Science & Nature Books

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

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Book SynopsisThe acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams tackles big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way” (Wall Street Journal) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities—and impossibilities—of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between.   Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity? Is consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab?   Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, whom The Washington Post has called “the poet laureate of science writers,” explores these questions and more—from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life

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Book SynopsisFINALIST FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD***A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021***A SCIENCE NEWS FAVORITE BOOK OF 2021***A SMITHSONIAN TOP TEN SCIENCE BOOK OF 2021?Stories that both dazzle and edify… This book is not just about life, but about discovery itself.??Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times Book ReviewWe all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world?from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses?the harder they find it is to locate life?s edge. Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can?t answer that question here on earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society?s most charged conflicts?whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead. Life''s Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation that no one but one of the most celebrated science writers of our generation could craft. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to re-create life. Literally hundreds of definitions of what that should look like now exist, but none has yet emerged as an obvious winner. Lists of what living things have in common do not add up to a theory of life. It''s never clear why some items on the list are essential and others not. Coronaviruses have altered the course of history, and yet many scientists maintain they are not alive. Chemists are creating droplets that can swarm, sense their environment, and multiply. Have they made life in the lab? Whether he is handling pythons in Alabama or searching for hibernating bats in the Adirondacks, Zimmer revels in astounding examples of life at its most bizarre. He tries his own hand at evolving life in a test tube with unnerving results. Charting the obsession with Dr. Frankenstein''s monster and how the world briefly believed radium was the source of all life, Zimmer leads us all the way into the labs and minds of researchers engineering life from scratch.

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Book SynopsisIn his most extraordinary book, the bestselling author of Awakenings and poet laureate of medicine” (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients inhabiting the compelling world of neurological disorders, from those who are no longer able to recognize common objects to those who gain extraordinary new skills.Featuring a new preface, Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with perceptual and intellectual disorders: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; whose limbs seem alien to them; who lack some skills yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. In Dr. Sacks’s splendid and sympathetic telling, his patients are deeply human and his tales are studies of struggles against incredible adversity. A great

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? An exhilarating tour of humanity''s next great technological achievement?quantum computing?which may supercharge artificial intelligence, solve some of humanity''s biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease, and eventually illuminate the deepest mysteries of science, by the bestselling author ofThe God Equation. ? ?Expertly describes and rectifies common misconceptions about quantum computing. ?Science[Kaku''s] lucid prose and thought process make abundant sense of this technological turning point.? ?The New York Times Book ReviewThe runaway success of the microchip may finally be reaching its end. As shrinking transistors approach the size of atoms, the phenomenal growth of computational power inevitably collapses. But this change heralds the birth of a revolutionary new type of computer, one that calculates on atoms themselves.Quantum computers promise unprecedented gains in computing power, enabling advancements that could overturn every aspect of our daily lives. While the media has mainly focused on their startling potential to crack any known encryption method, the race is already on to exploit their incredible power to revolutionize industry. Automotive makers, medical researchers, and consulting firms are all betting on quantum computing to design more efficient vehicles, create life-saving new drugs, and streamline businesses. But this is only the beginning. Quantum computing could be used to decode the complex chemical processes needed to produce cheap fertilizers and unleash a second Green Revolution; create a super battery that will enable the Solar Age; or design nuclear fusion reactors to generate clean, safe, renewable energy. It may even unravel the fiendishly difficult protein folding that lies at the heart of as-yet-incurable diseases like Alzheimer?s, ALS, and Parkinson?s. Already, quantum computers are being put to work to help solve the greatest mystery in science?the origin of the universe.There is no single problem humanity faces that might not be addressed by quantum computers. With his signature clarity and enthusiasm, Dr. Michio Kaku, who has spent his entire professional life working on the quantum theory, tells the thrilling story of this exciting scientific frontier and the race to claim humanity?s future.

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