Search results for ""Shelter Harbor Press""

Here is the essential guide to the earth sciences, an authoritative reference book and timeline that examines how we figured out how the world works — literally. That process has revealed how the planet formed from a disc of dust left behind by the young Sun. It showed how the surface of Earth is in constant — but slow — motion, driven by the same forces that result in devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Geology has uncovered all this by studying the processes that shape Earth's crust today, here and now, and rewinding the clock to the distant past to retell the story of the planet. While geologists study rocks hard, oceanographers dive into the waters that cover most of Earth — the seabed is still more of a mystery than the surface of the Moon. Meteorologists monitor and model the atmosphere that cloaks the planet, offering a life-sustaining barrier between us and outer space, but for how much longer? Meanwhile planetary scientists focus their knowledge of earth sciences on other worlds using discoveries made down here to unlock the secrets of space. Will they find other planets like ours or is Earth very special indeed?

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Here is the essential guide to psychology, an authoritative reference book and timeline that examines how we learned to understand ourselves. Psychology is a young science. While great thinkers have pondered the nature of thought itself for centuries, the idea of using scientific experiments to examine the way we think, make decisions, and behave was only arrived at in the mid-19th century. However, the impact of psychology has been far reaching. Thanks to the work of Sigmund Freud, William James, Abraham Maslow, and many others, we now consider the psychological impact of events, along with their economic, political and legal aspects. Nevertheless psychology studies a very difficult subject—the human mind—and finding ways of measuring our thoughts is not easy. New techniques, such the functional MRI scanner and improved understanding of brain function, may help to unlock the secrets of what makes us who we are. What do you think?

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One of the hardest questions that mathematics teachers have to answer is "Why?" Schoolroom sums are crucial in learning the awesome power of mathematics, but they are often a world away from how the knowledge is applied and where it came from. Inside Mathematics: Algebra to Calculus is there to fill that gap. To some the term algebra is a baffling torment that has no meaning; to others it is perhaps the most powerful tool in mathematics. The word algebra comes from the Arabic language because this unifying force of math arose in Baghdad 1,200 years ago. It takes the numbers out of calculations and and in so doing allows us to investigate mathematical ideas like never before. Thanks to a lazy morning spent in bed by René Descartes, algebra can turn lines, surfaces, and shapes of all kinds into equations. Isaac Newton used it quantify natural processes using an infinite number of tiny values to find the answers. He was very proud of "The Calculus" and it became the focus of the biggest dispute in scientific history. Inside Mathematics: Algebra to Calculus introduces the amazing people who figured out how equations work and how they can be used to investigate nature. Written to engage, entertain and enthuse young people, it show readers how ideas of long-dead geniuses ended up in their homework assignment: Algebra unlocks the laws of physics, such as Galileo's Law of Fall, which was the first hint at how gravity works—and how all motion can be measured and predicted. Calculus goes even further, by opening up math to the fluctuations of nature, from the actions of sound and heat to the motions of asteroids—and even warps in the fabric of space and time.

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Here is the essential guide to the human brain, an authoritative reference book and timeline that examines the three pounds of matter inside our heads that does all our thinking for us. The human brain has 100 billion nerve cells connected by thousands more to every corner of the body.

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Age range 14+One of the hardest questions that mathematics teachers have to answer is 'Why?' Schoolroom sums are crucial in learning the awesome power of mathematics, but they are often a world away from how the knowledge is applied and where it came from. Inside Mathematics: Geometry is there to fill that gap. The word 'geometry' means to 'measure the Earth.' Ancient mathematicians wanting to do more than count money and merchandise used geometry to model the natural world and then the world of numbers that lies behind it. What began by scratching circles and squares in the dirt has led to to infinitely large shapes you could hold in your hand, a Universe in which straight lines can be curved, and Internet search engines that handle information as structures with hundreds of dimensions. Inside Mathematics: Geometry introduces the amazing people who figured out how shapes work and how they can be used to unlock secrets of nature. Written to engage, and enthuse young people, it show readers how ideas of long-dead geniuses ended up in their homework assignment: Trigonometry is not just about triangles — it can tell you how big the Universe is. Not every polyhedron has three dimensions: The tesseract of sci-fi movies really exists as a four-dimensional cube that can turn itself inside out.

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Here is the essential guide to biology, an authoritative reference book and timeline that examines how we have uncovered the secrets of life-the most complex process in the Universe. From the workings of molecules to the way entire oceans or continents of lifeforms interact, biology seeks to understand how it is that something can be alive, how it fends off death and how it leaves more life in its wake. We follow the journey through the history of life science to find out why the dolphin got its name (it is the 'womb fish'), how a seven-foot strand of DNA is able to build your body, and what gives a lobster its blue blood. The great names, such as Darwin and Linnaeus, are joined by lesser known discoverers, such as Karl von Frisch who discovered that bees dance, and Jan Baptist van Helmont who found a plant uses air and water to grow. Biology today is still very much a live science, finding a purpose in robot design and helping us to understand non-living complex systems like the Internet. Biology has changed the way we understand ourselves. What will it tell us next? - Contains 100 chronological articles that tell the story of biology from the dawn of history to the present day - Authoritative text, exciting imagery and helpful diagrams accompany each of the steps along the way - Biographies of great life scientists and a chart of the tree of life - A simple guide to biology draws together current understanding to set out the basics of the science - The Imponderables looks at what questions biology still needs to answer. Also contains a 24-page removable foldout concertina neatly housed at the back of the book. This fold-out concertina includes a 12-page Timeline History of Biology and 12 full pages of amazing electron micrographs called Our Hidden World.

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Personal computers may have replaced the typewriter in most homes and offices, but the venerable writing machine is currently staging a comeback. From portable models that hipsters are snapping up, to Tom Hanks's bestselling app that recreates the manual experience on a tablet, the typewriter has never been so hot. This celebration of the typewriter covers what a platen knob is, why QWERTY won out over other arrangements of keys, which authors loved (or loathed) their typewriters, and much more.

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