How can sea cucumbers, geckos and termites help us cure diseases, camouflage soldiers and even keep our buildings cool? Nature's creations are more sophisticated and elegant than anything humans have created. Adapt explores how we can harness such ideas through the ground-breaking new science of biomimicry - which looks to nature to solve pressing problems in engineering and science. From the depths of the oceans to the ice sheets of the Arctic, Amina Khan talks to the researchers at the forefront of this exciting new science, who are designing everything from wind turbines to military camouflage. Adapt draws the line from nature to modernity. Khan leaves no stone unturned... Readers will leave this book with a buzzing excitement. - BBC Wildlife

Gerald Schroeder, an MIT-trained scientist who has worked in both physics and biology, has emerged in recent years as one of the most popular and accessible apostles for the melding of science and religion. He first reconciled science and faith as different perspectives on a single whole in The Science of God. Now, in The Hidden Face of God, Schroeder takes a bold step forward, to show that science, properly understood, provides positive reasons for faith.

From the wisdom encoded in DNA and analyzed by information science, to the wisdom unveiled in the fantastic complexity of cellular life, to the wisdom inherent in human consciousness, The Hidden Face of God offers a tour of the best of modern science. This fascinating volume will open a world of science to religious believers, and it will cause skeptics to rethink some of their deepest beliefs.

Uncover the mysteries, wonders and natural history of Mars: as close as you'll get to an eye-witness perspective of the incredible 'Red Planet'. 'Impassioned and thought-provoking, it's a highly readable work of popular science' The Observer 'A book of titanic clashing elements, stupendous impacts, cataclysmic eruptions, devastating forces, planet-wrenching seisms... You'll never look at that red dot in the sky the same way again.' Ian McDonald, author of Luna: Moon Rising The history of Mars is drawn not just on its surface, but also down into its broken bedrock and up into its frigid air. Most of all, it stretches back into deep time, where the trackways of the past have been obliterated and there is no discernible trace of where they started from or how they travelled, only where they ended up. From the planet's formation 4.5 billion years ago, through eras that featured cataclysmic meteor strikes, explosive volcanoes and a vast ocean that spanned the entire upper hemisphere, to the long, frozen ages that saw its atmosphere steadily thinning and leaking away into space, planetary geologist Dr Simon Morden presents a tantalising vision of our nearest neighbour, its dramatic history and astonishing present. 'Full of intrigue, like a beautifully narrated adventure detective story - which left a satisfying thirst of wanting to know more.' Professor Lucy Rogers, author of It's Only Rocket Science 'fascinating' Alexis Conran, Times Radio 'step aside dry textbooks and jargon-stuffed research papers [...] The Red Planet is a benchmark in digestible space education for the masses' How it Works

Mathematics is a poem. It is a lucid, sensual, precise exposition of beautiful ideas directed to specific goals. It is worthwhile to have as broad a cross-section of mankind as possible be conversant with what goes on in mathematics. Just as everyone knows that the Internet is a powerful and important tool for communication, so everyone should know that the Poincare conjecture gives us important information about the shape of our universe. Just as every responsible citizen realizes that the mass-production automobile was pioneered by Henry Ford, so everyone should know that the P/NP problem has implications for security and data manipulation that will affect everyone. This book endeavors to tell the story of the modern impact of mathematics, of its trials and triumphs and insights, in language that can be appreciated by a broad audience. It endeavors to show what mathematics means for our lives, how it impacts all of us, and what new thoughts it should cause us to entertain. It introduces new vistas of mathematical ideas and shares the excitement of new ideas freshly minted. It discusses the significance and impact of these ideas, and gives them meaning that will travel well and cause people to reconsider their place in the universe. Mathematics is one of mankind's oldest disciplines. Along with philosophy, it has shaped the very modus of human thought. And it continues to do so. To be unaware of modern mathematics is to miss out on a large slice of life. It is to be left out of essential modern developments. We want to address this point, and do something about it. This is a book to make mathematics exciting for people of all interests and all walks of life. Mathematics is exhilarating, it is ennobling, it is uplifting, and it is fascinating. We want to show people this part of our world, and to get them to travel new paths.

The award-winning former editor of Science News shows that one of the most fascinating and controversial ideas in contemporary cosmology-the existence of multiple parallel universes-has a long and divisive history that continues to this day. We often consider the universe to encompass everything that exists, but some scientists have come to believe that the vast, expanding universe we inhabit may be just one of many. The totality of those parallel universes, still for some the stuff of science fiction, has come to be known as the multiverse. The concept of the multiverse, exotic as it may be, isn't actually new. In The Number of the Heavens, veteran science journalist Tom Siegfried traces the history of this controversial idea from antiquity to the present. Ancient Greek philosophers first raised the possibility of multiple universes, but Aristotle insisted on one and only one cosmos. Then in 1277 the bishop of Paris declared it heresy to teach that God could not create as many universes as he pleased, unleashing fervent philosophical debate about whether there might exist a "plurality of worlds." As the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance, the philosophical debates became more scientific. Rene Descartes declared "the number of the heavens" to be indefinitely large, and as notions of the known universe expanded from our solar system to our galaxy, the debate about its multiplicity was repeatedly recast. In the 1980s, new theories about the big bang reignited interest in the multiverse. Today the controversy continues, as cosmologists and physicists explore the possibility of many big bangs, extra dimensions of space, and a set of branching, parallel universes. This engrossing story offers deep lessons about the nature of science and the quest to understand the universe.

This book is a selective and fascinating history of scientific speculation about intelligent extraterrestrial life. From Plutarch to Stephen Hawking, some of the most prominent western scientists have had quite detailed perceptions and misperceptions about alien civilizations: Johannes Kepler, fresh from transforming astronomy with his work on the shape of planetary orbits, was quite sure alien engineers on the moon were excavating circular pits to provide shelter; Christiaan Huygens, the most prominent physical scientist between Galileo and Newton, dismissed Kepler's speculations, but used the laws of probability to prove that "planetarians" on other worlds are much like humans, and had developed a sense of the visual arts; Carl Sagan sees clearly that Huygens is a biological chauvinist, but doesn't see as clearly that he, Sagan, may be a cultural/technological chauvinist when he assumes aliens have highly developed technology like ours, but better.
Basalla traces the influence of one speculation on the next, showing an unbroken but twisting chain of ideas passed from one scientist to the next, and from science to popular culture. He even traces the influence of popular culture on science--Sagan always admitted how much E. R. Burroughs' Martian novels influenced his speculations about Mars. Throughout, Basalla weaves his theme that scientific belief in and search for extraterrestrial civilizations is a complex impulse, part secularized-religious, and part anthropomorphic. He questions the common modern scientific reasoning that life converges on intelligence, and intelligence converges on one science valid everywhere. He ends the book by agreeing with Stephen Hawking (usually asafe bet) that intelligence is overrated for survival in the universe, and that we are most likely alone.

This is a compelling exploration of how our understanding of evolution is key to the future of our planet. When Charles Darwin started writing his work On "Origin of Species", he could hardly have envisioned how much we would discover about the origin of life over the next 150 years. Today's evidence points to an inescapable and simple conclusion - we evolved and we are still evolving. This persuasive and elegant book, argues that understanding evolution has never mattered more in human history. It explains in detail how health, food production, and human impact on the environment are dependent on our knowledge of evolution.

'Outstanding Academic Title for 2014' by CHOICEEinstein Relatively Simple brings together for the first time an exceptionally clear explanation of both special and general relativity. It is for people who always wanted to understand Einstein's ideas but never thought they could.Told with humor, enthusiasm, and rare clarity, this entertaining book reveals how a former high school drop-out revolutionized our understanding of space and time. From E=mc2 and everyday time travel to black holes and the big bang, Einstein Relatively Simple takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on a mind-boggling journey through the depths of Einstein's universe. Along the way, we track Einstein through the perils and triumphs of his life - follow his thinking, his logic, and his insights - and chronicle the audacity, imagination, and sheer genius of the man recognized as the greatest scientist of the modern era.In Part I on special relativity we learn how time slows and space shrinks with motion, and how mass and energy are equivalent. Part II on general relativity reveals a cosmos where black holes trap light and stop time, where wormholes form gravitational time machines, where space itself is continually expanding, and where some 13.7 billion years ago our universe was born in the ultimate cosmic event - the Big Bang.

Math is Everywhere has 365 math activities you can do with your kids, right now! You could watch bugs, listen to music, or ride a bike. You'll find ideas to entertain with math while waiting for a dentist appointment! You can make flubber or a real dirt cake that you can eat! You will not find any worksheets or artificial word problems, but your child probably will want to create some, so beware! You won't need to buy a thing, unless it's the groceries you and your child will use to make dinner. Math is Everywhere is a book for anyone who wants to answer the question, "When am I ever going to use this math?"

What are genes? What do genes do? These questions are not simple and straightforward to answer; at the same time, simplistic answers are quite prevalent and are taken for granted. This book aims to explain the origin of the gene concept, its various meanings both within and outside science, as well as to debunk the intuitive view of the existence of 'genes for' characteristics and disease. Drawing on contemporary research in genetics and genomics, as well as on ideas from history of science, philosophy of science, psychology and science education, it explains what genes are and what they can and cannot do. By presenting complex concepts and research in a comprehensible and rigorous manner, it examines the potential impact of research in genetics and genomics and how important genes actually are for our lives. Understanding Genes is an accessible and engaging introduction to genes for any interested reader.

This book won the INDIEFAB 2015 Bronze Award for Science (Adult nonfiction).Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) including plants and the foods made from them, are a hot topic of debate today, but soon related technology could go much further and literally change what it means to be human. Scientists are on the verge of being able to create people who are GMOs.Should they do it? Could we become a healthier and 'better' species or might eugenics go viral leading to a real, new world of genetic dystopia? GMO Sapiens tackles such questions by taking a fresh look at the cutting-edge biotech discoveries that have made genetically modified people possible.Bioengineering, genomics, synthetic biology, and stem cells are changing sci-fi into reality before our eyes. This book will capture your imagination with its clear, approachable writing style. It will draw you into the fascinating discussion of the life-changing science of human genetic modification.

A journey through time and around the world to uncover water's true nature, and how it can help us adapt to climate change. Trouble with water – increasingly frequent, extreme floods and droughts – is one of the first obvious signs of climate change. Meanwhile, urban sprawl, industrial agriculture and engineered water infrastructure are making things worse. As our control attempts fail, we are forced to recognize an eternal truth: sooner or later, water always wins. Award-winning science journalist Erica Gies follows water 'detectives' as they search for clues to water's past and present. Their tools: cutting-edge science and research into historical ecology, animal life, and earlier human practices. Their discoveries: a deeper understanding of what water wants and how accommodating nature can protect us and other species. Modern civilizations tend to speed water away. We have forgotten that it must flex with the rhythms of the earth, and that only collaboration with nature will allow us to forge a more resilient future.

Today physicists and mathematicians throughout the world are feverishly working on one of the most ambitious theories ever proposed: superstring theory. String theory is the key to the Unified Field Theory that eluded Einstein for more than thirty years. Finally, the century-old antagonism between the large and the small -General Relativity and Quantum Theory - is solved. String theory proclaims that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe, from the frantic dancing of subatomic quarks to the majestic swirling of heavenly galaxies, are reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy, a billionth of a billionth the size of an atom.

'Outstanding Academic Title for 2014' by CHOICEEinstein Relatively Simple brings together for the first time an exceptionally clear explanation of both special and general relativity. It is for people who always wanted to understand Einstein's ideas but never thought they could.Told with humor, enthusiasm, and rare clarity, this entertaining book reveals how a former high school drop-out revolutionized our understanding of space and time. From E=mc2 and everyday time travel to black holes and the big bang, Einstein Relatively Simple takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on a mind-boggling journey through the depths of Einstein's universe. Along the way, we track Einstein through the perils and triumphs of his life - follow his thinking, his logic, and his insights - and chronicle the audacity, imagination, and sheer genius of the man recognized as the greatest scientist of the modern era.In Part I on special relativity we learn how time slows and space shrinks with motion, and how mass and energy are equivalent. Part II on general relativity reveals a cosmos where black holes trap light and stop time, where wormholes form gravitational time machines, where space itself is continually expanding, and where some 13.7 billion years ago our universe was born in the ultimate cosmic event - the Big Bang.

What would happen if you took a swim outside a deep-sea submarine wearing only Speedos? How long could you last if you stood on the surface of the sun? How far could you actually get in digging a hole to China? And Then You're Dead offers serious answers to these horribly interesting questions. Paul Doherty and Cody Cassidy explore the real science behind these and other fantastical scenarios, offering insights into physics, astronomy, anatomy and more along the way. Illustrated with straightforward technical art and leavened by small doses of dry humour, And Then You're Dead is both scientifically informative and gruesomely entertaining.

Math is Everywhere has 365 math activities you can do with your kids, right now! You could watch bugs, listen to music, or ride a bike. You'll find ideas to entertain with math while waiting for a dentist appointment! You can make flubber or a real dirt cake that you can eat! You will not find any worksheets or artificial word problems, but your child probably will want to create some, so beware! You won't need to buy a thing, unless it's the groceries you and your child will use to make dinner. Math is Everywhere is a book for anyone who wants to answer the question, "When am I ever going to use this math?"

This is a mathematics book written specifically for the enjoyment of non-mathematicians and those who "hated math in school." The book is organized into two sections: (I) Beauty for the Eye (shallow water for the non-swimmer); and (II) A Feast for the Mind (slowly getting deeper for the more adventurous). The author covers beautiful infinite series beginning with those that a young child can understand to one that even Isaac Newton, Gottfried Liebniz and the famous Bernoulli brothers could not sum.

The first British book on neurology in music was published over 30 years ago. Edited by Drs Macdonald Critchley and R A Henson, it was entitled Music and the Brain (published by Wm Heinemann Medical Books), but all of its contributors are now either retired or deceased. Since then, there has been an increasing amount of research, and the present volume includes the most significant of these advances. The book begins with the evolutionary basis of meaning in music and continues with the historical perspectives, after which the human nervous system is compared to a clavichord, highlighting the use of metaphor in the history of modern neurology. It discusses the neurologist in the concert hall as well as the musician at the bedside by showing how neurology enriches musical perception, the main theme being the cerebral localisation of music production and perception. The book also emphasises the value of teaching singing to treat speech disorders and the importance of nerve compression in musicians, the final chapter being on recent techniques of imaging the musical brain.

Nature's creations are more sophisticated and elegant than anything humans have created. Geckos can run upside down along ceilings. Termite mounds can stay cool in the desert without air conditioning. Adapt explores how we can harness such ideas through the ground-breaking new science of biomimicry - which looks to nature to solve pressing problems in engineering and science. From the depths of the oceans to the ice sheets of the Arctic, Amina Khan talks to the researchers at the forefront of this exciting new science, who are designing everything from wind turbines to military camouflage. An entertaining eulogy to the power of evolution, this captivating book is a must read for anyone with an interest in design, nature and technology.

This book concerns comics and what was, in 2003, a developing tradition of Disney-style comic-strips. It also deals with the Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. Several of his images can be seen in animated form. It also talks of theatre and cinema too. For example, Luca Vigan 's curious theatrical spectacle in Genoa about Evariste Galois. It talks about war and peace, ageless themes. All this and a tribute to the mathematician Ennio De Giorgi.

This informative and entertaining book provides a broad look at the fascinating history of CERN, and the physicists working in different areas at CERN who were active in the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Profound and well-structured, the contents combine present day interviews with the scientists of CERN, the world's largest laboratory dedicated to the pursuit of fundamental science, with important figures in the history of science (e.g., Maxwell, Faraday, Einstein), and also gives a lot of information on the history of quantum mechanics and the history of physics from its beginnings.It is an easy-to-read book on a complex topic, providing a very personal insight into the personalities of top scientists and the history of science as well. This invaluable book will capture the interest of the curious reader, telling the story of one of the greatest scientific endeavors ever.

Flocks of birds, schools of fish and swarms of locusts display amazing forms of collective motion, while huge numbers of glow worms can emit light signals with almost unbelievable synchronization. These and many other collective phenomena in animal societies take place according to laws very similar to those governing the collective behavior in the inanimate nature, such as the magnetization of iron and the light radiation of lasers. During recent years, this has led to the study of swarm behavior as a challenging new field of science, in which ideas from the physical world are applied in order to understand the formation and structure of animal swarms. From these studies, it has become clear that such collective behavior of animals emerges in a self-organized way, without any need of overall coordination. In this book, we present different swarm phenomena of the animal world and compare them to their counterparts in physics, in a conceptual and non-technical way, addressed to a general readership.

Einstein's cook was lucky. But you, too, can have a scientist in your kitchen: Robert L. Wolke.

Do you wish you understood the science of foods, but don't want to plow through dry technical books? What Einstein Told His Cook is like having a scientist at your side to answer your questions in plain, nontechnical terms.

Chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides over 100 reliable and witty explanations, while debunking misconceptions and helping you to see through confusing advertising and labeling.

o In "Sweet Talk" you will learn that your taste buds don't behave the way you thought they did, that starch is made of sugar, and that raw sugar isn't raw. Did you know that roads have been paved with molasses? Why do cooked foods turn brown? What do we owe to Christopher Columbus's mother-in-law?

o In "The Salt of the Earth" you will learn about the strange salts in your supermarket. Does sea salt really come from the sea? (Don't bet on it.) Why do we salt the water for boiling pasta? And how can you remove excess salt from oversalted soup? (You may be surprised.)

o In "The Fat of the Land" you will learn the difference between a fat and a fatty acid, what makes them saturated or unsaturated, and that nonfat cooking sprays are mostly fat. Why don't the amounts of fats on food labels add up? Why does European butter taste better than ours?

o In "Chemicals in the Kitchen" you will learn what's in your tap water, how baking powder and baking soda differ, and what MSG does to food. What Japanese taste sensation is sweeping this country? Is your balsamic vinegar fake? Why do potato chips have green edges?

o In "Turf and Surf" you will learn why red meat is red, why ground beef may look as if it came from the Old Gray Mare, and how bones contribute to flavor. Want a juicy turkey with smooth gravy? How does one deal with a live clam, oyster, crab, or lobster?

o In "Fire and Ice" you will learn how to buy a range and the difference between charcoal and gas for grilling. Did you know that all the alcohol does not boil off when you cook with wine? How about a surprising way to defrost frozen foods? And yes, hot water can freeze before cold water.

o In "Liquid Refreshment" you will learn about the acids and caffeine in coffee, and why "herb teas" are not teas. Does drinking soda contribute to global warming? Why does champagne foam up? Should you sniff the wine cork? How can you find out how much alcohol there is in your drink?

o In "Those Mysterious Microwaves" you will learn what microwaves do—and don't do—to your food. What makes a container "microwave safe"? Why mustn't you put metal in a microwave oven? How can you keep microwave-heated water from blowing up in your face?

o In "Tools and Technology" you will learn why nothing sticks to nonstick cookware, and what the pressure-cooker manufacturers don't tell you. What's the latest research on juicing limes? Why are "instant read" thermometers so slow? Can you cook with magnetism and light? What does irradiation do to our foods?

Most of us believe that we sleep in order to rest our tired bodies and minds. Originally published in 1977, this centuries-old common-sense view is challenged by Ray Meddis, who describes and argues for a controversial new theory of the nature and function of sleep. The theory seeks to replace the old view with the idea that sleep may no longer serve any important function in modern man. Whereas the sleep instinct helps animals to survive by driving them to hide away for as long as possible each day, this is no longer a valuable asset in civilised surroundings. Nevertheless, as the author explains, we still feel driven by a primeval urge beyond conscious control to crawl away every evening to the security of our beds to wait out the dangerous hours of darkness which were such a threat to our ancestors. Contrary to contemporary wisdom, he also argues that dreaming is a primitive and particularly valueless kind of sleep - a crude a dangerous heritage from our reptilian ancestors which is kept to a bare minimum in most adult warm-blooded creatures. Ray Meddis writes in a non-technical style and succeeds admirably in making the science of sleep and intensive research studies on sleep accessible and even exciting for the general reader as well as for the scientist. He shows that not everyone is bound by a felt need for sleep; in fact, some human beings discussed at length in the book thrive on less than two hours sleep a night without any ill effects. The implications of the research described are little short of sensational; in particular, Dr Meddis believes that it is well within the bounds of possibility that future research will show us how changes can be brought about in normal people to free them from the bondage of their sleep instincts. This new perspective also leads directly into a radical reappraisal of the nature of insomnia and new possibilities for treatment.

An insider's view on bringing extinct species back to life Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? In How to Clone a Mammoth, Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary biologist and pioneer in ancient DNA research, addresses this intriguing question by walking readers through the astonishing and controversial process of de-extinction. From deciding which species should be restored to anticipating how revived populations might be overseen in the wild, Shapiro vividly explores the extraordinary cutting-edge science that is being used to resurrect the past. Considering de-extinction's practical benefits and ethical challenges, Shapiro argues that the overarching goal should be the revitalization and stabilization of contemporary ecosystems. Looking at the very real and compelling science behind an idea once seen as science fiction, How to Clone a Mammoth demonstrates how de-extinction will redefine conservation's future.