This volume tells the story of shy Quaker Luke Howard, and his pioneering work in 1802 to define what had hitherto seemed random and mysterious structures - clouds. It also focuses on other issues of the day, such as religion, aesthetics and literature.

In this groundbreaking book, New York Times-bestselling author Steven Kotler draws on cutting edge research and first-hand reporting as he explores what makes super performers tick and what we can learn from them. Why are business moguls going to Burning Man? Why are c-suite level executives going on more meditation retreats now than in the 1970s? How is MDMA being used to treat trauma patients? Altered states, it turns out, can sharper our decision making capabilities, unleash creativity, fuel creative collaboration, and accelerate our ability to solve problems. Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, Stealing Fire explains how Navy SEALS, Googlers, and Silicon Valley billionaires are using altered states (most are non-drug induced) to radically accelerate performance and fuel happiness. At its core, this is a book about profound possibility; about what is actually possible for our species; about where-if anywhere-our limits lie.

Computation and its Limits is an innovative cross-disciplinary investigation of the relationship between computing and physical reality. It begins by exploring the mystery of why mathematics is so effective in science and seeks to explain this in terms of the modelling of one part of physical reality by another. Going from the origins of counting to the most blue-skies proposals for novel methods of computation, the authors investigate the extent to which the laws of nature and of logic constrain what we can compute. In the process they examine formal computability, the thermodynamics of computation, and the promise of quantum computing.

How the public image of the Soviet cosmonaut was designed and reimagined over timeIn this book, Cathleen Lewis discusses how the public image of the Soviet cosmonaut developed beginning in the 1950s and the ways this icon has been reinterpreted throughout the years and in contemporary Russia. Compiling material and cultural representations of the cosmonaut program, Lewis provides a new perspective on the story of Soviet spaceflight, highlighting how the government has celebrated figures such as Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova through newspapers, radio, parades, monuments, museums, films, and even postage stamps and lapel pins. Lewis's analysis shows that during the Space Race, Nikita Khrushchev mobilized cosmonaut stories and images to symbolize the forward-looking Soviet state and distract from the costs of the Cold War. Public perceptions shifted after the first Soviet spaceflight fatality and failure to reach the Moon, yet cosmonaut imagery was still effective propaganda, evolving through the USSR's collapse in 1991 and seen today in Vladimir Putin's government cooperation for a film on the 1985 rescue of the Salyut 7 space station. Looking closely at the process through which Russians continue to reexamine their past, Lewis argues that the cultural memory of spaceflight remains especially potent among other collective Soviet memories.

Never before have we had so much information available to us about food and health. There’s GAPS, paleo, detox, gluten-free, alkaline, the sugar conspiracy, clean eating... Unfortunately, a lot of it is not only wrong but actually harmful. So why do so many of us believe this bad science?

Assembling a crack team of psychiatrists, behavioural economists, food scientists and dietitians, the Angry Chef unravels the mystery of why sensible, intelligent people are so easily taken in by the latest food fads, making brief detours for an expletive-laden rant. At the end of it all you’ll have the tools to spot pseudoscience for yourself and the Angry Chef will be off for a nice cup of tea – and it will have two sugars in it, thank you very much.

While there are many biographies of JFK and accounts of the early years of US space efforts, this book uses primary source material and interviews with key participants to provide a comprehensive account of how the actions taken by JFK's administration have shaped the course of the US space program over the last 45 years.

Everybody Out of the Pond

At the Water's Edge will change the way you think about your place in the world. The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us.

We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin's idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago.

In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.

Like its wildly popular predecessors Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities and Hoard of Mathematical Treasures, Professor Stewart's brand-new book is a miscellany of over 150 mathematical curios and conundrums, packed with trademark humour and numerous illustrations.In addition to the fascinating formulae and thrilling theorems familiar to Professor Stewart's fans, the Casebook follows the adventures of the not-so-great detective Hemlock Soames and his sidekick Dr John Watsup (immortalised in the phrase 'Watsup, Doc?'). By a remarkable coincidence they live at 222B Baker Street, just across the road from their more illustrious neighbour who, for reasons known only to Dr Watsup, is never mentioned by name. A typical item is 'The Case of the Face-Down Aces', a mathematical magic trick of quite devilish cunning... Ranging from one-liners to four-page investigations from the frontiers of mathematical research, the Casebook reveals Professor Stewart at his challenging and entertaining best.

The physiologist Benjamin Libet famously demonstrated that activity in the brain's motor regions can be detected some 300 milliseconds before a person feels that he has decided to move. Another lab recently used fMRI data to show that some "conscious" decisions can be predicted up to 10 seconds before they enter awareness (long before the preparatory motor activity detected by Libet). Clearly, findings of this kind are difficult to reconcile with the sense that one is the conscious source of one's actions. The question of free will is no mere curio of philosophy seminars. A belief in free will underwrites both the religious notion of "sin" and our enduring commitment to retributive justice. The Supreme Court has called free will a "universal and persistent" foundation for our system of law. Any scientific developments that threatened our notion of free will would seem to put the ethics of punishing people for their bad behaviour in question.In Free Will Harris debates these ideas and asks whether or not, given what brain science is telling us, we actually have free will?

What if there were a pill for love? Or an anti-love drug, designed to help us break up? This controversial and timely new book argues that recent medical advances have brought chemical control of our romantic lives well within our grasp. Substances affecting love and relationships, whether prescribed by doctors or even illicitly administered, are not some far-off speculation - indeed our most intimate connections are already being influenced by pills we take for other purposes, such as antidepressants. Treatments involving certain psychoactive substances, including MDMA-the active ingredient in Ecstasy-might soon exist to encourage feelings of love and help ordinary couples work through relationship difficulties. Others may ease a breakup or soothe feelings of rejection. Such substances could have transformative implications for how we think about and experience love. This brilliant intervention into the debate builds a case for conducting further research into "love drugs" and "anti-love drugs" and explores their ethical implications for individuals and society. Rich in anecdotal evidence and case-studies, the book offers a highly readable insight into a cutting-edge field of medical research that could have profound effects on us all. Will relationships be the same in the future? Will we still marry? It may be up to you to decide whether you want a chemical romance. -- .

'This book is not just about life, but about discovery itself. It is about error and hubris, but also about wonder and the reach of science. And it is bookended with the ultimate question: How do we define the thing that defines us?' - Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene We all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world - from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses - the harder they find it to locate the edges of life, where it begins and ends. What exactly does it mean to be alive? Is a virus alive? Is a foetus? Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can't answer that question here on earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society's most charged conflicts - whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead. Life's Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation by one of the most celebrated science writers of our time. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to recreate life. Literally hundreds of definitions of what that should look like now exist, but none has yet emerged as an obvious winner. Lists of what living things have in common do not add up to a theory of life. It's never clear why some items on the list are essential and others not. Coronaviruses have altered the course of history, and yet many scientists maintain they are not alive. Chemists are creating droplets that can swarm, sense their environment, and multiply - have they made life in the lab? Whether he is handling pythons in Alabama or searching for hibernating bats in the Adirondacks, Zimmer revels in astounding examples of life at its most bizarre. He tries his own hand at evolving life in a test tube with unnerving results. Charting the obsession with Dr Frankenstein's monster and how Coleridge came to believe the whole universe was alive, Zimmer leads us all the way into the labs and minds of researchers working on engineering life from the ground up.

'A WITTY BOOK THAT PROVOKES THE IMAGINATION' The Times How many socks make a pair? The answer is not always two. And behind this question lies a world of maths that can be surprising, amusing and even beautiful. Using playing cards, a newspaper, the back of an envelope, a Sudoku, some pennies and of course a pair of socks, Rob Eastaway shows how maths can demonstrate its secret beauties in even the most mundane of everyday objects. If you already like maths you'll discover plenty of new surprises. And if you've never picked up a maths book in your life, this one will change your view of the subject forever.

Welcome to this 'novice's guide'. At last a book that explains the real science behind the cosmetics we use. Taking a gentle approach and a guided journey through the different product types, we discover that they are not as superficial as often thought and learn that there is some amazing science behind them. We shall uncover some of the truths behind the myths and point out some interesting facts on our way. Did you know? Vitamin E is the world's most used cosmetic active ingredient. At just 1mm thick, your amazing skin keeps out just about everything it's exposed to - including your products! A 'chemical soup' of amino acids, urea, mineral salts and organic acids act as 'water magnets' in the skin keeping it naturally moisturised. Discovered centuries ago, iron oxides (yes, the same chemicals as rust) are still commonly used inorganic pigments in foundations. A lipstick is a fine balance of waxes, oils and colourants to keep the stick stable and leave an even gloss on your lips.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) had a relatively brief, but remarkable life, lived in his beloved rural home of Glenlair, and variously in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, London and Cambridge. His scholarship also ranged wide - covering all the major aspects of Victorian natural philosophy. He was one of the most important mathematical physicists of all time, coming only after Newton and Einstein. In scientific terms his immortality is enshrined in electromagnetism and Maxwell's equations, but as this book shows, there was much more to Maxwell than electromagnetism, both in terms of his science and his wider life. Maxwell's life and contributions to science are so rich that they demand the expertise of a range of academics - physicists, mathematicians, and historians of science and literature - to do him justice. The various chapters will enable Maxwell to be seen from a range of perspectives. Chapters 1 to 4 deal with wider aspects of his life in time and place, at Aberdeen, King's College London and the Cavendish Laboratory. Chapters 5 to 12 go on to look in more detail at his wide ranging contributions to science: optics and colour, the dynamics of the rings of Saturn, kinetic theory, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism and electromagnetism with the concluding chapters on Maxwell's poetry and Christian faith.

This is the story of the intellectual and social life of a community, and of its interactions with the wider world. For eight centuries mathematics has been researched and studied at Oxford, and the subject and its teaching have undergone profound changes during that time. This highly readable and beautifully illustrated book reveals the richness and influence of Oxford's mathematical tradition and the fascinating characters that helped to shape it. The story begins with the founding of the University of Oxford and the establishing of the medieval curriculum, in which mathematics had an important role. The Black Death, the advent of printing, the Civil War, and the Newtonian revolution all had a great influence on the development of mathematics at Oxford. So too did many well-known figures: Roger Bacon, Henry Savile, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Edmond Halley, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), and G. H. Hardy, to name but a few. Later chapters bring us to the 20th century, with some entertaining reminiscences by Sir Michael Atiyah of the thirty years he spent as an Oxford mathematician. In this second edition the story is brought right up to the opening of the new Mathematical Institute in 2013 with a foreword from Marcus du Sautoy and recent developments from Peter M. Neumann.

This book contains stories of women engineers' paths through the golden age of microelectronics, stemming from the invention of the transistor in 1947. These stories, like the biographies of Marie Curie and the National Geographic's stories of Jane Goodall's research that inspired the authors will inspire and guide readers along unconventional pathways to contributions to microelectronics that we can only begin to imagine. The book explores why and how the women writing here chose their career paths and how they navigated their careers. This topic is of interest to a vast audience, from students to professionals to university advisers to industry CEOs, who can imagine the advantages of a future with a diverse work force. Provides insight into women's early contributions to the field of microelectronics and celebrates the challenges they overcame; Presents compelling innovations from academia, research, and industry into advances, applications, and the future of microelectronics; Includes a fascinating look into topics such as nanotechnologies, video games, analog electronics, design automation, and neuromorphic circuits.

Why does kicking the TV work? What can the US military learn from the lowly bacterium? Why are the instruction manuals for cell phones incomprehensible? How does a spark of a single virus trigger an epidemic that claims millions? In recent years, cutting-edge studies in fields such as economics, genetics, stock-market analysis and child development have hit on a startling new theory - 'simplexity'. To put it simply, simple things can be more complicated than they seem, and complex things more simple. The evidence is before our eyes: in your elaborate network of household plumbing actually run on a very basic mechanism, or the crystal paperweight on your desk, spectacular in its complexity. As simplexity moves from the research lab into popular consciousness it will challenge our models for modern living. You'll never unknowingly whack the TV again and you'll understand just how much it means to smile at your child. Popular science journalist Jeffrey Kluger adeptly translates cutting-edge theory into a high-octane history of everything, which will have you rethinking the rules of business and pleasure. From the micro to the macro, Simplexity is a startling reassessment of the building blocks of life and how they affect us all.

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO ALCOHOL AND YOUR HEALTH

Alcohol - a simple molecule that can induce so much pleasure and pain at the same time... As the most harmful drug in the UK, it has a profound and wide-reaching impact on our health and on society at large. Drink? is the first book of its kind, written by a scientist and rooted in 40 years of medical research and hands-on experience treating patients. Professor David Nutt cuts through the noise to explain the long- and short-term effects of alcohol, makes complex science digestible and takes readers through its journey inside the body and brain from the very first sip.

Drink? holds the key to all the questions you want to know the answers to, covering mental health, sleep, hormones, fertility and addiction. It sheds light on what 'responsible drinking' truly means and equips us with the essential knowledge we all need to make rational, informed decisions about our consumption now and in the future.

The brilliantly told and gripping story of the most familiar - yet, amazingly, still poorly understood - substance in the universe: Water. The extent to which water remains a scientific mystery is extraordinary, despite its prevalence and central importance on Earth. Whether one considers its role in biology, its place in the physical world (where it refuses to obey the usual rules of liquids) or its deceptively simple structure, there is still no complete answer to the question: what is water? Philip Ball's book explains what, exactly, we do and do not know about the strange character of this most essential and ubiquitous of substances. H20 begins by transporting its readers back to the Big Bang and the formation of galaxies to witness the birth of water's constituent elements: hydrogen and oxygen. It then explains how the primeval oceans were formed four billion years ago; where water is to be found on other planets; why ice floats when most solids sink; why, despite being highly corrosive, water is good for us; why there are at least fifteen kinds of ice and perhaps two kinds of liquid water; how scientists have consistently misunderstood water for centuries; and why wars have been waged over it. Philip Ball's gloriously offbeat and intelligent book conducts us on a journey through the history of science, folklore, the wilder scientific fringes, cutting-edge physics, biology and ecology, to give a fascinating new perspective on life and the substance that sustains it. After reading this book, drinking a glass of water will never be the same again.

In 1954, Charles Townes invented the laser's microwave cousin, the maser. The next logical step was to extend the same physical principles to the shorter wavelengths of light, but the idea did not catch fire until October 1957, when Townes asked Gordon Gould about Gould's research on using light to excite thallium atoms. Each took the idea and ran with it. The independent-minded Gould sought the fortune of an independent inventor; the professorial Townes sought the fame of scientific recognition. Townes enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow, and got Bell Labs into the race. Gould turned his ideas into a patent application and a million-dollar defense contract. They soon had company. Ali Javan, one of Townes's former students, began pulling 90-hour weeks at Bell Labs with colleague Bill Bennett. And far away in California a bright young physicist named Ted Maiman became a very dark horse in the race. While Schawlow proclaimed that ruby could never make a laser, Maiman slowly convinced himself it would. As others struggled with recalcitrant equipment and military secrecy, Maiman built a tiny and elegant device that fit in the palm of his hand. His ruby laser worked the first time he tried it, on May 16, 1960, but afterwards he had to battle for acceptance as the man who made the first laser. Beam is a fascinating tale of a remarkable and powerful invention that has become a symbol of modern technology.

Meet 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.

Using a selection of key experiments performed over the past 30 years or so, we present a discussion of the strikingly counter-intuitive phenomena of the quantum world that defy explanation in terms of everyday "common sense" reasoning, and we provide the corresponding quantum mechanical explanations with a very elementary use of associated formalism. Most, but certainly not all, of the experiments we describe are optical experiments involving a very small number of photons (particles of light). We begin with experiments on the wave-particle duality of electrons, proceed to experiments on the particle nature of light and single photon interference, delayed choice experiments and interaction-free detection, then go on to experiments involving the interference of two photons, quantum entanglement and Bell's Theorem, quantum teleportation, large-scale quantum effects and the divide between the classical and quantum worlds, addressing the question as to whether or not there is such a divide.

This book, which goes far beyond a traditional collection of technical articles, is dedicated to Enric Trillas, a fuzzy systems pioneer but also an internationally renowned researcher in other areas of science, such as mathematics and aerospace, and an outstanding manager of scientific affairs in Spain. Some of the contributions in this book develop technical, state-of-the-art themes obviously related to fuzzy logic, while others resemble popular-science articles that shed light on complex mathematical concepts. There are also chapters that highlight the authors' personal relationships and experiences working with Enric Trillas. While planning this book project, the editors decided to give contributors absolute freedom of thought and expression in preparing their chapters. The result is a colorful and inspiring mixture of styles and topics, which perfectly reflects Enric Trillas's multifaceted contributions to research and his outstanding role in promoting education and technological transfer in the field of soft computing. This Festschrift to Enric Trillas, published on the occasion of his 75th birthday, is not only intended as an exemplary source of information for young scientists dealing with uncertainty, imprecision and accuracy of models, but also as an inspiring guide to the role of scientists in education, politics and communication.

A gripping investigation that opens fresh perspectives on biology and anthropology 'At the cutting edge of contemporary thought' GUARDIAN 'A thoroughly enjoyable read' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH While living among Peruvian Indians, anthropologist Jeremy Narby became intrigued by their claim that their phenomenal knowledge of plants and biochemistry was communicated to them directly while under the influence of hallucinogens. Despite his initial scepticism, Narby found himself engaged in an increasingly obsessive personal quest. The evidence he collected - on subjects as diverse as molecular biology, shamanism, neurology and ancient mythology - led inexorably to the conclusion that the Indians' claims were literally true: to a consciousness prepared with drugs, specific biochemical knowledge could indeed be directly transmitted through DNA itself. A gripping investigation that opens fresh perspectives on biology, anthropology and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent is new science of the most exhilarating kind.

Graph Theory as I Have Known It provides a unique introduction to graph theory by one of the founding fathers, and will appeal to anyone interested in the subject. It is not intended as a comprehensive treatise, but rather as an account of those parts of the theory that have been of special interest to the author. Professor Tutte details his experience in the area, and provides a fascinating insight into how he was led to his theorems and the proofs he used. As well as being of historical interest it provides a useful starting point for research, with references to further suggested books as well as the original papers.
The book starts by detailing the first problems worked on by Professor Tutte and his colleagues during his days as an undergraduate member of the Trinity Mathematical Society in Cambridge. It covers subjects such as combinatorial problems in chess, the algebraicization of graph theory, reconstruction of graphs, and the chromatic eigenvalues. In each case fascinating historical and biographical information about the author's research is provided.
William Tutte (1917-2002) studied at Cambridge where his fascination for mathematical puzzles brought him into contact with like-minded undergraduates, together becoming known as the 'Trinity four', the founders of modern graph theory. His notable problem-solving skills meant he was brought to Bletchley Park during World War Two. Key in the enemy codebreaking efforts, he cracked the Lorenz cipher for which the Colossus machine was built, making his contribution comparable to Alan Turing's codebreaking for Enigma. Following his incredible war effort Tutte returned to academia and became a fellow of the Royal Society in Britain and Canada, finishing his career as Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo, Ontario.