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The theoretical physicist shares his latest thoughts on the nature of space and time in this anthology of selections from Princeton University Press. Along with eminent colleagues, Hawking extends theoretical frontiers by speculating on the big questions of modern cosmology.
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The author proposes a dramatic new conjecture to explain dark matter, dark energy, and the accelerating expansion of the universe. These three baffling mysteries are signaling the need for a new revolution in cosmology. Only a century ago, the great debate was whether the sun was the center of the universe, and if the Milky Way was the entire universe. Edwin Hubble helped confirm, only in the 1920s, that our galaxy is one of many, and that the universe is expanding. This article traces the histo... more info>>
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In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and David Bodanis's E=MC2, The Battery is the first popular history of the technology that harnessed electricity and powered the greatest scientific and technological advances of our time. What began as a long-running dispute in biology, involving a dead frog's twitching leg, a scalpel, and a metal plate, would become an invention that transformed the history of the world: the battery. From Alessandro Volta's first copper-and-zinc model in 1800 to twenty-... more info>>
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An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed--people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, lea... more info>>
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From the acclaimed author of The Pencil and To Engineer Is Human, The Essential Engineer is an eye-opening exploration of the ways in which science and engineering must work together to address our world’s most pressing issues, from dealing with climate change and the prevention of natural disasters to the development of efficient automobiles and the search for renewable energy sources. While the scientist may identify problems, it falls to the engineer to solve them. It is the inherent practica... more info>>
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Matthieu Ricard trained as a molecular biologist, working in the lab of a Nobel prize-winning scientist, but when he read some Buddhist philosophy, he became drawn to Buddhism. Eventually he left his life in science to study with Tibetan teachers, and he is now a Buddhist monk and translator for the Dalai Lama, living in the Shechen monastery near Kathmandu in Nepal. Trinh Thuan was born into a Buddhist family in Vietnam but became intrigued by the explosion of discoveries in astronomy during th... more info>>
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Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant intelligent design, there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentionedthe evidence, the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from... more info>>
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One of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey--into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail--well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand--and, if possible, answer--the oldest, biggest questions we have posed abou... more info>>
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This eBook by Author Steve Sande is jam-packed with detailed instructions on how you can use your iPod to do more than just listen to music. The iPod is a sophisticated device but extremely simple to use. The astounding capabilities of the iPod makes it possible for owners to use them for a number of different functions: * A replacement for a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) * A portable hard disk drive for moving files between computers * A Macintosh startup disk * An eBook reader ... and lots ... more info>>
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As a child, Lawrence Newton wanted nothing more than to fly starships and explore the galaxy, like his fictional heroes. But on the colony world of Amethi in the twenty-fourth century, Lawrence is living in the wrong era: the age of human starflight is drawing to a close. So, like many another teenage hothead, he rebels and runs away. Twenty years later, he's the seargent of a washed-out platoon taking part in the bungled invasion of another world. The giant corporations who own the remaining st... more info>>
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A rising star in theoretical physics offers his awesome vision of our universe and beyond, all beginning with a simple question: Why does time move forward? Time moves forward, not backward-everyone knows you can't unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today's hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other universes, too. In From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll argues that the arrow of time, pointing resolutely ... more info>>
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Send in the clones! On second thought, maybe not. CAN IT READ MY MIND? WILL IT BE EVIL? HOW DO I STOP IT? Find out the answers to these and other burning questions in this funny, informative, and ingenious book from two bioengineering experts who show you how to survive--and thrive--in a new age of truly weird science. For decades, science fiction has been alerting us to the wonders and perils of our biotech future--from the prospects of gene therapy to the pitfalls of biological warfare. Now t... more info>>
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A renowned cognitive neuroscientist's fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires reading How can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the ?reading paradox?: Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? R... more info>>
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In a brilliant follow-up to his blockbuster The God Delusion, Dawkins lays out the evidence for evolution.
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Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they'd weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred... more info>>
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New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important and popular science writers. Now, in The Stuff of Thought, Pinker marries two of the subjects he knows best: language and human nature. The result is a fasc... more info>>
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Jaron Lanier, a Silicon Valley visionary since the 1980s, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. Now, in his first book, written more than two decades after the web was created, Lanier offers this provocative and cautionary look at the way it is transforming our lives for better and for worse.The current design and function of the web have become so familiar that it is easy to forget that they grew out of programming decis... more info>>
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Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish. Neil Shubin, a leading paleontologist and professor of anatomy who discovered Tiktaalik--the "missing link" that made headlines around the world in April 200... more info>>
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When we look to the "anomalies" that science can't explain, we often discover where science is about to go. Here are a few of the anomalies that Michael Brooks investigates in 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: Homeopathic remedies seem to have biological effects that cannot be explained by chemistry Gases have been detected on Mars that could only have come from carbon-based life forms Cold fusion, theoretically impossible and discredited in the 1980s, seems to work in some modern laboratory expe... more info>>
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Some scientists, inspired by the work of an oil-company geologist named M. King Hubbard, believe the age of easy oil has peaked and will soon decline. This article examines that theory, as well as what alternatives the future may use for liquid fuel. Methanol, anyone?
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Build, manage, and secure AJAX applications Here is a practical and comprehensive programming guide to AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)--the revolutionary new technique for creating interactive Web applications. You will get thorough coverage of AJAX technologies, the advanced JavaScript necessary to use AJAX properly, and how AJAX works with PHP, ASP.NET, JSP, and Ruby. Core information about network, data, and user interface design in support of AJAX is also included.
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Devastating earthquakes. Record-breaking tsunamis. Category 5 hurricanes. Rising global temperatures. World war. Predictions of how it will all end have been around for thousands of years. In Apocalypse 2012, Lawrence E. Joseph reveals the curious fact that 2012 has been pinpointed as a pivotal, perhaps cataclysmic, year in human history by ancient sources and contemporary science alike. Joseph investigates this chilling correlation with an open mind and skeptical eye. He delves into historical ... more info>>
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"There is no doubt that we are both ape and angel. The question is, what constitutes the angel? Could it have been extraterrestrial? In these pages you will find proof that you are partially extraterrestrial."--Max H. Flindt. "I go to drink from the Big Dipper. And the stuff I drink is life. Come with me." --Ray Bradbury [Foreword by Ray Bradbury.]
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Take the frustration out of learning the science of life!Biology is the most fundamental science?yet it?s one of the most complex. Now, Biology Made Simple is here to help science and non-science majors alike understand the science of life. Covering all the major themes of biology?including the cellular basis of life, the interaction of organisms, and the evolutionary process of all beings, Biology Made Simple combines concise explanations with the in-depth coverage needed to understand every as... more info>>
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When the cattle-borne sickness known as Mad Cow Disease first appeared in America in 2003, authorities were quick to assure the nation that the outbreak was isolated, quarantined, and posed absolutely no danger to the general public. What we were not told was that the origins of the sickness may already have been here and suspected for a quarter of a century. This illuminating expose of the threat to our nation's health reveals for the first time how Mad Cow Disease (a.k.a. Bovine Spongiform Enc... more info>>
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