Science & Nature Books

Book SynopsisHave you ever listened to an incredible piece of music and wondered exactly why it makes you want to dance or cry? Are you mystified by how musicians just 'know' what notes to play next when they're improvising? Or why certain notes sound great together and others clash? Discover the answers in this ear-opening tour of how music works. John Powell, a classically-trained composer and a physics professor, decided to write this entertaining, pain-free guide to the ingredients of music when he discovered that all the other books on the subject gave him a headache. Here he reveals the often little-known facts and fascinating science behind what we listen to, explaining the basics of harmony, scales, chords, keys and rhythm in a way that's easy for everyone to understand. He also shows us why a note has a different sound to a normal noise, why Chinese people are more likely to have perfect pitch, and even why Beethoven and Led Zeppelin are musically similar. This book reveals things that people who play music should know but often don't, and will help all of us - even if we can't read a note - increase our listening pleasure.Trade ReviewThoroughly accessible, and occasionally revelatory ... It's hard to imagine how Powell could have done a better job * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisMeet Norm. He's 31, 5'9", just over 13 stone, and works a 39 hour week. He likes a drink, doesn't do enough exercise and occasionally treats himself to a bar of chocolate (milk). He's a pretty average kind of guy. In fact, he is the average guy in this clever and unusual take on statistical risk, chance, and how these two factors affect our everyday choices. Watch as Norm (who, like all average specimens, feels himself to be uniquely special), and his friends careful Prudence and reckless Kelvin, turns to statistics to help him in life's endless series of choices - should I fly or take the train? Have a baby? Another drink? Or another sausage? Do a charity skydive or get a lift on a motorbike? Because chance and risk aren't just about numbers - it's about what we believe, who we trust and how we feel about the world around us. From a world expert in risk and the bestselling author of The Tiger That Isn't (and creator of BBC Radio 4's More or Less), this is a commonsense (and wildly entertaining) guide to personal risk and decoding the statistics that represent it.Trade ReviewFascinating * Daily Mail *Helping people make sense of the barrage of confusing (and often misrepresented) statistics that riddle every day is a noble goal. * Economist *A fast-paced, whizz-bang style * The Times *Witty and illuminating, essential reading for anyone wanting to know whether they should try skydiving, or accept that third glass of wine * Financial Times *Accessible yet deep, The Norm Chronicles explains how statistical regularities and irregularities are central to every aspect of our lives. If Jonathan Coe and Gerd Gigerenzer were to collaborate on a sardonic self-help book, this is what it might look like. -- Andrew Gelman, Professor of Statistics and Political Science, Columbia University

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Book SynopsisFor more than a century, we were restricted to studying evolution from the outside, observing its progress only through the fossil record. No longer. We can now also read the DNA record. As well as containing the operating instructions for everyday existence and for making the next generation, DNA contains a vast and detailed history of the three-billion-year development of life on Earth. It is a living chronicle of evolution, pinpointing the precise changes that have enabled Earth's marvelous creatures to inhabit the planet's shifting environments, from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to the lush canopy of the rainforest. Captivating and lucid, The Making of the Fittest delves deep into the DNA record to reveal not just how the fittest survive but also how they are made.Trade ReviewDazzling work, passionate and magisterial. Nothing of more lasting importance than the core narrative of this book will be published this year - Guardian * Guardian *Table of ContentsPreface Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt. Chapter 1 Introduction: The Bloodless Fish of Bouvet Island. Chapter 2 The Everyday Math of Evolution: Chance, Selection, and Time. Chapter 3 Immortal Genes: Running in Place for Eons. Chapter 4 Making the New from the Old. Chapter 5 Fossil Genes: Broken Pieces of Yesterday's Life. Chapter 6 Deja Vu: How and Why Evolution Repeats Itself. Chapter 7 Our Flesh and Blood: Arms Races, the Human Race, and Natural Selection. Chapter 8 The Making and Evolution of Complexity. Chapter 9 Seeing and Believing. Chapter 10 The Palm Trees of Wyoming. Sources and Further Reading. Acknowledgements. Index.

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Book SynopsisWhat do scientists actually do? Is science "value-free"? How has science evolved through history? Where is science leading us? "Introducing Philosophy of Science" is a clear and incisively illustrated map of the big questions underpinning science. It is essential reading for students, the general public, and even scientists themselves.

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Book SynopsisWe encounter physics before we've even left the house in the morning; an alarm clock tracks time, a mirror reflects light waves and our mobile phones rely on satellites held in their orbit by gravity. Where would we be without the Bernoulli equation to explain how planes fly, electromagnetic waves enabling us to communicate around the world or the discovery of X-rays? In 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know Joanne Baker will uncover the physics all around us, from basic concepts like gravity, light and energy through to the complexities of quantum theory, chaos and dark energy. Featuring short biographies of iconic physicists, explanatory diagrams and timelines showing discoveries within their historical context, this book is the perfect guide to the fundamental concepts of physics, making even the most challenging theories easy to understand. Contents include: Newton's law of gravitation, Brownian motion, Chaos theory, Fleming's right hand rule, Planck's law, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Schrodinger's cat, Superconductivity, Rutherford's atom, Nuclear fission and fusion, The God particle, String theory, Special and general relativity, The big bang and the Anthropic principle.Table of ContentsIntroduction. MATTER IN MOTION: Mach's principle; Newton's laws of motion; Kepler's laws; Newton's law of gravitation; Conservation of energy; Simple harmonic motion; Hooke's law; Ideal gas law; Second law of thermodynamics; Absolute zero; Brownian motion; Chaos theory; Bernoulli equation. BENEATH THE WAVES: Newton's theory of colour; Huygens' principle; Snell's law; Bragg's law; Fraunhofer diffraction; Doppler effect; Ohm's law; Fleming's right hand rule; Maxwell's equations. QUANTUM CONUNDRUMS: Planck's law; Photoelectric effect; Schrodinger's wave equation; Heisenberg's uncertainty principle; Copenhagen interpretation; Schrodinger's cat, The EPR paradox; Pauli's exclusion principle; Superconductivity. SPLITTING ATOMS: Rutherford's atom; Antimatter; Nuclear fission; Nuclear fission; Nuclear fusion; Standard model; Feynman diagrams; The God particle; String theory. SPACE AND TIME: Special relativity; General relativity; Black holes; Olbers' paradox; Hubble's law; The big bang; Cosmic inflation; Dark matter; Cosmological constant; Fermi paradox; Anthropic principle. Glossary. Index.

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Book SynopsisDeception, also known as "lying", is a pervasive and fundamental social behavior in which a person attempts to persuade another to accept as true what the deceiver believes to be untrue. Because of its essential role in our social life, it is important for social neuroscience to reveal the inner workings of deception. This special issue provides a representative sample of new empirical research on the cognitive and neural processes associated with producing deceptive responses. Eight contributions report studies employing a variety of paradigms and techniques (behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging, event-related potentials, and transcranial magnetic stimulation) that address several theoretical and methodological issues for deception research. Numerous questions are raised by these studies. First, is deception a unitary phenomenon, and are all lies the same? If there are different types of lies and there are individual differences in deception, can lies be detected reliably in single individuals? Second, are deception processes special in any way or do they depend only on a set of general-purpose cognitive and neural processes? Third, is it valid to study deception in the laboratory, and to what extent can laboratory studies be designed to resemble real-life deception situations? Fourth, are different cognitive and neural measures associated with deception affected equally by different factors? Can we devise reliable methods to detect deception by exploiting this knowledge? These questions provide important directions for future research. Establishing the brain correlates of deception behaviour will be challenging, but already we have made great strides.Table of ContentsG. Ganis, J.P. Keenan, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Deception. J.B. Allen, R. Mertens, Limitations to the Detection of Deception: True and False Recollections are Poorly Distinguished Using an Event-related Potential Procedure. M.A. Lui, J.P. Rosenfeld, A.H. Ryan, Thirty-Site P300 Scalp Distribution, Amplitude Variance Across Sites, and Amplitude in Detection of Deceptive Concealment of Multiple Guilty Items. F.A. Kozel, K.A. Johnson, S.J. Laken, E.L. Grenesko, J.A. Smith, J. Walker, M.S. George, Can Simultaneously Acquired Electrodermal Activity Improve Accuracy of fMRI Detection of Deception? J.G. Hakun, K. Ruparel, D. Seelig, E. Busch, J.W. Loughead, R.C. Gur, D.D. Langleben, Resume Query Test: Towards Clinical Trials of Lie Detection with fMRI. G. Monteleone, K.L. Phan, H. Nusbaum, D. Fitzgerald, J. Stockton Irick, S. Fienberg, J. Cacioppo, Detection of Deception Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Well Above Chance, Though Well Below Perfection. G. Ganis, R.R. Morris, S.M. Kosslyn, Neural Processes Underlying Self- and Other-related Lies: An Individual Difference Approach using fMRI. C.J. Morgan, J.B. LeSage, S.M. Kosslyn, Types of Deception Revealed by Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities. K.J. Kelly, E. Murray, V. Barrios, J. Gorman, G. Ganis, J.P. Keenan, The Effect of Deception on Motor Cortex Excitability.

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Book SynopsisThere are many mononuclear iron containing enzymes in nature that utilize molecular oxygen and transfer one or both oxygen atoms of O2 to substrates. These enzymes catalyze many processes including the biosynthesis of hormones, the metabolism of drugs, DNA and RNA base repair and, the biosynthesis of antibiotics. Therefore, mononuclear iron containing enzymes are important intermediates in bioprocesses and have great potential in the commercial biosynthesis of specific products since they often catalyze reactions regioselectively or stereospecifically. Understanding their mechanism and function is important and will assist in searches for commercial exploitation. In recent years, advances in experimental as well as theoretical methodologies have made it possible to study the mechanism and function of these enzymes and much information on their properties has been gained. This book highlighting recent developments in the field is, therefore, a timely addition to the literature and will interest a broad readership in the fields of biochemistry, inorganic chemistry and computational chemistry. The Editors, leaders in the field of nonheme and heme iron containing monoxygenases, have filled the book with topical review chapters by leaders in the various sub-disciplines.Table of ContentsNonheme iron(IV)-oxo oxidants in enzymes: Spectroscopic properties and reactivity patterns; Heme iron(IV)-oxo oxidants in enzymes: Spectroscopic properties and reactivity patterns; Mechanism and function of taurine/ -ketoglutarate dioxygenase enzymes, an update; Mechanism and function of cysteine dioxygenase enzymes; Mechanism and function of heme peroxidase enzymes; Mechanism and function of cytochrome P450 enzymes Biomimetic studies of mononuclear nonheme iron containing oxidants; Biomimetic studies of mononuclear porphyrin containing oxidants; Density functional calibration studies on iron-containing systems; Density functional theory studies on isomerisation reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics studies of peroxidase enzymes; Theoretical modelling of nonheme iron containing oxidants

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Book SynopsisIt is believed that beer has been produced, in some form, for thousands of years - the ancient Egyptians being one civilization with a knowledge of the fermentation process. Beer production has seen many changes over the centuries, and Brewing, Second Edition brings the reader right up to date with the advances in the last decade. Covering the various stages of beer production, reference is also made to microbiology within the brewery and some pointers to research on the topic are given. Written by a recently retired brewer, this book will appeal to all beer-lovers, but particularly those within the industry who wish to understand the processes, and will be relevant to students of food or biological sciences.Trade Review"""... a fascinating read ... delightful ...""""""... a superb introduction to the science and practice of brewing beer.""""""It is written in an easy-to-read descriptive style and there is a good mix of the historical and scientific aspects. The well-constructed diagrams and charts aid understanding along the way.""""""... a very readable text ... can certainly be recommended to students, in particular for its treatment of fermentation and microbiology ...""""""... a concise and extremely informative volume ... which will appeal to individuals within the brewing and food industries, students of food, chemical or biological sciences, and all beer-lovers!"""Table of ContentsHistorical Material; Barley and Malt; Hops;The Brewhouse; Fermentation;Beer post-fermentation; The Brewery Laboratory; Subject Index.

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Book SynopsisProficiency in volumetric analysis is a key skill for chemists in research and industry. This work seeks to ‘modernise’ approaches to volumetric analysis, by relating practical work to vocationally-relevant topics, whilst maintaining the rigor required for satisfactory performance in practical examinations. Written by someone who has experienced both teaching and working as a research chemist, this up to date textbook on practical volumetric analysis will provide the theoretical chemistry associated with volumetric analysis supported by a selection of practicals. There will also be suggestions for a number of investigations which could form the basis of project-based learning or coursework, particularly for those pursing vocational science courses. Section 1 will consist of three theory chapters, covering preliminary concepts (fundamentals of chemistry, essential quantitative chemistry and concepts of statistics). Section 2 will be divided into four chapters, based on the four main divisions of volumetric analysis (acid-base titrimetry, redox titrimetry, precipitation titrimetry and complexometric titrimetry). Each chapter in this section will start with a review of essential theory, with worked examples and illustrations where appropriate, and end with a selection of laboratory practicals. Each chapter will also contain a number of open-ended investigations, for use in project-based learning or coursework. Section 3 will address more advanced topics and be divided into four chapters (volumetric analysis in industry, further statistical concepts, mathematics of titrimetry and advanced titrimetry). Practical work and suggestions for further reading will be included where appropriate. Practical Volumetric Analysis is suitable for students taking modules in introductory chemistry and analytical chemistry on undergraduate degree courses as well as providing guidance to non-specialists teaching chemistry.Table of ContentsSECTION 1 PRELIMINARIES: Foundations of Chemistry; Essential Quantitative Chemistry; Statistical Concepts; SECTION 2 INTRODUCTORY VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS: Basics of Volumetric Analysis; Acid-Base Titrimetry; Redox Titrimetry; Precipitation Titrimetry; Complexometric Titrimetry; SECTION 3 FURTHER TOPICS IN VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS: Advanced Titrimetry; The Mathematics of Titrimetry; Volumetric Analysis in Industry; Further Statistical Concepts; Index

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Book SynopsisA beautiful and lavishly illustrated book which presents the complexities of solitary bee diversity, biology and evolution in accessible form.

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Book SynopsisA thorough, evidence-based review of the eight potentially most dangerous animals in southern and eastern Africa. Brings together all the information normally available only in separate books or articles.

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Book Synopsis"What is the nature of matter?"Within conventional science, the reductionist, materialist view asserts that matter is solely physical. Hauschka shows that open-minded study, based on qualitative observation and quantitative research, can overcome this now standardized view. Without denying the laws of matter, he shows the limitations of a science restricted by them, and points to new research that indicates the primal nature of spirit. This classic work, reprinted in its original form, is the result of Dr Hauschka's many years' research at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Through decades of experimentation he came to radical conclusions that suggested potential new directions for science. This book includes the detailed results of Hauschka's experiments although his approach is not restricted to measurement and outer observation. Based on the work of Goethe and Steiner, he encourages a method of seeing nature that has an artistic quality, and calls for direct experience rather than intellectual theorizing. "The Nature of Substance" is generally accessible. The author deliberately avoids technical terms and academic style in favor of vivid descriptions and lively discussions. His fascinating study takes in many substances, with chapters on plants, animals, oils, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, metals, carbon, oxygen, poisons, high dilutions, and much more. This book is a companion volume to the author s other work, "Nutrition."

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Book SynopsisPut your birdwatching expertise to the test and learn more about the birds in your garden with this new puzzle book from the RSPB!Do you know what the smallest bird in your garden is? And whose birdsong sounds like 'tea-cher, tea-cher, tea-cher'? Or what a gathering of nesting birds is called?Packed with questions, word games and bamboozling brainteasers, this fun-filled quiz book from the RSPB will test your knowledge and reveal incredible new facts about your garden visitors. Covering a variety of topics, from the garden environment, to nesting, biology and migration, and including a colour section to test identification, this book celebrates all the beautiful birds we can see from the comfort of our doorstep. Suitable for all levels, from the casual garden bird-spotter to the more serious birder, this book will make the perfect gift for anyone interested in British birds, and put them on the path to becoming an ornithological expert.*A Goldcrest, a Great Tit and a colony!

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Book SynopsisThe go-to guide explaining how to use adaptogens to regulate, rebalance and restore your health DISCOVER THE RESTORATIVE POWER OF ADAPTOGENS In Nature's Apothecary, Medical Herbalist Paula Grainger provides the solution for stress, anxiety and exhaustion by introducing us to a group of healing herbal ingredients known as adaptogens. Adaptogens have been scientifically proven to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and prevent adrenal imbalances that can lead to fatigue and burnout. In this illustrated guidebook, you will delve into the history and science of these miraculous plants and learn how to maximize wellness using the most easy-to-source adaptogens, incorporating them into your life via delicious smoothies, energy bites and desserts, invigorating teas, tonics and lattes and wonderful beauty elixirs. Covering all the common adaptogens such as Ashwagandha, Maca, Korean ginseng, Turmeric, Liquorice, Rosemary

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Book SynopsisThis book covers development in scanning probe microscopies, electron, ion and photon based spectroscopies, structure imaging, analysis and atomic co-ordination, mechanical evaluation of surfaces, characterisation of polishing damage and creep, and measurement of dielectric, piezoelectric and thermal properties. Materials featured include refractories, engineering ceramics, glasses, composites and electronic ceramics.

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Book SynopsisA key to the successful exploitation of modern coating systems lies in the generation and acceptance of appropriate quality assurance and control (QA and QC) standards. There is a proliferation of papers in the literature extolling the benefits of novel coatings and coating systems but there is still an urgent need to characterise, understand and interpret the reported enhanced performance of such coatings. This book addresses comprehensively quality issues.

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Book SynopsisThe warm, tropical climate of the Maldives and the natural beauty of the islands and reefs attract holidaymakers from around the world to 200 resorts. Resort Map of the Maldives is a detailed fold-out map of the 868 km (539 miles) long archipelago showing the atolls, location of the resorts, as well as the other features, such as protected marine areas, airports and guest house islands. The reverse side features 12 sharks and rays, and 83 common fish species from the book Fishes of the Maldives: Indian Ocean. It is a perfect souvenir of your Maldives resort experience, and a useful reference to this unique nation of islands. Folded map 155 x 227 mm, folds out flat to 310 x 1364 mm.

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Book SynopsisWhy did Darwin find tortoises so interesting? Are humans really descended from ancient apes? How did the peacock get its tail? What might life look like elsewhere in the universe? In this fascinating and highly-illustrated book, science writer Gerard Cheshire tells the story of evolution, and plots the various devices by which we have all become the organisms we are today. With sections on convergence, sexual selection, epigenetics, and full appendices showing the tree of life. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisBlack holes seem like the stuff of science fiction, but the reality behind these astronomical objects is even more peculiar. So strong is the gravity within a black hole not even light can escape it, but that is just one piece of the puzzle. The science behind black holes is notoriously complex, but this concise introduction reveals how some general principles form the basis of our understanding of them, before exploring the possibilities of time travel, wormholes and spaghettification (not as tasty as it sounds!). Astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer gives you a whistle-stop guide to the fate of the Universe, the mechanics of a black hole and, most importantly, instructions for what to do should you fall into one! Discover how scientists detect these amazing phenomena and why you should probably avoid them at all costs.

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Book SynopsisSmall, vital and mysterious, bees are an essential part of our ecosystem yet they are under greater threat than ever before. The Bee Book offers a unique insight into this most fascinating of creatures, from the mystery of the hive; the power of the queen; and the many appearances of bees in folklore, literature and art.

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Book SynopsisEverything in the universe is made up of the elements – including us. Forged in the Big Bang, the elements and their resulting compounds created the solar system, planet Earth, the air we breathe, the water we rely on and the proteins that would become life. In fact, everything in the known Universe is made up of one of the 118 elements of the periodic table – so we really should know something about them! This little book is the perfect guide, listing all the elements' vital stats, and exploring their astonishing histories and usages in an accessible and easy-to-understand way. Table of ContentsHydrogen • The Alkali Metals • The Alkaline Earth Metals • The Transition Metals • The Lanthanoids • The Actinoids • The Boron Group • The Carbon Group • The Nitrogen Group • The Oxygen Group • The Halogens • The Noble Gases • The Transuranium Elements.

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Book SynopsisRudolf Steiner's watercolour painting 'The Archetypal Human-Animal' presents us with the enigmatic image of a strange creature apparently swimming in water. It has a human profile, showing a clearly outlined nose and slightly-opened mouth, with a mysterious eye, almost concealed in its greenish hair. It has appendages similar to hands and feet, and dark-blue plant-like forms float about in the water beneath the creature's bright red and yellow body. Only the title provides us with a clue to its meaning: it is an 'archetypal human-animal' form. But even this is enigmatic. What is this strange, unusual creature - this archetypal human-animal? We are presented with a perplexing image and a puzzling description. In this original work, illustrated throughout with full-colour paintings and images - many by the author herself - Angela Lord takes us on a journey of discovery to realizing the meaning of Rudolf Steiner's painting. From Goethe's theory of metamorphosis in nature, we are introduced to Steiner's ideas of human evolution, from the primal beginnings of the archetypal human-animal on 'Ancient Moon'. Lord recounts myths and legends from many cultures that tell of human-animal forms, and reflects on the meaning of the fish in Christianity. She takes us through a series of 'colour sequences' for repainting Steiner's human-animal motif, and includes appendices that summarize evolutionary phases of the earth and humanity from a spiritual-scientific perspective. The Archetypal Human-Animal is both a valuable workbook for painters and a fascinating insight into hidden aspects of human evolution.Table of ContentsPrologue - PART ONE - Chapter One Goethe's Archetypal Animal - Chapter Two Goethe's Metamorphosis of Animals - PART TWO - Chapter One An Evolutionary Background - Chapter Two The Human Being on Ancient Moon: the primal beginnings of Archetypal Human-Animal - PART THREE - Chapter One The Human Being: Handiwork of the Gods - Chapter Two From Fire-Air to Air - PART FOUR - Chapter One The Animals: From the Cosmos Down to Earth - Chapter Two The Origin of the Animals - Chapter Three The Human-Animal Plant becomes Human - PART FIVE - Chapter One Myths and Legends: Monsters and Mermaids - Chapter Two A Cabinet of Curiosities - Chapter Three The Sphinx - PART SIX - Chapter One The Symbol of the Fish in Christianity - Chapter Two The Zodiac - Chapter Three The Evangelists - PART SEVEN - Chapter One The Colours of the Motif - Chapter Two An Approach to the Language of Colour - Appendix One Summary of Evolutionary Phases - Appendix Two Time Charts - List of Illustrations - References and Suggested Reading - Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA revelatory investigation of human and animal adolescence from the New York Times bestselling authors of Zoobiquity. Teenagers: behind the banter, the tediously repetitive games and clicks, the moping and screaming, the fast living, and the jockeying and preening lie the rules of the entire animal kingdom. Based on their popular Harvard University course, latest research, and worldwide travels, Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers examine the four universal challenges that every adolescent on our planet must face on the journey to adulthood: how to be safe, how to navigate hierarchy, how to court potential mates, and how to leave the nest. Safety, status, sex, and survival. For parents and children, predators and prey alike, this is a powerfully revelatory book, entertainingly written. To become, as its reader does, for a while, a young penguin or a young humpback whale, or even an octopus tapping a shrimp on the shoulder or an orca silencing their victim, is a giddying experience. The authors open up horizons for their ordinary human readers as they go about their daily animal lives, and permit them to look afresh at the confusing and exhilarating experience of adolescence. Even your average teen will not get bored. Trade Review‘The authors steer clear of excesses of ethology or anthropomorphism, and they emphasise that maturity is not a goal but a process. A lucid, entertaining account of how creatures of many kinds learn to navigate the complex world that adulthood opens.’ * Kirkus *‘A life-changing perspective on adolescents. A treasure trove of scientific exploration and practical implications for how we understand and support youth.’ -- Dr Daniel J. Siegel, author of Brainstorm: the power and purpose of the teenage brain‘Human teens have much in common with their counterparts throughout the animal kingdom — and those commonalities are eye-opening as described in the latest from biologist Natterson-Horowitz and science journalist Bowers. Reassuring ... should appeal to anyone who’s ever raised an adolescent, human or otherwise.’ STARRED REVIEW * Publishers Weekly *‘Unfailingly fascinating — and sometimes downright mind-blowing — this a remarkably original account of the nature, meaning, and purpose of adolescence in today’s world … Wildhood is one of the most insightful books ever written about this critically important stage of life.’ -- Laurence Steinberg, professor of psychology at Temple University, and author of Age of Opportunity‘It blew my mind to discover that teenage animals and teenage humans are so similar. Both are naïve risk-takers. I love this book!’ -- Temple Grandin, PhD, author of Animals Make Us Human and Animals in Translation‘Deeply researched and beautifully written, this account of the trials faced by teenagers across the animal kingdom inspires compassion for young people and appreciation for what they must accomplish on the journey into adulthood.’ -- Lisa Damour, PhD, author of Under Pressure and Untangled‘This fascinating book tells the compelling story of adolescence across species, framed in the convincing context of evolutionary and adaptive explanations.’ -- Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing Ourselves: the secret life of the teenage brain‘Our teenage years can be many things, from fraught to exhilarating. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers show them to be something else altogether — essential for humans and animals. Read their enlightening journey and you will never see the transition to adulthood the same way again.’ -- Neil Shubin, PhD, author of Your Inner Fish and The Universe Within‘Wildhood’s tour of the natural history of adolescence is original, entertaining and constructive, full of ideas for understanding it better.’ -- Richard Wrangham, PhD, author of The Goodness Paradox and Catching Fire‘A masterpiece. This is a spellbinding lens on the ways creatures with big bodies yet little life experience figure out how to survive and thrive. Read Wildhood.’ -- Wendy Mogel, PhD, author of Voice Lessons for Parents and The Blessing of a Skinned Knee‘Wise, entrancing and astounding.’ -- Daniel E. Lieberman , PhD, author of The Story of the Human Body: evolution, health and disease‘Paradigm-shattering. This illuminating new book generates dozens of hypotheses for raising educating, counselling and treating, and living life as an adolescent human.’ -- Dr Gene Beresin, professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School‘An incredibly fascinating read, Wildhood illuminates what humans can learn from the animal world and how all species are more connected to one another than they may appear.’ STARRED REVIEW -- Melissa Norstedt * Booklist *‘This compelling account of how strongly human adolescent behaviours are rooted in our wild animal past should intrigue general science readers and fans of Zoobiquity.’ * Library Journal *‘The wild adventure of adolescence has never been analysed in such depth. In lively personalised accounts that keep our attention, the authors explain how the transition to independence works in each species, and why it looks so similar across the board.’ -- Frans de Waal, PhD, author of Mama’s Last Hug and Our Inner Ape‘Those travails of adolescence? It isn’t just you. Or your culture. Or even your species. Wildhood uses riveting stories about the challenges overcome by specific whales, wolves, and more to put the challenges of adolescence in a universal evolutionary context for the first time. Groundbreaking and fascinating.’ -- Dr Randolph M. Nesse, author of Good Reasons for Bad Feelings‘Adolescence isn't just for humans. Here an evolutionary biologist offers up rollicking tales of young animals navigating risk, social hierarchy, and sex with all the bravura (and dopiness) of our own teenage beasts.’ * People *‘All this time spent reading books on adulting can be harrowing for a worried parent who isn’t entirely sold on the survival skills of her teenage son. I needed some reassurance … Luckily, I found it with a king penguin, a hyena, a humpback whale and a wolf … Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers … follow this cast of characters as they face the trials of making it into adulthood in their savage and competitive worlds. You don’t even need to anthropomorphise to find some of the similarities between animal and human teenagers uncanny, and the lessons they have to learn remarkably similar.’ -- Judith Newman * The New York Times *‘Harvard evolutionary biologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and science journalist Kathryn Bowers draw fascinating connections between human and animal young adulthood.’ -- Laura Pearson * The Chicago Tribune, ‘28 New Books You Need to Read Now’ *‘The vivid storytelling and fascinating scientific digressions in Wildhood make it a pleasurable read.’ -- Patrick J. Kiger * Los Angeles Times *‘There is much here for the nature lover, the parent seeking advice, and the college freshman tackling ‘adulting.’ By laying out the adolescent experience of so many species in rich detail, the authors normalise and celebrate the beauty and complexity of our own species’ journey into the big wide world.’ -- Linda Welbrecht * Science Magazine *‘Take the authors up on their invitation to observe animals in the wild and in your own household, and you’ll never look at other beings the same again. Wildhood is for parents, nature lovers, and the curious alike. You’ll be wild for it.’ -- Terri Schlichenmeyer * Times Record *‘Reading [Wildhood], I was surprised to see that many of the adolescent behaviours humans exhibit are wired in for adolescents of most species. This may not provide much consolation for you as you try to guide your teen through the dangers of risk-taking, but it provides insights into how much your teen is exhibiting normal adolescent behaviour shared with birds and monkeys. Most importantly, it’s a reminder that this is usually not about you.’ -- Mark Phillips * Marin Independent Journal *‘A fascinating and well-written book about the universal journey of adolescence. It is full of insights about humans as well as many other animals. There is much that human teenagers can learn from the experiences of adolescent penguins and hyenas.’ -- Yuval Harari, author of Sapiens‘Lively and eye-opening.’ -- Miriam Cosic * The Australian *‘Engaging and informative … Wildhood is a fascinating read that provides a powerful new lens on the tricky transition to adulthood.’ -- Rebekah Lyell * NZ Booklovers *‘Adolescence may seem unique to the human experience, but Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers vividly reveal that many species navigate this crucial time between childhood and adulthood, which they so aptly call ‘wildhood’.’ * Booklist, Top 10 Sci-Tech Books of the Year *‘Wildhood is a contemplation of how we are like, and unlike, other animals, using the widespread phenomenon of adolescence as an anchor … Readers will come away with an appreciation for a host of other qualities — friendship, social status, cooperation, leaving home and coming back — that are rooted in that one crucial stage of life.’ -- Marlene Zuk * The Wall Street Journal *‘Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers go deep and wide in addressing the raft of species-spanning equivalents. The authors make clear that, in a fundamental sense, adolescent animals and teen humans encounter the same sorts of challenges — and that what may strike elders of any species as nutty, exasperating behaviour is not only inevitable for most creatures in that stage of development but truly valuable.’ -- Duncan Strauss * Washington Post *‘Wildhood is a thoroughly engaging study of the in-between years and the strands of commonality that run through the awkward adolescences of so many species. The book will teach you things about the torments and ecstasies you endured during your own in-between years, and it may incline you to look more kindly on the desperate, low-status blunderings of the teenagers who occasionally show up in your own home and on your own tax forms.’ -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Review *‘Wildhood is a look at human behaviour through the eyes of creatures large and small, and the result is fascinating.’ -- Jeff Maynard * The Herald Sun *‘In Wildhood, the authors examine how human adolescence is rooted in our animals past and influences how we navigate the transition ... Wildhood is a look at human behaviour throughout the eyes of creatures large and small, and the result is funny, informative and fascinating.’ -- Jeff Maynard * Life & Style Weekend *‘Adolescence collides spectacularly with the tree of life in Wildhood … It turns out that adolescents all across the animal kingdom do the same things, and for good evolutionary reasons … [The book] obliterates the siren song of human exceptionalism … Reading this book is enlightening, both scientifically and personally.’ -- Carlo C. Maley * Evolution, Medicine & Public Health *Praise for Zoobiquity: ‘[A] very credible argument for collaboration between disciplines … entertaining and beautifully written.’ * New York Journal of Books *Praise for Zoobiquity: ‘[Y]ou will find the argument hard to resist. Plus you will have some killer dinner party gems. Who could resist the story of lemurs with erectile dysfunction, or the iguanas that ejaculate prematurely?’ * New Scientist *Praise for Zoobiquity: ‘Illuminating … This very engaging book is difficult to put down. It provides lots of information in an easy-to-understand manner that doesn’t feel overwhelming, perhaps because of the liberal use of humour throughout. Reading Zoobiquity gave this reader a totally new perspective on his furred and feathered neighbors.’ * The Boston Globe *

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Book SynopsisAfter introducing the concept of the birthing pool in the 1970s, Michel Odent has continuously expanded his interest in the mysterious connections between humans and water. In Planet Ocean he shows that the evolution of the oceans - particularly the fluctuations of sea levels - and the evolution of humans are inseparable. The oceans are the givers and sustainers of life, holding ninety-five per cent of the planet's habitable space within their immense depths. Odent steers us towards a radically new vision of human nature. Our defining feature - a supersized brain - becomes a leitmotif that enables links between topics as diverse as our nutritional needs, our relationship with sea mammals, and the way members of our species give birth. He relates 'transcendent emotional states' with what the French writer Romain Rolland referred to as 'the oceanic feeling' - both suggesting the absence of limits. Access to such states can be associated with, for example, a 'foetus ejection reflex'. This leads to the extraordinary conclusion that swimming - as learnt behaviour among humans - the birth process and access to transcendence are interrelated topics for students of human nature. Planet Ocean is a fascinating interdisciplinary study that demonstrates our manifold connections to water and suggests their relevance to everyday life.Table of ContentsAbstracts - 1. Mysteries - 2. Fluctuations of sea levels - 3. Homo navigator - 4. Looking towards the future? - 5. Homo's best friends - 6. The super brainy mammals: Homo and Tucuxi - 7. From Aesop to Elaine Morgan-What pioneers have in common - 8. Straight to the point - 9. The mammal that cannot swim - 10. Why is human birth occasionally easy? - 11. The Oceanic feeling - 12. Humanity and Mother Ocean - 13. From a garden paddling pool to the Pacific Ocean - Notes and References

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Book SynopsisFor most of human history, sudden and unexpected deaths of a suspicious nature, when they were investigated at all, were examined by lay persons without any formal training. People often got away with murder. That is, until Frances Glessner Lee.Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962), born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she became the mother of modern forensics and was instrumental in elevating homicide investigation to a scientific discipline. Frances Glessner Lee learned forensic science under the tutelage of pioneering medical examiner Magrath. A voracious reader too, Lee acquired and read books on criminology and forensic science - eventually establishing the largest library of legal medicine. Lee went on to create The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - a series of dollhouse-sized crime scene dioramas depicting the facts of actual cases in exquisitely detailed miniature - and perhaps the thing she is most famous for. Celebrated by artists, miniaturists and scientists, they were first used as a teaching tool in homicide seminars at Harvard Medical School in the 1930s, subsequently becoming an integral part of the longest-running and still the highest-regarded training for police detectives of its kind in America. In Unexplained Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb weaves Lee's remarkable story with the advances in forensics made in her lifetime to tell the tale of the birth of modern forensics.Trade ReviewA culmination of years of historical research, including the papers of Frances Glessner Lee herself. As this absorbing and evocative book will show you, Frances Glessner Lee should be recognized as the matriarch of the modern practice of forensic pathology. * Judy Melinek, M.D., co-author of Working Stiff *Frances Glessner Lee's dioramas of death have long been objects of fascination; now Bruce Goldfarb, the man who knows them best, has written a definitive account of how they came to be, and of the compelling, complex woman who created them. This book will beguile anyone with an interest in the history of crime investigation. * Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime and Obsession *Eye-opening biography of Frances Glessner Lee, who brought American medical forensics into the scientific age...genuinely compelling. * Kirkus Reviews *Thorough research helps him paint a captivating portrait of a feminist hero and forensic pioneer. * Booklist *Goldfarb's clearly written and well-researched book is recommended for history and legal studies audiences. * Library Journal *

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Book SynopsisWhite Blood is a history of human milk and tells the story of how babies have been fed from antiquity to modern times and why it matters. 'Breast is Best' is the popular mantra, but there is a perennial debate about the pros and cons of 'breast and bottle'. White Blood explores this vital question, which has implications for the health and wellbeing of mothers, their young, families, communities and even countries. Starting in Ancient Greece and Rome, where human milk was thought to be blood diverted from the womb to the breast and there whitened and vivified, it lets the voices of those concerned with the care of newborn infants, and those who followed them, speak across the centuries of how they were, and should best be, nourished.Trade Review"[Weaver] takes readers on a detailed, 2000-year journey through the biology, technology, medicalization, and truth of the distribution of human milk to babies and young children. The book reads much like a well-thought-out article in the New Yorker, cumulatively building reader interest, every turn of the page revealing more new information. . . . The volume includes a variety of visual enhancements including color photographs and medical drawings that support the surrounding content. . . . This is definitely a source not to be overlooked by readers who want a comprehensive historical depiction of human milk as the vital nutritional resource for babies worldwide. . . . Recommended." * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface 1 Human Milk – Miraculous Fluid 2 Humours – White Blood 3 Alchemy – Soft Sweet Subtil Substance 4 Science – Corpuscular Fluid 5 Nature – Nature's Bountiful Urn 6 Paediatrics – Medicalisation of Infant Feeding 7 Puericulture – Maternal and Child Welfare 8 Biology and Technology – Breast and Bottle Acknowledgments and Sources Bibliography Picture Credits Index

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Book SynopsisA fully comprehensive field guide to the 241 species and subspecies of snake in Australia; covering file snakes, pythons, colubrids, natracids, elapids, marine elapids, homalopsids and blindsnakes. With photographs from the authors and other top nature photographers, each species is illustrated, many with multiple images.

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Book SynopsisA Naturalist's Guide to the Fungi of Aotearoa New Zealandis aneasy-to-use introductory identification guide to 267 species of New Zealand's fungi

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Book SynopsisA Naturalist's Guide to the Mushrooms of Britain and North-West Europe is an easy-to-use identification guide to 280 mushroom and toadstool species commonly found in Britain and northern Europe that is perfect for amateur naturalists.

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Book SynopsisA Naturalist's Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain & Northern Europe is an easy-to-use identification guide to 280 wild flower species commonly seen in Britain and North-West Europe that is perfect for the amateur naturalist.

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Book SynopsisThe Short Story of Science is a new introduction to the complete subject of science. Covering 60 key experiments, from Archimedes' investigations of buoyancy to the discovery of dark matter, and then linking these to the history of science, as well as to the key theories and methods, the book simplifies and explains all the key breakthroughs.Accessible and concise, generously illustrated throughout, and with all the essential information presented without jargon, readers are given all the tools they need to enjoy the fascinating history of scientific knowledge.

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Book SynopsisThe ocean is the womb of all life on earth. It is beautiful and bizarre, violent and mysterious. Inhabited by a cast of characters stolen from fantasy, it's a dystopian world where dragons are real, and monsters are commonplace. Today's spectacular marine life has an ancient history preserved in stone - fossil strata that read like dramatic pages from the longest story ever told - tales of evolution, extinction, and surprising continuity. Having thrived a tumultuous 500 million years, this marine kingdom is now challenged by a new, arrogant and domineering life form. This book looks beyond the media focus on climate change and extinction to celebrate the continuity of ocean life. I'll take you on a personal journey to explore origins and destinies, from primordial soup to today's threatened oceans - towards a future we can influence. We always have a choice.Trade Review"I am a major fan of your work. Love your writing and storytelling; the keen detail, the heavy cultural history and your optimism. Your thinking was an inspiration to me."; Cynthia Barnett, Journalist and author of The Sound of the Sea.; "An incredible and beautiful book."; James Lovelock, author of the Gaia hypothesis, personal communication.; "This is amazing as its predecessors. Refreshing to read an up-beat text instead of doom-laden messages."; Sir David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist.; "A beautifully produced volume by an extraordinarily gifted writer. Has made a scientific text into a page-turner. A unique volume is a pleasure to read, the illustrations are superb and the book is simply impossible to put down."; The Leading Edge, August 2020, by Sven Treitel.; "A wonderous book. The photographs are fantastic! A labor of love to the world!"; John Feldman, Hummingbird Films, New York.

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Book SynopsisFrom the forageable to the bizarre, this book is an introduction to 50 of the fungi kingdom’s most interesting mushrooms.Mushrooms have existed for millennia, but they remain elusive to most of us. Used throughout human history for food, medicine, and expanding the consciousness, fungi have shaped the planet and the past, appearing everywhere from fairy tales and health-food stores to The X-Files.There’s an entire universe of fungi, much of which is yet to be discovered, and Mushroom Magic is here to introduce you to 50 glorious species such as the Spectacular Rustgill, the Parrot Waxcap, and the Velvet Foot.With each beautifully illustrated mushroom, learn about a different fungi’s habitat, their uses, and their history to become a budding expert in mycology.

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Book SynopsisFoundations of the Theory of Elasticity, Plasticity, and Viscoelasticity details fundamental and practical skills and approaches for carrying out research in the field of modern problems in the mechanics of deformed solids, which involves the theories of elasticity, plasticity, and viscoelasticity. The book includes all modern methods of research as well as the results of the authors’ recent work and is presented with sufficient mathematical strictness and proof.The first six chapters are devoted to the foundations of the theory of elasticity. Theory of stress-strain state, physical relations and problem statements, variation principles, contact and 2D problems, and the theory of plates are presented, and the theories are accompanied by examples of solving typical problems.The last six chapters will be useful to postgraduates and scientists engaged in nonlinear mechanics of deformed inhomogeneous bodies. The foundations of the modern theory of plasticity (general, small elastoplastic deformations and the theory of flow), linear, and nonlinear viscoelasticity are set forth. Corresponding research of three-layered circular plates of various materials is included to illustrate methods of problem solving. Analytical solutions and numerical results for elastic, elastoplastic, lineaer viscoelastic and viscoelastoplastic plates are also given. Thermoviscoelastoplastic characteristics of certain materials needed for numerical account are presented in the eleventh chapter.The informative book is intended for scientists, postgraduates and higher-level students of engineering spheres and will provide important practical skills and approaches.Trade Review“In this new book, the authors present contemporary approaches to the formulation and solution of problems in the theory of elasticity, plasticity, and viscoelasticity. The traditional sections of the course of the theory of elasticity and plasticity are presented in the modern interpretation, clearly and in an easy-to-understand manner. The tensor form of writing is used along with the coordinate form, which facilitates the student to understand the material. The analytical solutions and numerical results for elastic, elastic-plastic, linear viscoelastic and viscous elastoplastic three-layer circular plates under quasi-static and dynamic stresses are the results of the authors’ own work.”--D. V. Tarlakovsky, DSc, Head, Department of Resistance of Materials, Dynamics and Strength of Machines, Moscow State Aviation Institute, Russia“The book is devoted to the mechanics of deformable bodies. The authors present the results of many years of basic research. The book features a deep, comprehensive, and rigorous study of the issues covered. The authors have carefully and thoroughly studied the mechanics of deformable bodies and provide solutions. The methods will undoubtedly be useful to many researchers in this field. The methods illustrated in Chapter 8, on the theory of plasticity, and Chapter 11, which deals with the thermal effects on a number of specific materials, can be used to advance the construction of the theory of thermoviscoelastoplasticity, which is extremely important not only in theoretical terms, but also for the development of industrial production and processing of conductive material. The book will be of great benefit in the work of researchers and students in the field of solid mechanics.”--Professor Mark Liberzon, Head, Department of Analytical Mechanics, and Vice President, Tsyolkovsky Moscow Aviation Technological University; Vice President, Russian Engineering Academy, Moscow, RussiaTable of ContentsThe Theory of Stress-Strain State. Physical Relations in the Elasticity Theory. Statement and Problem-Solving Procedures of Elasticity Theory. Variational Methods. The Plane Elastic Problems. Plate Bending. Deformation of a Half-Space and Contact Problems. Foundations of the Theory of Plasticity. Linear Viscoelastic Continua. Thermoviscoelastoplasticity. Thermoviscoelastoplastic Characteristics of Materials. Dynamic Problems of the Elasticity Theory.

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Book SynopsisTHE DEFINITIVE VISUAL GUIDE TO NEW ZEALAND FERNSCompiled and written by Te Papa's foremost fern experts, this fully illustrated guide is for anyone wanting to understand, identify and distinguish 201 of the most commonly encountered species of ferns and lycophytes found across Aotearoa.Ferns and lycophytes grow in most places in Aotearoa, from freshwater to alpine habitats, along exposed coasts and on the trunks of forest trees, and from just a few millimetres long to 20-metre-tall tree ferns. Just under half of the native species are only found here.Full-colour photographic examples of species, along with diagrams of key features, provide several ways for readers to successfully identify these iconic plants of Aotearoa. The book's manageable size and accessible layout makes it easy to use, enabling readers to quickly recognise species and understand their distinguishing characteristics, habitats and distribution.

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Book SynopsisThe Arctic is a special world. The Arctic Ocean is covered by white sea ice, and its margins are surrounded by bare terrestrial regions, known as tundra. Tundra is a cold and dry environment without trees, but even in the absence of trees, tundra plants such as dwarf shrubs, grasses, herbs and moss support the harsh environment by providing sustenance and shelter. This book introduces representative arctic plants and their function in Svalbard, revealing the unique tundra ecosystem, and discussing the direct and indirect effects of climate change in the Arctic.Table of Contents Prologue: Is the color of the Arctic white? (p. 1-2) The Arctic is not just white; it is multi-colored. (Fig. 1. The green Arctic) I. Arctic Tundra: Where There are No Trees (p. 3-12) Where and what is the Arctic? Surprisingly, there is still no official definition of the Arctic. Arctic has been defined in terms of both geophysics and ecology. From the perspective of geophysics, the Arctic is northern area over the Arctic Circle, the baseline of the midnight. From an ecological point of view, the Arctic is northern area of the tree line where trees cannot grow, that is, tundra. Thus, the Arctic includes the tundra and the Arctic Ocean. (Fig. 2. Arctic Circle; Fig. 3. The northern limit of tree growth; Fig. 4. The Arctic; Fig. 5. Average annual temperature of the Earth; Fig. 6. Treeless tundra in Svalbard; Fig. 7. Walking over dwarf shrubs in a tundra field) II. Arctic Is Not One (p. 13-30) Arctic is a huge area, and the Arctic environment is not uniform. For better understand of Arctic vegetation, I will describe plant life forms, bioclimatic zonation, and Arctic vegetation map. (Fig. 8. The High Arctic and the Low Arctic; Figs 9~13. Arctic plants with different life forms; Fig. 14. Bioclimatic subzones in the Arctic; Figs 15~17. Arctic plants of different subzones; Fig. 18. Arctic vegetation map; Fig. 19. Vegetated tundra and barren tundra) III. Arctic Plants in Different Tundras (p. 31-43) In the previous chapter, several terms explaining Arctic vegetation are introduced. There are different types of tundras: polar desert, dry tundra, mesic tundra, moist tundra, wet tundra, and shrub tundra. Characteristics of the different tundra regions will be addressed in this chapter. (Figs 20~22. Polar desert; Figs 23~26. Dry tundra plants; Fig. 27. Tussock; Fig. 28. Cottongrass; Fig. 29. Lichen; Fig. 30. Treeline) VI. Arctic Plants in Svalbard - who are they and what do they do? 4.1. Svalbard, cold shore (p. 44-50) Svalbard is very special in the Arctic. Svalbard is located at a high latitude, but the weather is very mild compared to other Arctic regions. The nature of Svalbard will be introduced with its geographic and ecological characteristics. (Fig. 31. Map of Svalbard; Figs 32~35. Scenery of Svalbard) 4.2. Moss, Lichen and Black Crust (p. 51-62) There are green or greenish organisms using sunlight without flowers. Moss dominates in the wet area and offers a basic environment to the living, and lichen and black crust sustain the dry area. (Figs 36-38) 4.3. Pioneering plant: Purple saxifrage (p. 63-65) (Figs 39) 4.4. Shrubs in the climax: Polar willow, white Arctic bell-heather, Mountain avens (p. 65-75) (Figs 40~42) 4.5. Pan-Arctic plants: Alpine bistort, Polar campion, Sulphur buttercup, Alpine whitlow grass, Alpine saxifrage, nodding saxifrage, Alpine draba (p. 76-105) (Figs 43~48) 4.6. Eatable plants: Mountain sorrel (p. 106-110) (Fig. 49) 4.7. Together is better: Moss campion, tufted saxifrage (p. 111-120) (Figs 50~61) 4.8. Flower of Svalbard: Svalbard poppy (p. 121-125) (Fig. 62) 4.9. Plant resemble animal: Arctic mouse-ear (p. 126-130) (Fig. 63) 4.10. Plant with rosette: Polar scurvy-grass (p. 131-135) (Fig. 64) 4.11. Plant likes water: Yellow marsh saxifrage (p. 136-140) (Fig. 65) 4.12. Plant coated by hair: Hairy lousewort (p. 141-145) (Fig. 66) 4.13. Green grass of the Arctic: Carex and Poa (p. 146-150) (Fig. 67) V. Climate change and the Arctic plants (p. 151-165) As the temperature of the Arctic arises, the frozen ground of tundra is thawing. The snow that covered the tundra and blocked the cold air, melted earlier than usual and fell down late, and the period covered by snow was diminishing. Because of these environmental changes, the kinds of plants living in the tundra have changed and the animal food nets have also changed. Animals and plants that lived in sub-arctic regions below the tundra are also slowly heading north. Tundra creatures have to compete with sub-polar creatures. What is fate of the Arctic plants? (Fig. 68. Temperature increase in the Arctic; Fig. 69. Thawing of permafrost; Fig. 70. Disappearing glacier and plant succession; Fig. 71. Change of Arctic snow; Fig. 72. Tree line is moving north; Fig. 73. Food web in dry tundra; Fig. 74. Svalbard animals feeding plans; Fig. 75. Changing relationship of herbivory and their food in Arctic tundra) Epilogue: For the last survivors at the margin (p. 166-170) The tundra will gradually disappear as the temperature of the Arctic increases and the frozen soil melts. As the sea level rises and the shoreline is eroded, the tundra's position is shrinking. It is difficult to say exactly how the ecosystem will respond to changes in the tundra. It is because there are too many things we do not know about the tundra ecosystem yet. This is why our scientists have to study the tundra. Index (p. 165-170) Common Name – Scientific Name Index of Arctic Plants Scientific Name – Common Name Index of Arctic Plants

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Book SynopsisThe revised and updated 2nd edition of this established textbook provides a self-contained introduction to the general theory of relativity, describing not only the physical principles and applications of the theory, but also the mathematics needed, in particular the calculus of differential forms.Updated throughout, the book contains more detailed explanations and extended discussions of several conceptual points, and strengthened mathematical deductions where required. It includes examples of work conducted in the ten years since the first edition of the book was published, for example the pedagogically helpful concept of a "river of space" and a more detailed discussion of how far the principle of relativity is contained in the general theory of relativity. Also presented is a discussion of the concept of the 'gravitational field' in Einstein's theory, and some new material concerning the 'twin paradox' in the theory of relativity. Finally, the book contains a new section about gravitational waves, exploring the dramatic progress in this field following the LIGO observations. Based on a long-established masters course, the book serves advanced undergraduate and graduate level students, and also provides a useful reference for researchers.Table of ContentsNewton’s law of universal gravitation.- The force law of gravitation.- Newton’s law of gravitation in local form.- Tidal forces.- The principle of equivalence.- The general principle of relativity.- The covariance principle.- Mach’s principle.- The special theory of relativity.- Coordinate systems and Minkowski diagrams.- Synchronization of clocks.- The Doppler effect.- Relativistic time-dilation.- The relativity of simultaneity.- The Lorentz contraction.- The Lorentz transformation.- The Lorentz invariant interval.- The twin paradox.- Hyperbolic motion.- Energy and mass.- Relativistic increase of mass.- Tachyons.- Magnetism as a relativistic second order effect.- Vectors, tensors and forms.- Vectors.- Four-vectors.- Tangent vector fields and coordinate vectors.- Coordinate transformations.- Structure coefficients.- Tensors.- Transformation of tensor components.- Transformation of basis 1-forms.- The metric tensor.- Forms.- Rotating and accelerated reference frames.- Rotating reference frames.- The spatial metric tensor.- Angular acceleration of the rotating frame.- Gravitational time dilation.- Path of photons emitted from the axis in a rotating frame.- The Sagnac effect.- Uniformly accelerated reference frames.- Covariant differentiation.- Differentiation of forms.- Exterior differentiation.- Covariant derivative.- The Christoffel symbols.- Geodetic curves.- The covariant Euler-Lagrange equations.- Application of the Lagrange formalism to free particles.- Equation of motion from Lagrange’s equations.- Geodesic worldliness in spacetime.- Gravitational Doppler effect.- The Koszul connection.- Connection coefficients and structure coefficients in a Riemannian (torsion free) space.- Covariant differentiation of vectors, forms and tensors.- Covariant differentiation of a vector field in an arbitrary basis.- Covariant differentiation of forms.- Generalization for tensors of higher rank.- The Cartan connection.- Curvature.- The Riemann curvature tensor.- Differential geometry of surfaces.- Surface curvature using the Cartan formalism.- The Ricci identity.- Bianchi’s 1st identity.- Bianchi’s 2nd identity.- Einstein’s field equations.- Energy-momentum conservation.- Newtonian fluid.- Perfect fluids.- Einstein’s curvature tensor.- Einstein’s field equations.- The 'geodesic postulate' as a consequence of the field equations.- The Schwarschild spacetime.- Schwarzschild’s exterior solution.- Radial free fall in Schwarzschild spacetime.- Light cones in Schwarzschild spacetime.- Analytical extension of the Schwarzschild coordinates.- Embedding of the Schwarzschild metric.- Deceleration of light.- Particle trajectories in Schwarzschild 3-space.- Motion in the equatorial plane.- Classical tests of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.- The Hafele-Keating experiment.- Mercury’s perihelion precession.- Deflection of light.- Black holes.- 'Surface gravity': gravitational acceleration on the horizon of a black hole.- Hawking radiation: radiation from a black hole.- Rotating black holes: The Kerr metric.- Zero-angular-momentum-observers.- Does the Kerr space have a horizon?.- Schwarzschild’s interior solution.- Newtonian incompressible star.- The pressure contribution to the gravitational mass of a static, spherically symmetric system.- The Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equation.- An exact solution for incompressible stars – Schwarzschild’s interior solution.- Cosmology.- Comoving coordinate system.- Curvature isotropy – the Robertson-Walker metric.- Cosmic dynamics.- Hubble’s law.- Cosmological redshift of light.- Cosmic fluids.- Isotropic and homogeneous universe models.- Some cosmological models.- Radiation dominated model.- Dust dominated model.- Transition from radiation to matter dominated universe.- Friegmann-Lemaître model.- Inflationary cosmology.- Problems with the Big Bang models.- Cosmic inflation.

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Book SynopsisIs everything Information? This is a tantalizing question which emerges in modern physics, life sciences, astronomy and in today’s information and technology-driven society. In Powers of Two expert authors undertake a unique expedition - in words and images - throughout the world (and scales) of information. The story resembles, in a way, the classic Powers of Ten journeys through space: from us to the macro and the micro worlds . However, by following Powers of Two through the world of information, a completely different and timely paradigm unfolds. Every power of two, 1, 2, 4, 8…. tells us a different story: starting from the creation of the very first bit at the Big Bang and the evolution of life, through 50 years of computational science, and finally into deep space, describing the information in black holes and even in the entire universe and beyond…. All this to address one question: Is our universe made of information? In this book, we experience the Information Universe in nature and in our society and how information lies at the very foundation of our understanding of the Universe.From the Foreword by Robbert Dijkgraaf: This book is in many ways a vastly extended version of Shannon’s one-page blueprint. It carries us all the way to the total information content of the Universe. And it bears testimony of how widespread the use of data has become in all aspects of life. Information is the connective tissue of the modern sciences. […] Undoubtedly, future generations will look back at this time, so much enthralled by Big Data and quantum computers, as beholden to the information metaphor. But that is exactly the value of this book. With its crisp descriptions and evocative illustrations, it brings the reader into the here and now, at the very frontier of scientific research, including the excitement and promise of all the outstanding questions and future discoveries.Message for the e-reader of the book Powers of Two The book has been designed to be read in two-page spreads in full screen mode. For optimal reader experience in a downloaded .pdf file we strongly recommend you use the following settings in Adobe Acrobat Reader: - Taskbar: View > Page Display > two page view - Taskbar: View > Page Display > Show Cover Page in Two Page View - Taskbar: ^ Preferences > Full Screen > deselect " Fill screen with one page at a time" - Taskbar: View > Full screen mode or ctrl L (cmd L on a Mac) ***** Note: for reading the previews on Spinger link (and on-line reading in a browser), the full screen two-page view only works with these browsers: Firefox - Taskbar: on top of the text, at the uppermost right you will see then >> (which is a drop-down menu) >> even double pages - Fullscreen: F11 or Control+Cmd+F with Mac Edge - Taskbar middle: Two-page view and select show cover page separatelyTrade Review“The book … a very unusual collection of some facts about the relationship between the immaterial world represented by bits and the real physical world described by fundamental physical equations. This book continues the very categorical point of view of J. A. Wheeler … . The book presents short articles on various areas of modern science … in which it is shown that in these areas in some mysterious way there is a connection with the theory of information.” (Vladimir Dzhunushaliev, zbMATH 1479.83004, 2022)Table of ContentsForeword by Robbert DijkgraafChapter 0: IntroductionJoy-riding the Universe – by the authorWorking as an astronomer, data scientist and professor of astro-informatics for nearly fifty years, Edwin Valentijn has witnessed and first-hand engineered the dawn of the era of Big Data in science and society. Throughout his career, he became increasingly aware of the role of information in our world: in computers, in our society, and even in nature and in the Universe itself.The Information UniverseFollowing the increasing powers of two, the story paints a journey through the whole world of information, both in society and in nature. Each step opens a door into a new world: from the first bits with the Big Bang and the dawn of life, going through fifty years of human technology, all the way up to the information content of the whole Universe.What is Information? - Item pageThe basics of information are introduced.Chapter 1: The beginningSpace-time foam – Ti (0 bit: 20 =1)The very first power of two: 20, corresponds to the value one. This identifies the single, eternal, indistinguishable state: the primordial sea from which our Universe emerged – sometimes called the Space-time foam. I call this Ti, the reverse of It. This is one of the miraculous new notions in the story of the Powers of Two.Multiverse: Anthropic principle (Item page)From Ti, the primordial space-time foam, countless universes arise with widely different characteristics: the Multiverse. The Anthropic Principle is a philosophical consideration which states that we, people, will find ourselves in a universe that is suitable for intelligent life to emerge. Therefore, this Principle demonstrates that conditions in our Universe are not “fine-tuned” to the existence of human life and a “creator” doesn’t exist.Big bang (1 bit: 21 =2 states)At the Big Bang the first bit is created. From the indistinguishable unity of the primordial foam Ti, “the zeros were separated from the 1’s”: the first bit corresponds to two possible states. This bit is the first step on our journey to capture the ever-increasing complexity of our expanding Universe in terms of information, through the increasing powers of two.What is a bit? (Item page)The bit is at the core of the concept of information. A bit is any system that can have two states. Humans assign meanings to these states, which are illustrated with the concept of the traffic light: red or green, stop or go. The combination of multiple bits creates an exponentially increasing number of possible states, and hence meanings.Multicellular life (2 bit: 22 =4 states) / (4 bit: 24 =16 states)?Life started with exchanging information between cells. This is fundamental for the evolution of any kind of life. It took at least two billion years for uni-cellular to evolve into multi-cellular organisms around 600 million years ago, and to start the exchange of information between their different cells. By exchanging information, cells collaborate and act as a unified whole: life.The game of life (Item page)The characteristic features of life (or any complex system in the Universe) can be created from information. A simple computer game is all you need to demonstrate this concept. A famous example is Conway's Game of Life, which is full of visuals of living, growing, moving and dying objects. This game was already made on the computers of the early 70's with just a few lines of code.Chapter 2: People's Information UniverseASCII (7 bit: 27 =128 states)There is currently no physical theory how the digital world connects to the human consciousness. In the world of Information Technology (IT) all information exchange is based on agreements between people. For instance, ASCII, a simple list relating each letter of the alphabet to a 7-bit string, connects the digital world to the human consciousness. Machu Picchu (8 bit: 28 =256, 1 byte)The Intiwatana stone, a giant rock carved by the Inca's of ancient Machu Picchu in Peru, can be considered as a first 8-bit hard disk. Why so? As the sunrays lit the different surfaces of this huge rock throughout the year, it triggered the Inca's activities: sowing, harvesting, celebrating and praying.This ancient stone dissolves both the boundaries between heaven and earth, and those between the digital and natural Information Universe. In fact, the stone represents an ultimate picture of the cross-over between the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe - a main theme of the book. In vitro being the man made technology to handle information and in vivo being the information built in nature, in this case the orbit and the light rays of the sun.First computers (16 bit: 216 =65.536, 2 byte)When computers emerged in the 1970's, astronomers first adopted them to steer their telescopes. Back then, a maximal effort to understand the mathematics of the problem was needed to squeeze the solution into the small computer memory. Nowadays, with large amounts of computing power and machine learning at their disposal, scientists and computer programmers often do the reverse.Star Peace vs. Star Wars (Item page)King Juan Carlos adored the harmony of galaxies as a source of inspiration for people on earth, in those days when Ronald Reagan was promoting his Star-wars programme. With this adoration in mind, in 1985, he gave an inspiring speech at the Royal inauguration of the international astronomical observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands. The inauguration was attended by, for those days, an unprecedented large crowd of European royals and government officials despite the great threat of terrorist attacks by the ETA. (the next and later spreads on facts vs fakes elucidate the relevance of this spread in the story line).Pre-internet Facts and Fakes (Item page)“Edwin Valentijn saved the life of the Dutch Queen Beatrix by catching her just before falling off a cliff at the inauguration on La Palma”, according to the headlines in Dutch newspapers. Fake news-stories are at all times alike and can only be dispelled by tracing links of information to their source, links or associations being a fundamental property of the Information Universe. Later, I discuss the less innocent case of overdrawing attention to terrorist attacks in the past decade.Hard disk (24 bit: 224 =1.6*107, 2 Mb)Only sixty years ago, a 5 MB hard disk weighed over five tons, and had to be loaded onto an aeroplane by using a truck. Now, we carry a thousand times more information in our trouser pocket. This demonstrates the amazing advance of information technology over the past decades. (Picture: first IBM hard disk loaded onto a plane).The telephone (Item page) As a precursor of the Internet, the telephone offered many of the same advantages and dangers, and was heavily discussed at its introduction. Whether telephone or the Internet, it all revolves around communication or copying of information. The telephone, as example of it, is one of the major discoveries of the 20th century. DNA (32 bit: 232 = 4*109, 500 Mb) – Guest author: Charley Lineweaver The information in the DNA creates life. All base pairs of the human DNA can be stored on a 500 Mb drive. How is this information communicated? How does a cell know it has to build part of a liver and not an eye, while they all have the same DNA? Apoptosis and the role of information exchange.Where does biological Information come from? (Item page) – Guest author: Charley Lineweaver Charley Lineweaver, expert on evolutionary biology, exoplanetology and astrobiology, will expand on the role of information in the evolution of life.Lifelines (Item page) – Guest author: Morris SwertzWhat is the role of nature versus that of nurture? A key question in modern health research. In Lifesciences, this question is addressed now using Big Data, like the astronomers who acquire huge data volumes to address the same question on the nature of galaxies. In Lifelines, a cohort of 165.000 people is studied over a period of 30 years using hospital data, blood samples and DNA scans.DVD (33 bit: 233 =9*109, 1 Gb)It’ s amazing how fast the digital image revolution went since 1989.30 years ago, Philips lab approached me since they had made a big discovery: it was possible to store many digital images on a CD. They were chasing me for digital images. While NASA had less than a thousand, I had 32.000 galaxy images obtained by scanning photographic plates from the European Southern Observatory – the first large digital image collection.Human Brain (36 bit: 236 =7*1010, 9 Gb) – Guest author: Katrin Amunts- JulichIn the large EU human brain project, the activities of the human brain are simulated in computers. This is a very difficult mission since the transistors in computers consume 100.000 billion times more energy than the synapsis of neurons. Our brains consist of 1011 neurons, corresponding to 9 Gb of data.Thinking of Karlheinz Meier, coordinator of the Human Brain Project in Heidelberg, Katrin Amunts will author two spreads on the role of information in the human brain.Neuromorphic computing – Guest author: Katrin AmuntsCurrently, it takes a hundred years of a supercomputer’s time to compete with the learning power of only a single day of the human brain. “Neuromorphic computing” researchers design electronic systems inspired by the human brain, in order to make computers many times faster and more energy efficient.CT scan (38 bit: 238 =3*1011, 34 Gb) – Guest author: Anders YnnermanNow it is possible to look inside animal and human bodies on touchscreens. Forensic investigations on, for instance, corpses of victims can be done with touch-screen tables. You can look inside, rotate, scroll and zoom animal and human bodies using tens of gigabytes of CT scan data. Prof. Anders Ynnerman explains how he does it.Terabytes (45 bit: 245 =4.4*1012, 1 Tb) - The largest (astronomical) datasetsDark energy and dark matter: two mysterious constituents of our Universe. How do astronomers get and handle the data from the VLT Survey Telescope on a high mountain top in Chile to shed lights on these ‘still too dark’ topics. This Telescope surveys the sky every hour at night generating Terabytes of astronomical data.Gravity as a lens (Item page) – Guest author: Margot BrouwerWhen light rays are bent by the gravity of a heavy object, this object acts as a lens. This effect can be used to map dark matter, which is invisible but constitutes 80% of the matter in our visible Universe. In 1915, Albert Einstein posed that gravity is equivalent to the curvature of the fabric of space and time itself, leading to the lensing effect.Weak gravitational lensing surveys – Guest author: Margot BrouwerTerabytes of astronomical data are reduced to a few numbers, describing how dark matter behaves and what is its true nature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCyYGWqCmFw&t=23sEntering the Petabyte regime (53 bit: 253 =1*1015, 1 Pb)How do we technically acquire and deal with Petabytes of data?Dark Matter maps (Item page)A first dark matter map projected on the night sky. An ultimate encounter between the digital world of modern astronomical observations, and nature: the mysterious dark matter mapped on top of the everyday “night” stellar sky. A visualization that condenses Terabytes of astronomical data to a simple map.Metadata for Peta-data (62 bit: 262 =6*1017, 600 Pb)With pointers, one can connect everything in the Information Universe. Pointers are often inserted in Metadata (data about data) - an ultimate tool for dealing with Big Data. It is possible to create unique pointers to hundreds of Petabytes of data, using a string of less than 64 bits. This is what makes pointers so powerful and indispensable in current and future stages of the big data era; not only for astronomical research, but also for companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook.Downloading the Universe (Item page)The universe can be seen as a spreadsheet, certainly in the way we map it on our computers (in vitro), but also in nature (in vivo). Perceiving the Universe as a spreadsheet links bit to It.Meta data (Item page)A visualisation of the enormous complexity of data models which trace all pointers between data items. (picture: thrilling still from a full dome animation of a data model)Future (astronomical) datasets (item page)While current telescopes collect astronomical datasets of Terabytes, future telescopes such as the LSST and the Euclid satellite, instead, will collect Petabytes. These enormous amounts of data need a whole new approach to data management. For the Euclid satellite my “Universe as a spreadsheet” approach has been adopted.The Euclid satellite (Item page) – Guest author: Margot BrouwerEuclid is ESA’s new space mission to map the Dark Universe. At a distance of 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, this telescope will observe billions of galaxies. Its goal: to shed light on the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which make up 95% of our Universe. Dr. Margot Brouwer, Dutch scientific communication officer for Euclid, will explain more.The Information Universe (Item page)The resemblance of the overall structure of the real observed Universe (in vivo) with the simulated universe (in vitro), based on the concurrent cosmological model, gave a lot of credit to the latter. When we zoom out the Universe, we see billions of galaxies forming a web-like structure. Amazingly, astronomers can now compute and simulate these structures with very large supercomputers.The lost boy (Item page)Information is timeless, and knows no boundaries. It crosses over the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe. This concept is well illustrated through daily life stories involving time. At the age of five, a boy loses sight of his older brother on a train in India, and eventually gets lost on the streets of Mumbai. Twenty years later, after being adopted by a family in Australia, he is able to find his natural mother (in vivo) through only searching on Google maps (in vitro).Qbits (50 qbit: 250 =1.1*1015 qbit, 1 Pbit) – Guest author: Lieven VandersypenUsing fundamental particles (quanta, such as electrons) to perform calculations and build computers, is one of the most exciting cross-overs between the in vivo and the in vitro Information Universe. Prof. Lieven Vandersypen, who leads a Quantum Computing group at TU Delft in the Netherlands, will explain how this technology will change the way we compute.Quantum entanglement (Item page) – Guest author: Lieven VandersypenThe states of two particles can be intimately linked (entangled), no matter how far they are separated. What Einstein famously dismissed as “spooky action at a distance”, can now be established on demand at TU Delft in the Netherlands. Prof. Vandersypen will explain how his research group, for the first time ever, both create and apply this entanglement in laboratory.Entanglement (item page) - EVThe Square Kilometre Array (64 bit: 264 =1.3*1018, 1 Eb) – Guest author: TBAThe Square Kilometre Telescope will collect data at the rate of the global internet traffic of 2013, in its endeavour to answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the Universe, and its search for extra-terrestrial life.Cryptography (128 bit: 2128 =3.4*1038) – Guest author Tanja LangeEncrypted messages should not be decoded by adversaries, be they criminals or hostile countries. Cryptography enables secure communications and is one of the few applications which require 128-bit numbers. A guest author will explain more.Chapter 3: Deep spaceThe Desert (128-256 bit) Theoretical physics is not progressing much in the last decennia – some call it a crisis. Likely, an observational breakthrough is out of reach: the highest man-made information density on earth is produced by the high energy accelerators at CERN. But these accelerators have to be 1013 -1015 more powerful to reach the fundamental unit of information, which is probably at the same level of the Planck length. Unfortunately, there is no way to reach this unit of information with these instruments. This enormous gap in reaching all the domains in the Information Universe is illustrated in a figure and in a very sobering, but instructive table in the Appendix.Black holes (128-256 bit?) – Guest author: Manus VisserCan information disappear into a black hole? The Information paradox. Stephen Hawking wondered it and started a field in which space and time are described in terms of information. Dr. Manus Visser, expert on gravity and space-time, will explain more.Observing a Black Hole: Event Horizon Telescope – Guest author: Heino FalckeThe first image of a black hole. Prof. Heino Falcke, chair of the Event Horizon Telescope Science Council, will explain how information from a world-wide network of telescopes was combined using atomic clocks, to create the first ever image of a black hole. (Picture: first image of a black hole)Cogwheels: a deeper level – Guest author: Gerard 't HooftNobel laureate ‘t Hooft explains his views on cogwheels, carrying the fundamental information in the Universe.Gravitational waves – Guest author: Chris van den BroeckLinks: The Universe as a spreadsheetLinks, joins, references, URLs, blockchain, associations and even entanglement in physics are all different words for the same building block, forming the connections in the Information Universe.Cosmic Microwave Background – Guest author: Margot BrouwerParticles of light created in the hot and dense state of the Universe after the Big Bang are still flying through the Universe today. Together, these 1077 photons contain the largest amount of information known in the Universe. This information can still be accessed through telescopes, and brings us invaluable information about the dawn of our Universe.Emergent Gravity – Guest author: Erik VerlindeProf. Erik Verlinde, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam, won the Spinoza prize for his new theory explaining gravity. In his theory, all matter, space and time consist of information and are all connected by entanglement. If this theory is correct, the information content of the entire Universe is 2399. This is the highest power described in this book, and actually, in physics.Chapter 4: It from BitOne big information processing machine – Guest author: Gerard 't Hooft (TBC)t Hooftt Hooft: : ““there is something happening at a different level of nature”there is something happening at a different level of nature”..On the origin of physical information. – Guest author: Stefano GottardiThe ear In the ear information is copied a dozen times!The eye – on the visual perception of data- climate change. Links to - facts and fakes- the system of ScienceThe System of ScienceHow does this system work? Discussing Hegel’s system of science, logic, technology, Nature, life, physics, consciousness.Artificial IntelligenceThe machine learning and the data-base oriented communities are still living on different planets. I discuss and revisit Tegmark’s recent book Life 3.0 by comparing 3 crosscuts through the Information Universe: i) the classical computer centric view ii) the data centric view iii) the artificial intelligence view.Information densityThe average information density of the universe can be compared to that of written text.Black Body radiation On the information aspects of the third big physical breakthrough of the 20th century (next to General relativity and quantum mechanics).EntropyDiscussing Shannon’s work and identifying that “Information only exists in relation to its environment”. Examples will be given.Cosmic information, cosmogenesis and dark energy by PadmanabhanCosmic information connects the cosmological constant to cosmogenesisIt from BitIs the Universe one big information processing machine?ConsciousnessVery little is known about the consciousness and I refrain from addressing the consciousness per se. A relevant list of about 5 facts we do know are listed. Any view on the relation between the consciousness and the Information Universe should at least deal with this list.Somnium – Musician Jacco Gardner performing at DOTLiveplanetarium at Eurosonic 2019 show case music festival- Inspired by Kepler’s Somnium – directed by EV The Information UniverseAn overview.Facts and fakesHow is all this related to the current facts and fakes issues on the Internet? How do you make sure that what you are reading is accurate and comes from a reliable source?The link between Open Science, FAIR and reliability of data.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores and elaborates three theories of public reason, drawn from Rawlsian political liberalism, natural law theory, and Confucianism. Drawing together academics from these separate approaches, the volume explores how the three theories critique each other, as well as how each one brings its theoretical arsenal to bear on the urgent contemporary debate of medical assistance in dying. The volume is structured in two parts: an exploration of the three traditions, followed by an in-depth overview of the conceptual and historical background. In Part I, the three comprehensive opening chapters are supplemented by six dynamic chapters in dialogue with each other, each author responding to the other two traditions, and subsequently reflecting on the possible deficiencies of their own theories. The chapters in Part II cover a broad range of subjects, from an overview of the history of bioethics to the nature of autonomy and its status as a moral and political value. In its entirety, the volume provides a vibrant and exemplary collaborative resource to scholars interested in the role of public reason and its relevance in bioethical debate. Table of ContentsPart I: The Three Traditions.- 1. Rawlsian Political Liberalism, Publican Reason, and Bioethics; Hon-Lam Li.- 2. The Natural Law Tradition, Public Reason, and Bioethics; Dominic Farrell LC and Joseph Tham LC.- 3. A Confucian Conception of Public Reason and Its Application to the Issue of Physician Assisted Suicide, Ruiping Fan.- 4. Replies to Farrell and Tham, and Fan; Hon-Lam Li.- 5. Replies to Li and Fan; Dominic Farrell LC and Joseph Tham LC.- 6. Replies to Li and Farrell and Tham; Ruiping Fan.- 7. Further Reflections; Hon-Lam Li.- 8. Further Reflections; Dominic Farrell LC and Joseph Tham LC.- 9. Further Reflections; Ruiping Fan.- Part II: Conceptual and Historical Background.- 10. Kant's Conception of Public Reason; Terence Hua Tai.- 11. Autonomy, Neutrality, and Perfectionism; Yingying Tand and Lei Zhong.- 12. What We Have Reason to Value: Human Capabilities and Public Reason; Nancy S. Jecker.- 13. Public Reason and the Quest for Consensus; Michael Campbell.- 14. Public Reason in the History of Bioethics; Alastair V. Campbell.

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Book SynopsisHow do we understand culture and shape its future? How do we cross the bridge between culture as ideas and feelings and physical, cultural objects, all this within the endless variety and complexity of modern and traditional societies? This book proposes a Physical Culture Theory, taking culture as a self-organizing impulse pattern of electric forces. Bridging the gap to consciousness, the Physical Culture Theory proposes that consciousness content, what we think, hear, feel, or see is also just this: spatio-temporal electric fields. Music is a perfect candidate to elaborate on such a Physical Culture Theory. Music is all three, musical instrument acoustics, music psychology, and music ethnology. They emerge into living musical systems like all life is self-organization. Therefore the Physical Culture Theory knows no split between nature and nurture, hard and soft sciences, brains and musical instruments. It formulates mathematically complex systems as Physical Models rather than Artificial Intelligence. It includes ethical rules for maintaining life and finds culture and arts to be Human Rights. Enlarging these ideas and mathematical methods into all fields of culture, ecology, economy, or the like will be the task for the next decades to come.Table of ContentsSome Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics.- Some Fundamentals of Music Psychology.- Some Fundamentals of Comparative Musicology.- Impulses.- Turbulence.- Saxophone.- More wind instruments.- Friction Instruments.- Guitars and Plucked String Instruments.- The Human Voice.- Neurophysiology of Music.- Music and Consciousness.- Reconstructing Impulses - The Ear and the Auditory Pathway.- Timbre.- Rhythm, Musical Form, and Memory.- Music, Meaning, and Emotion.- Physical Culture Theory.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers a comprehensive overview of the theoretical background and practice of physics teaching and learning and assists in the integration of highly interesting topics into physics lessons. Researchers in the field, including experienced educators, discuss basic theories, the methods and some contents of physics teaching and learning, highlighting new and traditional perspectives on physics instruction. A major aim is to explain how physics can be taught and learned effectively and in a manner enjoyable for both the teacher and the student. Close attention is paid to aspects such as teacher competences and requirements, lesson structure, and the use of experiments in physics lessons. The roles of mathematical and physical modeling, multiple representations, instructional explanations, and digital media in physics teaching are all examined. Quantitative and qualitative research on science education in schools is discussed, as quality assessment of physics instruction. The book is of great value to researchers involved in the teaching and learning of physics, to those training physics teachers, and to pre-service and practising physics teachers.Table of ContentsTopics of Physics Education and Connections to other Sciences.- Professional Competencies for Teaching Physics.- How to Teach a Teacher: Challenges and Opportunities in Physics Teacher Education in Germany and the U.S..- Instructional Design.- Nature of Scientific Knowledge and Nature of Scientific Inquiry in Physics Lessons.- Instructional Coherence and the Development of Student Competence in Physics.- Multiple Representations and Learning Physics.- Physical-Mathematical Modelling and its Role in Learning Physics.- Physics Tasks.- Experiments in Physics Teaching.- Multimedia and Digital Media in Physics In-struction.- Instructional Explanations in Physics Teaching.- Language in physics instruction.- Students’ Conceptions.- Formative Assessment- Methodical Basics of Empirical Research.- Qualitative research on science education in schools.

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Book SynopsisThis book is designed as an easy night's read and introduction to fossil soils and the relatively new disciplines of Paleopedology and Astropedology. It includes line art and color illustrations to visualize the topic for the informed layperson or interested colleagues. It provides comprehensive information on paleosols, which are soils of the past providing a variety of clues to the evolution of life and climate on Earth and deals with topics such as the evolution of grassland ecosystems, mass extinction of the Late Permian and origin of life, all viewed from the perspective of the fossil record of soils. This turns out to be a refreshing new perspective of wide interest.Trade Review“Soil Grown Tall, reviewed here, is a shorter summary intended for a wider audience. … Retallack’s book is well stuffed with insights and ideas, some quite startling. … The book shines with a sense of the beauty of landscape, which has served Retallack well. The book is full of well-chosen reminiscences, which lend life to the narrative. … The book is clearly written, well illustrated, and well produced.” (Egbert Giles Leigh, Evolution, Education & Outreach, Vol. 15 (1), 2022)Table of ContentsChapter 1. Rainbow rocks Chapter 2. Soil as a many splendored thing Chapter 3. Civilization built from soil Chapter 4. Humanity from global change Chapter 5. Grass that changed the world Chapter 6. Death from the sky Chapter 7. An occasion for flowers Chapter 8. Dinosaurs and dirt Chapter 9. World's greatest mid-life crisis Chapter 10. Roots of trees Chapter 11. Mighty millipedes Chapter 12. Lichens and till Chapter 13. When the rust set in Chapter 14. Soils in space Chapter 15. Living soil Chapter 16. The Proserpina Principle Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis popular textbook, now in its third edition, provides a theoretical framework for understanding why cancers arise, how they develop and how they can be treated.Particular attention is devoted to the origins of cancer and the application of evolutionary theory to explain how mutant cell populations tend to expand and spread. Focused on the genes and signaling pathways involved in the most common tumors, Principles of Cancer Genetics is a highly readable account that will be of interest to anyone who would like to attain a basic understanding of cancer biology. Students who have completed introductory coursework in genetics, biology and biochemistry, medical students and medical house staff will find this book to be a useful starting point toward mastery of this complex but fascinating topic. This updated edition delves into the critical interactions between growing tumors and the immune system, and introduces the concepts of T cell activation, immunoediting and immune evasion. Novel strategies for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, including new roles for next-generation sequencing and liquid biopsies, as well as established and emerging therapeutic modalities are now described in detail.For laypersons, students and researchers in other fields with a general interest in cancer, this book provides an accessible overview, enriched with many easy-to-understand illustrations. For advanced students considering future study in the field of oncology and cancer research, this concise book is a useful guide to the basic principles that underlie our understanding of cancer.Table of Contentssee attachment

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