Search results for ""Helen Pilcher""

Pockets, matches, spectacles, postage stamps. Whether it's the stitches that hold our clothes together or the syringes that deliver life-saving vaccines, small things really do make a big difference. Yet these modest but essential components of everyday life are often overlooked.Science and comedy writer Helen Pilcher shares the unexpected stories of 50 humble innovations – from the accidental soldering of two bits of metal that created the pacemaker, to the eighteenth-century sea captain whose ingenious invention paved the way for the filming of Star Wars – and celebrates the joy of the small yet mighty.

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An accessible and thought-provoking introduction to timespans in the natural world, featuring more than 80 beautifully designed diagrams and charts. Which organisms live the longest? How does the natural world recover from wildfires? How long do eggs take to hatch? What are the world’s fastest- and slowest- growing plants? Which species invest the most in parental care? The graphic number line is a potent pattern that explains much of our world, from the life cycle of immortal jellyfish to the perfect amount of time for a ‘good sleep’. Beautifully illustrated with reader-friendly infographics and stunning colour photography, How Nature Keeps Time visually maps the amounts of time bounded by growth, distance, age, reproduction, sleep, death and other key behaviours. Join science and comedy writer Helen Pilcher as she examines a broad range of species from across the world and throughout time. As our natural world draws our attention to its plight, this fascinating book offers a calm, clear-thinking series of visual explanations based on the ultimate objective measure – time.

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If you could bring back just one animal from the past, what would you choose? It can be anyone or anything from history, from the King of the Dinosaurs, T. rex, to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, and beyond. De-extinction – the ability to bring extinct species back to life – is fast becoming reality. Around the globe, scientists are trying to de-extinct all manner of animals, including the woolly mammoth, the passenger pigeon and a bizarre species of flatulent frog. But de-extinction is more than just bringing back the dead. It’s a science that can be used to save species, shape evolution and sculpt the future of life on our planet. In Bring Back the King, scientist and comedy writer Helen Pilcher goes on a quest to identify the perfect de-extinction candidate. Along the way, she asks if Elvis could be recreated from the DNA inside a pickled wart, investigates whether it’s possible to raise a pet dodo, and considers the odds of a 21st century Neanderthal turning heads on public transport. Pondering the practicalities and the point of de-extinction, Bring Back the King is a witty and wry exploration of what is bound to become one of the hottest topics in conservation – if not in science as a whole – in the years to come. READ THIS BOOK – the King commands it.

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A beautifully designed activity book filled with fascinating garden experiments With 80 experiments for the whole family to discover and enjoy,The Pocket Book of Garden Experiments contains easy-to-follow instructions for activities that will stretch your imagination and bring out your inner scientist. - Make an ecosystem in a jar - Find out why leaves change colour - Turn potatoes into slime - Calculate the heights of trees - Make a sound map of your garden Each experiment takes inspiration from the natural world and the fascinating things that live in it.

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Biology is the natural science that studies life on our planet: from fungi to fossils and ecosystems to extremophiles, there is a whole world waiting to be discovered.Mind Maps: Biology helps you to understand the natural world and to learn its language by exploring ten mind maps, which are powerful tools for visual learning and understanding. Complex ideas are explained using text and illustrations that are easy to follow. Featuring specially commissioned, hand-drawn maps, diagrams and doodles, together with an expert analysis of concepts, this book provides a wealth of visual information across a range of complex subjects.

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