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A Brilliant Darkness: The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Ettore Majorana, the Troubled Genius of the Nuclear Age
by Joao Magueijo (Basic Books)
On the night of March 26, 1938, nuclear physicist Ettore Majorana boarded a ship, cash and passport in hand. He was never seen again. In A Brilliant Darkness, theoretical physicist João Magueijo tells the story of Majorana and his research group, “the Via Panisperna Boys,” who discovered atomic fission in 1934. As Majorana, the most brilliant of the group, began to realize the implications of what they had found, he became increasingly unstable. Did he commit suicide that night in … (continue reading)Get this book$ 1610 -
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
by Po Bronson (Twelve)
In a world of modern, involved, caring parents, why are so many kids aggressive and cruel? Where is intelligence hidden in the brain, and why does that matter? Why do cross-racial friendships decrease in schools that are more integrated? If 98% of kids think lying is morally wrong, then why do 98% of kids lie? What's the single most important thing that helps infants learn language? NurtureShock is a groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. … (continue reading)Get this book$ 1563 -
Moyasimon 1: Tales of Agriculture
by Ishikawa Masayuki (Del Rey)
BACTERIA TO SCHOOL. Tadayasu is a new, fresh-faced university student hiding a bizarre secret: He can see germs with the naked eye. Between the machinations of an eccentric professor determined to unlock the power of the microbial world and the doomed agricultural experiments of his fellow students, will Tadayasu ever find the cool college atmosphere he so desires?Get this book$ 1099 -
Shapes: Nature's Patterns: A Tapestry in Three Parts
by Philip Ball (Oxford University Press, USA)
Patterns are everywhere in nature. in the ranks of clouds in the sky, the stripes of an angelfish, the arrangement of petals in flowers. Where does this order and regularity come from? It creates itself. The patterns we see come from self-organization. Whether living or non-living, scientists have found that there is a pattern-forming tendency inherent in the basic structure and processes of nature, so that from a few simple themes, and the repetition of simple rules, endless beautiful variations … (continue reading)Get this book$ 2482
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Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth's Climate
by Stephen H. Schneider (National Geographic)
It’s been nearly four decades since scientists first realized that global warming posed a potential threat to our planet. Why, if we knew of the threats way back in the Carter Administration, can’t we act decisively to limit greenhouse gases, deforestation, and catastrophic warming trends? Why are we still addicted to fossil fuels? Have we all just been fiddling for 40 years as the world burns around us? Schneider, part of the Nobel Prize–winning team that shared the accolade with … (continue reading)Get this book$ 2800 -
This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future
by John Brockman (Harper Perennial)
“This Will Change Everything offers seemingly radical but actually feasible ideas with the potential to change the world.”—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel. Editor John Brockman continues in the same vein as his popular compilations What Are You Optimistic About and What Have You Changed Your Mind About with This Will Change Everything. Brockman asks 150 intellectual superstars “what game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?” Their fascinating responses are collected … (continue reading)Get this book$ 1218 -
Ant
by Charlotte Sleigh (Reaktion Books)
Ants are legion: at present there are 11,006 species of ant known; they live everywhere in the world except the polar icecaps; and the combined weight of the ant population has been estimated to make up half the mass of all insects alive today. When we encounter them outdoors, ants fascinate us; discovered in our kitchen cupboards, they elicit horror and disgust. Charlotte Sleigh’s Ant elucidates the cultural reasons behind our varied reactions to these extraordinary insects, and considers the … (continue reading)Get this book$ 1895 -
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
by Theodore Gray (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)
The Elements has become an international sensation, selling over half-a-million copies worldwide. The highly-anticipated paperback edition of The Elements is finally available. An eye-opening, original collection of gorgeous, never-before-seen photographic representations of the 118 elements in the periodic table. The elements are what we, and everything around us, are made of. But how many elements has anyone actually seen in pure, uncombined form? The Elements provides this rare opportunity. Based on seven years of research and photography, the pictures in … (continue reading)Get this book$ 1755 -
Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City
by Eric W. Sanderson (Abrams)
On September 12, 1609, Henry Hudson first set eyes on the land that would become Manhattan. It's difficult for us to imagine what he saw, but for more than a decade, landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson has been working to do just that. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City is the astounding result of those efforts, reconstructing, in words and images, the wild island that millions of New Yorkers now call home. By geographically matching an 18th-century map of … (continue reading)Get this book$ 2649
