this book is an absolute must read. -- Cyndi Chen, Huffington PostPopular science writing at its best ... beautifully and accessibly written ... It is a cracking good read, by turns witty, passionate and learned. -- National Childbirth Trust Journal

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Book SynopsisEndorsed by Eduqas, this Study and Revision Guide supports you in preparing for your assessment and offers high quality support you can trust. / Written by experienced teachers and examiners, it provides the essential underpinning knowledge you will need to recap and revise the studies, theories and key terms. Supports the development of skills you need to correctly interpret and answer the exam questions. / Includes plenty of practice questions, with commentaries so you can see where mistakes are typically made and where extra marks can be gained. / An exam practice and technique section offers advice on how exam questions are set and marked.Table of ContentsUnit 1 Motion, Energy and Matter; Unit 2 Electricity and Light; Experimental work; Exam preparation; Exam practice and technique; Questions and answers; Quickfire Answers; Extra questions; Practice questions

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Book SynopsisThe emphasis of the book is given in how to construct different types of solutions (exact, approximate analytical, numerical, graphical) of numerous nonlinear PDEs correctly, easily, and quickly. The reader can learn a wide variety of techniques and solve numerous nonlinear PDEs included and many other differential equations, simplifying and transforming the equations and solutions, arbitrary functions and parameters, presented in the book). Numerous comparisons and relationships between various types of solutions, different methods and approaches are provided, the results obtained in Maple and Mathematica, facilitates a deeper understanding of the subject. Among a big number of CAS, we choose the two systems, Maple and Mathematica, that are used worldwide by students, research mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. As in the our previous books, we propose the idea to use in parallel both systems, Maple and Mathematica, since in many research problems frequently it is required to compare independent results obtained by using different computer algebra systems, Maple and/or Mathematica, at all stages of the solution process. One of the main points (related to CAS) is based on the implementation of a whole solution method (e.g. starting from an analytical derivation of exact governing equations, constructing discretizations and analytical formulas of a numerical method, performing numerical procedure, obtaining various visualizations, and comparing the numerical solution obtained with other types of solutions considered in the book, e.g. with asymptotic solution).Trade ReviewFrom the reviews:“The authors consider the problem of constructing closed-form and approximate solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations with the help of computer algebra systems. … The book will be useful for readers who want to try modern methods for solving nonlinear partial differential equations on concrete examples without bothering too much about the mathematics behind the methods. Thus it is mainly of interest for applied scientists. Mathematicians may use it in connection with more theoretical works; some references are given throughout the book.” (Werner M. Seiler, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1233, 2012)Table of Contents1 Introduction 1.1 Basic Concepts 2 Algebraic Approach 2.1 Point Transformations 2.2 Contact Transformations 2.3 Transformations Relating Differential Equations 2.4 Linearizing and Bilinearizing Transformations 2.5 Reductions of Nonlinear PDEs 2.6 Separation of Variables 2.7 Transformation Groups 2.8 Nonlinear Systems 3 Geometric-Qualitative Approach 3.1 Method of Characteristics 3.2 Generalized Method of Characteristics 3.3 Qualitative Analysis 4 General Analytical Approach. Integrability 4.1 Painlevé Test and Integrability 4.2 Complete Integrability. Evolution Equations 4.3 Nonlinear Systems. Integrability Conditions 5 Approximate Analytical Approach 5.1 Adomian Decomposition Method 5.2 Asymptotic Expansions. Perturbation Methods 6 Numerical Approach 6.1 Embedded Numerical Methods 6.2 Finite DifferenceMethods 7 Analytical-Numerical Approach 7.1 Method of Lines 7.2 Spectral Collocation Method; A Brief Description of Maple A.1 Introduction A.2 Basic Concepts A.3 Maple Language B Brief Description of Mathematica B.1 Introduction B.2 Basic Concepts B.3 Mathematica Language; References, Index

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Book SynopsisGenes were unknowingly discovered in the 19th century by Gregor Mendel, a Czechoslovakian monk. It was later established that genes are made of DNA, a biological compound found in tiny thread-like structures called chromosomes that are located in the nuclei of all cells in our bodies. DNA consists of chains of entities called bases of which there are four in nature. DNA consists of long chains of bases (sometimes referred to as DNA sequences) that are joined in any order, but the precise order and length of which constitute different genes.Many (but not all) genes carry a code called the genetic code, a code that instructs the synthesis (manufacture) of the many hundreds of proteins that we require to survive and execute the many functions of life. The genetic code was deciphered in relatively recent years and is considered one of the most significant discoveries in the history of biology.Genes that encode instructions for the synthesis of proteins and those that regulate the manufacture of proteins comprise a mere two percent of our DNA. Despite our extensive knowledge of biology and the sub-discipline of molecular biology (the study of biology at the molecular level), the function (if any) of the rest of the DNA in our cells is unknown.Research about genes and DNA has in recent years spawned an endeavor referred to as the Human Genome Project, an international collaboration that has successfully determined, stored, and rendered publicly available the sequences of almost all the genetic content of the chromosomes of the human organism, otherwise known as the human genome.DNA sequences that are unique to every person on earth have been discovered (DNA fingherprints) and are now used for identifying criminals. The book relates a specific example of identifying a criminal who murdered two women.This is the first and only book that we are aware of that educates non-biologists about genes. It is written in a style and uses a vocabulary that can be comprehended by the average reader who knows very little if anything about genes.

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Book Synopsis100 of nature’s most colourful creatures are profiled and photographed in a major new book on animal disguise and display. Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 North America 2 Central and South America 3 Europe 4 Africa 5 Asia 6 Australasia 7 Islands, Seas and Oceans Index Picture credits

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Book Synopsis''Exquisite'' National Geographic''Fascinating and informative, this text will appeal to lay readers and bird enthusiasts alike'' Booklist''Unwin''s evocative prose is a perfect match for the vivid illustrations. This will be a hit with birdwatchers of all stripes'' Publishers Weekly Author Mike Unwin invites readers on an avian journey around the globe, celebrating 80 of the world''s most awe-inspiring birds and revealing their impact on our lives. From Namibia''s sociable weaver, constructor of huge multi-nest ''apartment blocks'' in the desert, to China''s bar-headed goose, a high-flying migrant that crosses the Himalayas twice a year, each has a remarkable story to tell. Ryuto Miyake''s exquisite illustrations grace every page, bringing to life this timely reminder of the ways in which birds need us, and we need them.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisJon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many bestselling books, including Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie, Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, The Psychopath Test, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures with Extremists. His first fictional screenplay, Frank, co-written with Peter Straughan, starred Michael Fassbender. He is the creator of podcasts including Things Fell Apart and The Butterfly Effect. He lives in London and New York City.Trade ReviewHe is such an exceptional writer . . . an incredibly funny writer . . . a perfect sense of comic timing throughout, but he manages to deal with profound subjects . . . so enjoyable . . . you can be having a laugh while understanding a social phenomenon in a completely unique way; it's such a great book . . . We're buying it! * The BBC Radio 2 Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman *A magnificent book, subtly argued, often painfully funny and yet deeply serious. . . I'm not sure I can recommend it highly enough * Daily Mail *A work of original, inspired journalism, it considers the complex dynamics between those who shame and those who are shamed, both of whom can become the focus of social media's grotesque, disproportionate judgments -- Laurence Scott * Financial Times *superb and terrifying . . . So You've Been Publicly Shamed brings together all of Ronson's virtues as a writer, to a more serious purpose than hitherto . . . Ronson is a true virtuoso of the faux-naive style. He is so good at it that it's not irritating . . . Ronson has beautiful comic-prose skills . . . but Ronson's self-description as a "humorous journalist" is not the whole story. Comedy is his disguise and also his weapon. He is a moralist. Some of his best lines seem casual but contain fierce social diagnoses . . . towards the end of his new book, someone accuses him of "prurient curiosity". This prompts what may be taken as a statement of the moral approach behind all his work. "I didn't want to write a book that advocated for a less curious world. Prurient curiosity may not be great. But curiosity is. People's flaws need to be written about. The flaws of some people lead to horrors inflicted on to others. And then there are the more human flaws that, when you shine a light on to them, de-demonise people that might otherwise be seen as ogres." At its best, this is exactly what his writing can do . . . relentlessly entertaining and thought-provoking -- Steven Poole * Guardian *Ronson is our current master of smarter-than-average pop nonfiction that combines social science, investigative journalism and no shortage of style . . . Ronson and his subjects are strikingly candid about their fears, which is compelling if not always comfortable to read. But the book slowly turns out to be about something bigger than it seems: a survival guide to living with shame both public and private, an inevitable consequence of being human. * Saturday Paper (Australia) *Ronson's finely attuned ear for dialogue and his skilfully deployed nebbishness ensure a pacy but discomfiting read -- Gillian Terzis * The Australian *Jon Ronson's great strength as a writer is his empathy with his subject, which seems to bring about trust and openness from his interviewees. Like all journalists, he is a voyeur, but he is sensitive with his material and self-analytical enough to realise his own part in the phenomenon. So You've Been Publicly Shamed is an interesting commentary on human behaviour and its consequences. * The Register *immensely readable -- Will Dean * Independent *[A] brilliant, thought-provoking book - a fascinating examination of citizen justice, which has enjoyed a great renaissance since the advent of the internet * Tatler *Amusing and thought-provoking * Daily Telegraph *Certainly, no reader could finish it without feeling a need to be gentler online, to defer judgment, not to press the retweet button, to resist that primal impulse to stoke the fires of shame * The Times *As in his previous books, Ronson's style is to take us with him wherever the story goes, curiosity his guide. But unlike bestsellers The Men Who Stare At Goats (US new age warfare), The Psychopath Test (the mental health 'industry') or Them (ideological extremism), Shamed is not a critique of those at the fringes of our society, it's about us - or at least the very many of us who take to Twitter to heap vitriol on those we feel deserve it * Metro *Jon Ronson is one of the funniest writers we have * Red *Hugely entertaining * National *Engrossing and terrifying * New Statesman *Ronson specialises in writing witty, wide-eyed, free-wheeling books . . . He is full of curiosity, and writes in a friendly, slightly faux-naif voice, but with strong moral antennae -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Compulsively readable -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *So You've Been Publicly Shamed is possibly [Ronson's] most ambitious project yet . . . a brilliantly articulated, sensitively rendered attempt to reform the world -- Charlie Gilmour * Independent *So You've Been Publicly Shamed is fascinating, insightful and amusing and should be read by everyone * Women24 *Everyone who has any kind of online presence - including anonymous below-the-line commenters - will find this book gripping . . . Ronson remains one of our finest comic writers -- India Knight * Spectator *[A] simultaneously lightweight and necessary book * Esquire *I was mesmerized. And I was also disturbed -- Cheryl Conner * Forbes *Gutsy and smart. . . Without losing any of the clever agility that makes his books so winning, he has taken on truly consequential material and risen to the challenge -- Janet Maslin * New York Times *Read this book. Then tell someone else about it. Make sure you leave it in a place where an unsuspecting teen is lingering, they too could benefit from these timely fables of the digital world -- Elisabeth Marrow * Wairarapa Times *A gripping book, well written, articulate, honest and incredibly relevant in today's society. A book everyone with a twitter account should read . . . This is a book that will grip you and really make you think about 21st century society in a different way, definitely one to read, and one to read now * New Zealand Library Blogspot *Ronson is adept at taking a topic and explaining it through a number of case studies . . . His facts are gathered first-hand, his experiences conveyed with sharp observations of scene and character, and his conclusions logical. As contemporary society becomes ever more connected, Ronson's lessons will become even more important * Sunday Star Times *Witty . . .clever and thought-provoking * Publishers Weekly *This book really needed to be written * Salon *One of our most important modern day thinkers, Jon Ronson . . . has written one of the most therapeutic books imaginable -- Howard Forman * US News & Word Report *I very much enjoyed Jon Ronson's salutary examination of what happens when the internet turns on you: So You've Been Publicly Shamed (Picador). One stupid picture, one misplaced joke, and your life can be completely trashed. The book examines a very dark corner of the times we live in but manages to be both entertaining and humane -- Anthony Horowitz * Telegraph *So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson is the non-fiction book of the year - an alarming examination of victims and victimisers in the new social media sport of mob justice. -- Mark Lawson, Best Holiday Reads 2015 * Guardian *Jon Ronson is unreal. So You've Been Publicly Shamed - everyone should read that book.He's one of my favourite human beings. -- Bill HaderWe love Jon Ronson. He's thoughtful and very funny. [So You've Been Publicly Shamed] is a great book about the way the internet can gang up on people and shame them, when they deserve it, when they don't deserve it and it's great -- Judd ApatowA chilling look at how social media encourages witch hunts -- Helen LewisAn important start to a necessary conversation on internet hate mobs -- Naomi Alderman[Ronson] takes on one of the most egregious perils of life in the age of social media - the whopping magnification of some gaffe or misstep or downright lie - to the point that it achieves life-wrecking power. . .there's a lot to learn from his funny, insightful look at this red-hot topic * New York Times, Top Books of 2015 *Yes, it's a breezy read at the sentence level, but Ronson's latest book evokes a sense of dread that lingers. * TimeOut, Best Books of 2015 *Simmering with humour, weirdness and pathos * Sunday Times, Books of the Year *A fascinating exploration of modern media and public shaming. John Ronson has provided me so many dinner party conversation topics with this book. It's a great conversation starter -- Reese WitherspoonIt is difficult to read this book and not feel equal parts righteous (because we wound never do the horrible things that the people in this book have done) and guilty (because we all have done the totally benign things that the people in this book have done), it's a terrifying and keen insight into a new form of misguided mass hysteria -- Jesse EisenbergI'll read anything by my old pal Ronson, who always tackles serious topics with a sense of play and an appreciation for the absurd -- Sarah Vowell

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Book SynopsisThe definitive, fully-illustrated guide to the trees of Britain and non-Mediterranean Europe.This brand-new field guide to the trees of northern Europe contains some of the finest original tree illustrations ever produced. The introduction contains illustrations of the main leaves, buds, and firs you are likely to find, and these provide the starting point for identification by leading you to a ''key'' species.Within each tree family there is a list of key species and a guide to the most important features to look for when identifying a particular tree from that family. Then individual species are clearly described and a detailed illustration is given on the same page.Covering all the tree species found outside the major arboretums, from the olive tree to the eucalyptus, this is one of the most important tree guides to have appeared in the last 20 years. The illustrations are annotated with essential identification features, and the text highlights the most important things to look for to aid fast and accurate identification. There is also coverage of all the species native to Southern Europe.Trade ReviewPraise for the small format edition: ‘Entertaining and informative. A visual delight' BBC Wildlife 'A remarkable new guide' Guardian 'Outstanding colour paintings…precise and accurate' The Times 'David More's illustrations astonish by their beauty and detail' New Scientist 'Essential for 21st century treehuggers everywhere' Matt James 'Makes identifying trees a piece of cake…something all tree lovers will want to have' Garden News 'As compact as a complete handbook can possibly be' Best of British 'A must for all tree huggers and lovers' The Ecologist 'In the firmament of tree specialists, Dr Owen Johnson is a definite star' The Field 'In addition to the detailed descriptions and illustrations of bark, seed, and leaf, and well-planned structure, lies a host of information gems' Countryside Voice 'This nicely packaged and presented book is a must' Tree News 'Suffice to say that this book is an absolute must-have' New Woodworking

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Book SynopsisA practical companion to the international bestseller Dopamine Nation, for individuals, families, counsellors, teachers, and anyone who wants to go beyond the narrative and engage in practices that will reset reward pathways for a more flourishing life.In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Lembke introduced readers to her ground-breaking research that demonstrates how abundance itself is a stressor, contributing to rising rates of addiction, depression, and anxiety. Now, she''s written the workbook that we''ve all been waiting for. Full of specific exercises, fill-in tables, and inspiring examples, readers will be able to more clearly identify the substances and behaviors they struggle to moderate. With the warm, authoritative voice we know and love, Dr. Lembke will share her valuable advice on how to undertake your own dopamine fast, reset your own pathways, and live a happier and more fulfilling life.Praise for Dopamine Nation:''Anna Lembke''s stories of guiding people to find a healthy balance between pleasure and pain have the power to transform your life'' - Lori Gottlieb, bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone''Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued. Lembke weaves patient stories with research, in a voice that''s as empathetic as it is clear-eyed'' - Beth Macy, bestselling author of Dopesick''Radically changes the way we think about mental illness, pleasure, pain, reward, and stress. Turn toward it. You''ll be happy you did'' - Daniel Levitin, bestselling author of The Organized Mind

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Book SynopsisWhat is the secret to humanity's evolutionary success? Could it be our strength, our intellector something much nicer?Trade Review‘Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring – and a riveting read. Hare and Woods have written the perfect book for our time.’ -- Cass Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge‘An utterly persuasive explanation for why the human psyche has evolved to be dangerous – and what to do about it. It should be read by every politician and every school-child.’ -- Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution‘Very few books even attempt to do what this book succeeds in doing. It begins in basic behavioural science, proceeds to an analysis of cooperation (or lack thereof) in contemporary society, and ends with implications for public policy. Everyone should read this book.’ -- Michael Tomasello, author of Origins of Human Communication and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University‘Please read this beautiful, riveting, and uplifting book. You will learn the astonishing story of how and why humans evolved a deep impulse to help total strangers but also sometimes act with unspeakable cruelty. Just as importantly, you’ll learn how these insights can help all of us become more compassionate and more cooperative.’ -- Daniel E. Lieberman, author of The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease and Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding‘Survival of the Friendliest is a fascinating counterpoint to the popular [mis]conception of Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest.’ Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods offer a convincing case that it was not brute strength, raw intelligence, or ruthlessness that allowed modern humans to thrive while our hominin relatives died out. Instead, they argue that friendliness was the key to our flourishing – and that the same kind of cooperative communication is the key to freeing us from the tribalism currently threatening democratic governance around the world. Powerful, insightful, accessible – this book gives me hope.’ -- Megan Phelps-Roper, author of Unfollow‘How can a top predator like the wolf have evolved to become “man’s best friend”? Finally a book that explains in the clearest terms how friendliness and cooperation shaped dogs and humans. This book left me with a happy and optimistic view of nature.’ -- Isabella Rossellini, actress and activist

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Book SynopsisYou've heard of the Horse Whisperer now meet the woman who uses similar methods to train dogs.Jan Fennell's remarkable gifts have earned her the nickname the dog listener. Her unique understanding of the canine world and its instinctive language has enabled her to bring even the most desperate and delinquent of dogs to heel.This easy-to-follow guide to understanding Jan's simple techniques draws on her countless case histories of problem dogs from biters and barkers to bicycle chasers to show how we can bridge the language barrier that separates man from his best friend.In The Dog Listener Jan shares her secrets, telling us how she grew determined to find a more compassionate alternative to standard obedience training techniques and ultimately how to communicate with canines.

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Book SynopsisA book which gives scientific proof of the paranormal. Psychic activity, remote viewing, the power of prayer and homeopathy are all discussed in this book which The Ecologist called one of the most thought-provoking reads of the year', and which has already gained a almost cult following.Sales Handles: A highly readable scientific detective story which reveals how the Field' a vast cobweb of energy connecting everything in the universe, past and present, is responsible for many of the most profound human mysteriesHow psychics can read the future and the past; how remote viewing works and how such techniques have been used by the CIA; how energy healing works; why homeopathy works and all sorts of other mysteries are explored by the frontier scientists Lynne McTaggart has interviewed.Trade Review‘I think this is an important book and should be widely read. It stretches the imagination, making a good case that we are on the verge of another revolution in our understanding of the universe – perhaps even greater than the one that heralded the Atomic Age.’ Arthur C. Clarke ‘We must freely explore the unknown. Read, learn, accept and change your view of life … fascinating.’Bernie Siegel, M.D. ‘The Field is a preview of third-millennium science and how it will touch the lives of every person on earth…McTaggart’s book should come with a warning: MAY FOREVER CHANGE YOUR WORLD VIEW.’ Larry Dossey, M.D. "A fascinating read for anyone who believes there is more to this world than meets the eye. Unputdownable." JACQUES BENVENISTE

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Book Synopsis'Indecently entertaining.' A Daily Mail Book of the WeekAn Amazon US Best Book of 2022''A fascinating tale of poisons and poisonous deeds which both educates and entertains.'' Kathy ReichsAs any reader of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring and popular weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict?In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and narrative crime nonfiction, Dr Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes some notorious, some forgotten, some still unsolved are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved: eleven molecules of death that work their way through the humanTrade Review‘This very splendid book is essentially a detailed primer on how to dispose of your enemies. … A winning mixture of hard science and true crime stories, is almost indecently entertaining.’ Daily Mail ‘Lively … Bradbury is an engaging, cheerful tour guide.’ New York Times Book Review ‘Captivating in its storytelling and just enough science for the geeks. A tremendously entertaining dip into the dark and compelling world of death.’ Professor Dame Sue Black, author of All That Remains: A Life in Death ‘We’ve all seen Colonel Mustard dead in the library from poisoning. Instead of telling us why, in this original and invigorating book, Neil Bradbury focuses on how, exploring the workings of crime from a scientific basis. Fascinating.’ Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder 'Neil Bradbury writes with wit, flair, and authority.' Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling author of The Butchering Art ‘An engrossing history of poisons, poisonings and poisoners. Alongside the very human stories of the people who fall victim to these deadly substances, it’s packed with quirky detail and easily digestible (pun intended) science.’ Kate Morgan, author of Murder: The Biography 'Weaves jaw-dropping true stories and spellbinding histories behind the most infamous poisons.' Lydia Kang, bestselling author of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything 'An unselfconsciously jaunty work of horror. Its stories may leave you eyeing your housemates and sniffing your coffee.' Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell, bestselling authors of Working Stiff ‘An accessible and fascinating study.’ Publishers Weekly starred review ‘Appealing to any true crime fan … genre-bending.’ Booklist ‘A frightening romp … fascinating, edifying, and terrifying.’ Library Journal

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWe can't emphasise how much of a valuable resource this is. * How it Works *

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Book SynopsisStudying plant intelligence reveals ?humans may have been misunderstanding plants, and ourselves, for all of history??for fans of The Hidden Life of Trees (Paris Review).?A compelling story of discovery . . . It will change the way you see the world.? ?Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass In this ?phytobiography??a collection of stories written in partnership with a plant?research scientist Monica Gagliano shares genuine first-hand accounts from her research into plant communication and cognition. By transcending the view of plants as the objects of scientific materialism, Gagliano encourages us to rethink plants as people?beings with subjectivity, consciousness, and volition, and hence having the capacity for their own perspectives and voices. The book draws on up-close-and-personal encounters with the plants themselves, as well as plant shamans, indigenous elders, and mystics from around the world and integrates these experiences with an incredible research journey and the groundbreaking scientific discoveries that emerged from it. Gagliano has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers on how plants have a Pavlov-like response to stimuli and can learn, remember, and communicate to neighboring plants. She has pioneered the brand-new research field of plant bioacoustics, for the first time experimentally demonstrating that plants emit their own ''voices'' and, moreover, detect and respond to the sounds of their environments. By demonstrating experimentally that learning is not the exclusive province of animals, Gagliano has re-ignited the discourse on plant subjectivity and ethical and legal standing. This is the story of how she made those discoveries and how the plants helped her along the way.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction by David Amigoni. Charles Darwin's travels around the world as an independent naturalist on HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836 impressed upon him a sense of the natural world's beauty and sublimity which language could barely capture. Words, he said, were inadequate to convey to those who have not visited the inter-tropical regions, the sensation of delight which the mind experiences'. Yet in a travel journal which takes the reader from the coasts and interiors of South America to South Sea Islands, Darwin's descriptive powers are constantly challenged, but never once overcome. In addition, The Voyage of the Beagle displays Darwin's powerful, speculative mind at work, posing searching questions about the complex relation between the Earth's structure, animal forms, anthropology and the origins of life itself.

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Book SynopsisSunday Times bestseller We have a lifetime's association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory. In Adventures in Human Being, Gavin Francis leads the reader on a journey through health and illness, offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb; from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot. Drawing on his own experiences as a doctor and GP, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over the millennia. If the body is a foreign country, then to practise medicine is to explore new territory: Francis leads the reader on an adventure through what it means to be human. Both a user's guide to the body and a celebration of its elegance, this book will transform the way you think about being alive, whether in sickness or in health. Published in association with the Wellcome Collection. WELLCOME COLLECTION Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library that aims to challenge how we think and feel about health. Inspired by the medical objects and curiosities collected by Henry Wellcome, it connects science, medicine, life and art. Wellcome Collection exhibitions, events and books explore a diverse range of subjects, including consciousness, forensic medicine, emotions, sexology, identity and death. Wellcome Collection is part of Wellcome, a global charitable foundation that exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive, funding over 14,000 researchers and projects in more than 70 countries. wellcomecollection.orgTrade ReviewA sober and beautiful book about the landscape of the human body: thought-provoking and eloquent. * Hilary Mantel *Wonderful, subtle, unpretentious ... produces a kind of complicity between the author, the reader, and the subject * John Berger *Immensely engaging. * The Sunday Times *In Francis's beautifully written, exquisitely thoughtful, and completely captivating cartography, the body is a superbly-lit museum filled with treasures, and Dr. Francis the perfect guide who deftly weaves together science and story to reveal the wondrous flesh-and-blood underpinnings of our daily lives. It's a spellbinding view. -- Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper’s Wifeand The Human AgeI read this book transfixed... The style is crisp and fast and the human tales irresistible. I was left with many nuggets. -- Melanie Reid * The Times *So enthralling and so well written that it should win its own clutch of prizes... immensely engaging and often unexpected. His achievement here is to guide readers through his special landscape with such eloquence and subtlety. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *Grand, eloquent stuff, occasionally humorous, frequently moving and invariably informative... The end result is a thoroughly entertaining, provocative work. -- Robin McKie * The Observer *The joy of Mr Francis's work lies in the fact that although he delights in the body's physical reality, he takes care not to reduce human experience to that alone. * The Economist *A quietly radical, three-dimensional view of issues such as reproduction, birth, death and disability that has the power, at times, to make you stop mid-sentence and carefully reassess some of your most basic assumptions... its greatest strength is its profound yet understated compassion. * The Scotsman *Praise for Empire Antarctica: Francis' best writing (and it is excellent)... is Robert Macfarlane on ice. This writing achieves the 'quilted quality' of silence, and through it we are brought to a new landscape of words. * Literary Review *Empire Antarctica is the embodiment of everything I admire in travel writing -- a great journey, intense isolation, wide reading, vivid writing, scientific research, and something in the nature of an old-fashioned ordeal. That Gavin Francis is a medical doctor, with an important role to play in the darkness and cold at the ends of the earth, is a bonus. I loved this book. -- Paul TherouxA beautiful, profound and highly readable account of a remarkable personal adventure. Francis's pacing is deft, his prose vivid, his research worn lightly. Empire Antarctica is surely destined to become a standard, not so much of travel as of staying very still. * Daily Telegraph *A beautifully written guide to our wonders and weaknesses that combines the precision of science with a profound insight into the human condition. -- P D Smith * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''Damasio undertakes nothing less than a reconstruction of the natural history of the universe ... [A] brave and honest book'' The New York Times Book ReviewThe Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular existence and other primitive life-forms; and that inherent in our very chemistry is a powerful force, a striving toward life maintenance that governs life in all its guises, including the development of genes that help regulate and transmit life.The Strange Order of Things is a landmark reflection that spans the Trade Review'Damasio undertakes nothing less than a reconstruction of the natural history of the universe. ... [A] brave and honest book' The New York Times Book Review'Bold and important ... Damasio, by unseating the mind from its elevated throne within the brain, delivers an onslaught on one of the core dogmas of conventional neuroscience ... Compelling and refreshingly original' Nature'In The Strange Order of Things, Antonio Damasio presents a new vision of what it means to be human. For too long we have thought of ourselves as rational minds inhabiting insentient mechanical bodies. Breaking with this philosophy, Damasio shows how our minds are rooted in feeling, a creation of our nervous system with an evolutionary history going back to ancient unicellular life that enables us to shape distinctively human cultures. Working out what this implies for the arts, the sciences and the human future, Damasio has given us that rarest of things, a book that can transform how we think--and feel--about ourselves' John Gray, Literary Review'These pages make enthralling reading ... It is indispensable for any psychoanalyst--and not only for psychoanalysts, of course. Damasio is the closest thing we have in the post-truth era to a great public intellectual' Mark Solms, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association'Nietzsche would have given four cheers for this intricately argued book, which is at once scientifically rigorous and humanely accommodating, and, so far as this reviewer can judge, revolutionary ... The Strange Order of Things is a fresh and daring effort to identify the true spring and source of human being - of the being, in fact, of all living things - namely feeling' John Banville, The Guardian'A radical revision of how we understand mind, feeling, consciousness, and the construction of cultures ... Damasio draws a visionary link between biology and social science in a fascinating investigation of homeostasis--the delicate balance that underpins our physical existence, ensures our survival, and defines our flourishing' Maria Popova, Brain Pickings'Almost a quarter century after Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio has done it again--created a grand exploration of the inextricable relationship between mind, body and the source of human feelings. Along the way, Damasio takes the reader on an adventure that starts with the single-celled organisms that existed billions of years ago, proceeds through the development of nervous systems and brains, and culminates with the origin of consciousness and human cultures. Thought-provoking and highly original, this book can change the way you look at yourself, and your species' Leonard Mlodinow, author of Subliminal'The Strange Order of Things is a foundational book. It provides the concepts, the language, and the knowledge to explain in an integrated framework the interplay between Nature and Culture at the heart of the human condition. Damasio unveils the codes and protocols that make humans human ... This is the beginning of a new scientific revolution' Manuel Castells, author of Networks of Outrage and Hope'Following Oliver Sacks, Antonio Damasio may be the neuroscientist whose popular books have done the most to inform readers about the biological machinery in our heads, how it generates thoughts and emotions, creates a self to cling to, and a sense of transcendence to escape by...[the book] mounts his boldest argument yet for the egalitarian role of the brain' Kevin Berger, Nautilus'Damasio takes his reader on an intellectual journey he has made himself, one of discovery, surprise, and insight. He explains his points thoroughly but does not simplify what is complicated. He is handy with a metaphor and avoids unnecessary jargon. In a world in which specialisation has become so refined that the discourse of a given discipline often becomes wholly unintelligible to those outside it, Antonio Damasio conveys his thoughts with clarity and grace and summons the works of composers and writers and philosophers' Siri Hustvedt, Los Angeles Review of Books'Damasio's books are marvels of scientific effervescence, of conceptual invention, and, in the end, of modesty, of that sense of the limits of knowledge that only knowledge is capable of imposing' Le Monde'Here is a new, strange and unassailable definition of life' Slate 'Ever since his first book, Damasio has not wavered in his efforts to rehabilitate emotions and feelings within cognitive processes. In The Strange Order of Things he nails down the effort and goes well beyond' Les Echos '[Damasio] exerts a considerable influence on the fashioning of contemporary thought and on all debates concerning neurology. Damasio is one of the great thinkers of our time. A pioneer in his field' L'Express'[Damasio] has introduced something baroque in a science that has been centered in one single organ, the brain. The Strange Order of Things vibrates with a baroque sensibility' Le Figaro'This disturbing book shakes our conceptions of the mechanisms behind life, mind and culture. The author brings them together in a single perspective centered on homeostasis ... It is incredibly, formidably, refreshing ... A strange and ambitious book, which draws on multiple disciplines and moves across time and space to give us, very simply, a new definition of life' Revue Medicale Suisse

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Book SynopsisFrom the pilot's seat in the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to the site in Finland where highly radioactive waste will be buried, this is the incredible story of nuclear power.Providing a vivid account of the characters and events that have shaped this controversial energy source and our thinking around it, The Power of Nuclear weaves politics, culture and technology to explore the past and future of nuclear power. Investigating the dawn of the atomic age in the 1940s, it goes on to show how the world came to fear nuclear plants after Chernobyl.In his quest to disentangle myth from facts, Marco Visscher asks: How dangerous is radiation? What should you do after a nuclear accident? And have nuclear weapons really made the world less safe? And why do some still reject the evidence that the atom can provide unlimited clean energy and free countries of their dependence on fossil fuels , combatting climate change and offering energy securi

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Book SynopsisA revised and thoroughly updated edition of THE definitive guide to identifying dragonflies in Europe.The first edition of the Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe was a ground-breaking identification guide that led to an increase in Odonata recording across Europe. The second edition includes fully revised regional guides and identification texts, updated distribution maps and conservation statuses, illustrated accounts for five species that have been discovered in the region since the first edition, updated checklists and taxonomy, new photographs throughout, as well as an introduction to larvae identification. Each species is lavishly illustrated with artworks of males, females and variations, as well as close-ups of important characters.Trade ReviewPraise for the first edition: ‘A superb guide and a magnificent achievement. This book could scarcely have been better.’ * Birding World *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Regional guide to dragonflies Identification Appendices Index

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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 SynopsisA brilliant theoretical physicist argues that the solution to the ultimate question in science: how to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics, is possible only if we abolish time from the foundations of the universe. In other words, despite our deepest intuitions, time does not exist.

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Book SynopsisIn a single work of colossal scope one of the world's greatest scientists has given us a complete and unrivalled guide to the glories of the universe that we all inhabit.'Roger Penrose is the most important physicist to work in relativity theory except for Einstein.Trade ReviewPenrose is truly one of the world's leading mathematical physicists. Genuinely magnificent and stimulating * Scotland on Sunday *Science needs more people like Penrose, willing and able to point out the flaws in fashionable models from a position of authority, and to signpost alternative roads to follow * Independent *This is a tour de force that is unlikely to be bettered this decade * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisANTONIO DAMASIO is a University Professor, David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Neurology, and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. Damasio's other books include Descartes' Error; Self Comes to Mind; and Looking for Spinoza. He has received the Honda Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, and, shared with his wife Hanna, the Pessoa, Signoret, and Cozzarelli prizes. Damasio is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He lives in Los Angeles.Trade ReviewThe life-changing read of the year... The book is crammed with tiny gems of information with which to reassess how you look at the world and think about yourself -- Katie Mitchell * Guardian *A tour de force...a monumental book...a gem of a work -- Anthony Clare * Sunday Times *Compelling...a story told with clarity and pace, unencumbered by unnecessary technical jargon and illustrated with insightful clinical anecdotes * The Times *A fascinating and suggestive book * Literary Review *Both Descartes' Error and The Feeling of What Happens are essential reading. They are groundbreaking classics of psychology and neuroscience. These are the books to buy, keep and ponder upon. Do so, and you will be ahead of the ruck by at least a decade * Journal Of The Royal Society of Medicine *

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Book SynopsisRoger Penrose is one the world's foremost theoretical physicists, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020. He has won numerous other prizes, including the Albert Einstein Medal, for his fundamental contributions to general relativity and cosmology. He is the bestselling author of The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe and Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe. His other books include Fashion, Faith and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe, The Emperor's New Mind, Shadows of the Mind and, with Stephen Hawking, The Nature of Space and Time. He is the Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at the University of Oxford, and lives in Oxford.Trade ReviewPenrose has come closer than anyone to a rigorous discussion of the most intriguing problems of all: what are we? How do we think? And what is it that makes us human? * The Times *Clearly the product of a brilliant mind * Times Literary Supplement *His book may be the first accessible report to a general readership about the site, if not the actual substance, of the holy grail of consciousness - the precise point where quantum activity interacts with classical physical activity in the brain... His passionate attempt at popular exposition lends importance to a debate that he believes too crucial to be left to the specialists alone * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA thoroughly updated third edition of an classic and widely adopted text, perfect for practical transistor design and in the classroom. Covering a variety of recent developments, the internationally renowned authors discuss in detail the basic properties and designs of modern VLSI devices, as well as factors affecting performance. Containing around 25% new material, coverage has been expanded to include high-k gate dielectrics, metal gate technology, strained silicon mobility, non-GCA (Gradual Channel Approximation) modelling of MOSFETs, short-channel FinFETS, and symmetric lateral bipolar transistors on SOI. Chapters have been reorganized to integrate the appendices into the main text to enable a smoother learning experience, and numerous additional end-of-chapter homework exercises (+30%) are included to engage students with real-world problems and test their understanding. A perfect text for senior undergraduate and graduate students taking advanced semiconductor devices courses, and for practicing silicon device professionals in the semiconductor industry.Table of ContentsPrefaces; Physical constants and unit conversions; List of symbols; 1. Introduction; 2. Basic device physics; 3. p–n junctions and metal–silicon contacts; 4. MOS capacitors; 5. MOSFETs: long channel; 6. MOSFETs: short channel; 7. Silicon-on-insulator and double-gate MOSFETs; 8. CMOS performance factors; 9. Bipolar devices; 10. Bipolar device design; 11. Bipolar performance factors; 12. Memory devices; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisA TIMES ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 'Brilliant .. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough' - Henry Marsh, New Statesman (about The Idea of the Brain) A new gene editing technology, invented just seven years ago, has turned humanity into gods. Enabling us to manipulate the genes in virtually any organism with exquisite precision, CRISPR has given scientists a degree of control that was undreamt of even in science fiction. But CRISPR is just the latest, giant leap in a long journey to master genetics. The Genetic Age shows the astonishing, world-changing potential of the new genetics and the possible threats it poses, sifting between fantasy and the reality when it comes to both benefits and dangers. By placing each phase of discovery, anticipation and fear in the context of over fifty years of attempts to master the natural world, Matthew Cobb, the Baillie-Gifford-shortlisted author of The Idea of the Brain, weaves the stories of science, history and culture to shed new light on our future. With the powers now at our disposal, it is a future that is almost impossible to imagine - but it is one we will create ourselves.Trade ReviewFascinating, occasionally chilling and very readable -- Rhys Blakely * The Times *An excellent primer for anyone seeking a well-informed discussion of the moral implications of this enduringly controversial science * Economist *Detailed and deeply researched ... striking ... complex -- Henry Marsh * New Statesman *Disturbing and readable * New Scientist *Comprehensive ... you can sense Cobb's excitement and enthusiasm * TLS *[A] deeply researched and often deeply troubling history of gene science ... [in search of] decency and honor in a morally complex field. -- Deborah Blum * New York Times *Masterfully written and deeply researched ... Cobb catapults us into a world full of the joys of discovery, the intense rivalries and friendships between scientists, and the many moral and scientific uncertainties about genetics that await us -- Siddhartha Mukherjee, author * The Gene: An Intimate History *The ideal guide to what is not just a fiendishly complex area of science but also an ethical minefield * Mail on Sunday *There are serious questions about the safety of genetic engineering, but also profound social and ethical questions about its use. Matthew Cobb, in his detailed and deeply researched book ... is concerned as much about these questions as he is about the technical details ... but the book is not a primer for understanding the field; it is much more than that. -- Henry Marsh * New Statesman *Wonderful ... a thoughtful, lively and evocative exposition of the history of genetic engineering. -- Adrian Woolfson * Wall Street Journal *Excellent and occasionally harrowing ... masterfully told history ... offers a clear-eyed, well-researched view of the promises and pitfalls of a necessary new technology * Forbes *[An] indefatigable exploration of the genesis of biology ... beautifully lays out the sheer improbability of our biosphere. * The Atlantic *A look at genetic engineering that provides valuable background for rethinking the appropriate uses for these technologies. * Kirkus *A truly valuable book ... most of us get very big picture ideas of what's going on with gene editing and other genetic modifications from the media. Now we've got the real story -- Brain Clegg * Popular Science *An engaging, intriguing book about the history of genetic engineering and where it might lead society ... Excellent. * Library Journal *[A] remarkable jaunt through the twists and turns of the genetic engineering revolution ... a valuable new go-to source. -- Luis A. Campos * Science *Cobb does an excellent job describing the history and the nuts and bolts of genetic engineering. But his real focus, as the title of his book implies, is on the sociological, psychological, and philosophical questions surrounding the genetic age. * GEN Biotechnology *His evenhanded critique balances caution about emergent technologies with tart scepticism of overreaching claims ... The result is an eye-opening - and occasionally hair-raising - indictment of scientific hubris and recklessness. * Publishers Weekly *The book provides such rich description that even the most knowledgeable readers ... will learn something new ... fascinating. * Journal of Medical Humanities *Powerful gene technologies, long foreseen, are finally with us. Taking the measure of this daunting prospect calls for historical acumen, technical appreciation, and a clear-eyed view of human foibles. As this book attests, Matthew Cobb has all three -- Jon TurneyA superb account of genetic engineering in life and culture, in all its myriad anxieties and exhilarations. Should we be scared? Read this book and you'll have a sense of the answer -- Adam Roberts, author * It's the End of the World *The essential, engrossing and disturbing story of a science that enabled us to create new forms of life -- Victoria GillMatthew Cobb is a great storyteller of science, a tapestry of intriguing and enlightening ideas thoughtfully and entertainingly told -- Robin InceProfound and important ... Written with astute, calm and clear-sighted judgement, The Genetic Age is likely to be the definitive account of the rise of gene biotechnologies. Neither a credulous booster nor a doom-mongering catastrophist, Matthew Cobb steers a prudent path through the promise and perils of genetic engineering -- Philip Ball, author * Critical Mass *Faced with a new round of genetic dreams and nightmares, Matthew Cobb skilfully sifts the truth from the hype in this thrilling and alarming account of our most dangerous and exciting technology -- Paul Mason, author * How to Stop Fascism *The promise of genetic engineering is limitless, the stuff of dreams and nightmares, and that is also the problem, as Matthew Cobb shows us in this elegant and meticulously researched history. Packed with human stories and fascinating detail, this is the journey of discovery that changed how we view life itself. -- Gaia Vince, author * Transcendence, Adventures in the Anthropocene *A lucid and vigorously insightful account of the pitfalls and triumphs of the twenty-first century's most ethically challenging and potentially world-changing technology -- Paul McAuley, author * Fairyland *A superb guide to the global history of the dreams, fears and science of genetic engineering, and why it matters for tomorrow -- Jon Agar, author * Turing and the Universal Machine *A gripping, bawdy tale of science fiction morphing into business history ... Exhaustively researched and beautifully written ... the histories of recombinant DNA, biotech, GMOs, gene therapy, and cloning in a single lively, accessible account -- Nathaniel Comfort, Professor of the History of Medicine, John Hopkins University, and author * The Tangled Field: How Genetics Became the Heart of American Medicine *A riveting guide to the new age of genome engineering, revealing how ideas and technology that until recently existed only in science fiction are now a stunning clinical reality ... Required reading for anyone who cares about the future of humanity and our planet -- Kevin Davies, author * Editing Humanity *The genetic advances of the past half-century have raised the possibility that we can not only read the instructions that make living things, including ourselves, but also edit them at will. As a geneticist, Matthew Cobb celebrates the potential of these advances for medicine, agriculture and biodiversity. As a historian, however, he sets them against a complex social, political and cultural backdrop, arguing that everyone should have a voice in deciding what is necessary and right, not just what is possible. His riveting analysis warns that in a world beset by poverty, inequality and climate catastrophe, chasing apparently dazzling technofixes is rarely cost effective or morally justified. -- Georgina Ferry, scientist and broadcaster

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Book SynopsisSteve Parker is a writer and editor of more than 300 information books specializing in science, particularly biology and medicine, and allied life sciences. He has authored titles for a range of ages and publishers, including the award-winning Kill or Cure: An Illustrated History of Medicine for DK.

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Book SynopsisMosses have a spectacular diversity of beautiful and surprising forms. They are nearly always, what we as humans would consider, small; but they play a critical role in climate change prevention and have an ability to hold and control water in forests, uplands and valleys. Hidden World of Mosses explores the tiny, intriguing environments of these plants that have their own miniature forests filled with grazers and predators, and their own ecological norms and mechanics.

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