Why do twins look alike? How are we similar to our parents? What is the genetic code? Professor Lin He, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, shares his childhood stories and knowledge of genetics in this vividly illustrated popular science book.

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021 'To compare any book to a Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it . . . I finished it feeling thrillingly unsettled, and wishing there was more.' - James McConnachie, Sunday Times In Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night. These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and - more crucially - to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology. Inspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called 'mystery' illnesses. From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O'Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn't an illness? Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face. 'A study of diseases that we sometimes say are 'all in the mind', and an explanation of how unfair that characterisation is.' - Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year

Learn about the human body from the inside out Some people think that knowing about what goes on inside the human body can sap life of its mystery which is too bad for them. Anybody who's ever taken a peak under the hood knows that the human body, and all its various structures and functions, is a realm of awe-inspiring complexity and countless wonders. The dizzying dance of molecule, cell, tissue, organ, muscle, sinew, and bone that we call life can be a thing of breathtaking beauty and humbling perfection. Anatomy & Physiology For Dummies combines anatomical terminology and function so you'll learn not only names and terms but also gain an understanding of how the human body works. Whether you're a student, an aspiring medical, healthcare or fitness professional, or just someone who's curious about the human body and how it works, this book offers you a fun, easy way to get a handle on the basics of anatomy and physiology. * Understand the meaning of terms in anatomy and physiology * Get to know the body's anatomical structures from head to toe * Explore the body's systems and how they interact to keep us alive * Gain insight into how the structures and systems function in sickness and health Written in plain English and packed with beautiful illustrations, Anatomy & Physiology For Dummies is your guide to a fantastic voyage of the human body.

Even as the popularity of videogames has skyrocketed, a dark cloud continues to hang over them. Many people who play games feel embarrassed to admit as much, and many who don't worry about the long-term effects of a medium often portrayed as dangerous and corruptive. Drawing on years of experience working directly with people who play games, clinical psychologist Alexander Kriss steers the discourse away from extreme and factually inaccurate claims around the role of games in addiction, violence and mental illness, instead focusing on the importance of understanding the unique relationship that forms between a game and its player. Through vivid psychotherapy case illustrations, autobiographical memoir, and a wide range of psychological theory and research, The Gaming Mind lays out an honest and humanistic vision of games, their potentials and risks, and how they can teach us more about who we are and who we could be.

Our lives have benefited immensely from the scientific evolution over the years. This book provides an overview of the lives of three great scientists, Newton, Faraday and Einstein, who made the most significant contributions to physics.Newton and Faraday laid the foundation of Newtonian mechanics and electro-magnetic theory, respectively, that constituted the two greatest contributions to classical physics. Newton elucidated the motion of celestial bodies with the three laws of motion, while Faraday researched electro-magnetic phenomena and discovered electro-magnetic induction, magneto-optical effect, etc.Furthermore, Einstein contributed to the foundation of quantum mechanics and relativity theory which comprise the two greatest theories in modern physics. By elucidating photoelectric effect, Einstein proved the correctness of the concept of quantum proposed by Planck which resulted in quantum mechanics being considered as an epoch-making mechanics following Newtonian mechanics. Einstein renovated the concept of time-space and derived the Lorentz transformation supporting relativity principle.This book will take the readers on a journey to understand the progress from classical physics to modern physics.

Our lives have benefited immensely from the scientific evolution over the years. This book provides an overview of the lives of three great scientists, Newton, Faraday and Einstein, who made the most significant contributions to physics.Newton and Faraday laid the foundation of Newtonian mechanics and electro-magnetic theory, respectively, that constituted the two greatest contributions to classical physics. Newton elucidated the motion of celestial bodies with the three laws of motion, while Faraday researched electro-magnetic phenomena and discovered electro-magnetic induction, magneto-optical effect, etc.Furthermore, Einstein contributed to the foundation of quantum mechanics and relativity theory which comprise the two greatest theories in modern physics. By elucidating photoelectric effect, Einstein proved the correctness of the concept of quantum proposed by Planck which resulted in quantum mechanics being considered as an epoch-making mechanics following Newtonian mechanics. Einstein renovated the concept of time-space and derived the Lorentz transformation supporting relativity principle.This book will take the readers on a journey to understand the progress from classical physics to modern physics.

In a series of 50 accessible essays, Tony Crilly explains and introduces the mathematical laws and principles - ancient and modern, theoretical and practical, everyday and esoteric - that allow us to understand the world around us. From Pascal's triangle to money management, ideas of relativity to the very real uses of imaginary numbers, 50 Maths Ideas is a complete introduction to the most important mathematical concepts in history.

Alice Roberts has been travelling the world - from Ethiopian desert to Malay peninsula and from Russian steppes to Amazon basin - in order to understand the challenges that early humans faced as they tried to settle continents. On her travels she has witnessed some of the daunting and brutal challenges our ancestors had to face: mountains, deserts, oceans, changing climates, terrifying giant beasts and volcanoes. But she discovers that perhaps the most serious threat of all came from other humans. When our ancestors set out from Africa there were already two other species of human on the planet: Neanderthal in Europe and Homo erectus in Asia. Both (contrary to popular perception) were intelligent, adept at making tools and weapons and were long adapted to their environments. So, Alice asks, why did only Homo sapiens survive? Part detective story, part travelogue, and drawing on the latest genetic and archaeological discoveries, Alice examines how our ancestors evolved physically in response to these challenges, finding out how our colour, shape, size, diet, disease resistance and even athletic ability have been shaped by the range of environments that our ancestors had to survive. She also relates how astonishingly closely related we all are. As a lecturer in Anatomy at Bristol University, Alice Roberts is eminently qualified to write this book. As a talented artist, she is perfectly qualified to illustrate it, and dotted throughout this lively book are many of the sketches and photographs from her travels.

What is Science? A Guide for Those Who Love It, Hate It, or Fear It, provides the reader with ways science has been done through discovery, exploration, experimentation and other reason-based approaches. It discusses the basic and applied sciences, the reasons why some people hate science, especially its rejection of the supernatural, and others who fear it for human applications leading to environmental degradation, climate change, nuclear war, and other outcomes of sciences applied to society.The author uses anecdotes from interviews and associations with many scientists he has encountered in his career to illustrate these features of science and their personalities and habits of thinking or work. He also explores the culture wars of science and the humanities, values involved in doing science and applying science, the need for preventing unexpected outcomes of applied science, and the ways our world view changes through the insights of science. This book will provide teachers lots of material for discussion about science and its significance in our lives. It will also be helpful for those starting out their interest in science to know the worst and best features of science as they develop their careers.

'What I like best about this fascinating book is the detail. Brian Butterworth doesn't just tell us stories of animals with numerical abilities: he tells us about the underlying science. Elegantly written and a joy to read' - Professor Ian Stewart, author of What's the Use? and Taming the Infinite 'Full of thought-provoking studies and animal observations' - Booklist 'Enlightening and entertaining' - Publishers Weekly The Hidden Genius of Animals: Every pet owner thinks their own dog, cat, fish or hamster is a genius. What makes CAN FISH COUNT? so exciting is the way it unveils just how widespread intelligence is in nature. Pioneering psychologist Brian Butterworth describes the extraordinary numerical feats of all manner of species ranging from primates and mammals to birds, reptiles, fish and insects. Whether it's lions deciding to fight or flee, frogs competing for mates, bees navigating their way to food sources, fish assessing which shoal to join, or jackdaws counting friends when joining a mob - every species shares an ability to count. Homo Sapiens may think maths is our exclusive domain, but this book shows that every creature shares a deep-seated Darwinian ability to understand the intrinsic language of our universe: mathematics CAN FISH COUNT? is that special sort of science book - a global authority in his field writing an anecdotally-rich and revelatory narrative which changes the way you perceive something we take for granted.

Former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt advocates a private, investor-based approach to returning humans to the Moon-to extract Helium 3 for energy production, to use the Moon as a platform for science and manufacturing, and to establish permanent human colonies there in a kind of stepping stone community on the way to deeper space. With governments playing a supporting role-just as they have in the development of modern commercial aeronautics and agricultural production-Schmitt believes that a fundamentally private enterprise is the only type of organization capable of sustaining such an effort and, eventually, even making it pay off.

Breaking down the complicated concepts of speed, acceleration, torque, fluid mechanics, and surface physics, Physics of Sailing provides a lively, easily accessible introduction to the basic science underlying the sport of sailing. It illustrates the many ways physics can be used to understand the principles of sailboat propulsion and how a scientific understanding of the boat, wind, and water can lead to more skillful sailing. After a brief but insightful tour of the history of sailing, the book explores the physics involved in making faster sailing crafts for both upwind and downwind sailing, including Newton's impact theory of fluid resistance and lift and drag phenomena. It compares possible sail shapes, presents measurements of hull smoothness, and describes wind turbulence, the nature of water waves, and the structure of wakes. Using the physics of optics, the author also explains the connection between water's appearance and the wind. Along with a glossary of sailing terms, he includes many examples throughout to illustrate the concepts in practice. Avoiding unnecessary formalisms, this book skillfully applies the principles of fluid mechanics to sailboat technology and the art of sailing. It should help you become a more knowledgeable sailor.

Why are we drawn to the ocean each summer? Why does being near water set our minds and bodies at ease? In Blue Mind, Wallace J. Nichols revolutionizes how we think about these questions, revealing the remarkable truth about the benefits of being in, on, under, or simply near water. Grounded in cutting-edge studies in neurobiology, cognitive psychology, economics, and medicine, and made real by stories of innovative scientists, doctors, athletes, artists, environmentalists, businesspeople and lovers of nature - stories that fascinate the mind and touch the heart - Blue Mind will awaken readers to the vital importance of water to the health and happiness of us all.

What is Science? A Guide for Those Who Love It, Hate It, or Fear It, provides the reader with ways science has been done through discovery, exploration, experimentation and other reason-based approaches. It discusses the basic and applied sciences, the reasons why some people hate science, especially its rejection of the supernatural, and others who fear it for human applications leading to environmental degradation, climate change, nuclear war, and other outcomes of sciences applied to society.The author uses anecdotes from interviews and associations with many scientists he has encountered in his career to illustrate these features of science and their personalities and habits of thinking or work. He also explores the culture wars of science and the humanities, values involved in doing science and applying science, the need for preventing unexpected outcomes of applied science, and the ways our world view changes through the insights of science. This book will provide teachers lots of material for discussion about science and its significance in our lives. It will also be helpful for those starting out their interest in science to know the worst and best features of science as they develop their careers.

A highly rigorous, yet original and entertaining book that explores the connection between food and science.Why has science forcefully entered the kitchen from a certain moment in history?Why do scientists often use images and metaphors drawn from gastronomy?What is the common thread that connects scientific experiments to mouth-watering recipes?What has futurist cooking got in common with molecular gastronomy?Experiments with coffee, controversies over beer and chocolate recipes guarded as if they were secret patents are the ingredients of this original, surprising account of the intersections between gastronomy and research, between laboratories and kitchens.Related Link(s)

In this follow up to Brain vs Computer: The Challenge of the Century, Jean-Pierre Fillard brings together diverse perspectives to address the recurring theme of rivalry between man and machine.Accelerated by recent events such as the Covid-19 pandemic that caught the world by surprise and brought it to a standstill, the use of technology has become more relevant than ever. What new conclusions can we draw in this debate featuring humans (brain) on the one side, and artificial intelligence (computer) on the other? Featuring brand new content including a complementary perspective from the arts, the author balances the argument from the traditional scientific approach of logic, rationality, and computation with instinct, intuition, and emotion. Read together with his latest offerings Longevity in a 2.0 World and Transhumanism: A Realistic Future? this trilogy culminates in an attempt to answer one of the most exciting questions of our time.

'Intimate and thoughtful... Exciting... [A] sweeping evolutionary history.' Science The author of the bestselling Your Inner Fish gives us a brilliant, up-to-date account of the great transformations in the history of life on Earth. This is a story full of surprises. If you think that feathers arose to help animals fly, or lungs to help them walk on land, you'd be in good company. You'd also be entirely wrong. Neil Shubin delves deep into the mystery of life, the ongoing revolutions in our understanding of how we got here, and brings us closer to answering one of the great questions - was life on earth inevitable...or was it all an accident?

'This book could not be more timely - published after a year that saw the costliest slew of weather disasters in history along with one of the deadliest pandemic, the emergence and spread of which is linked to climate change ... This book will be a valuable resource for scientists, policy makers but also educators and especially a young generation of readers who want to be informed citizens shaping the right choices for their local communities but also as cosmopolitan citizens of the world.'Journal of Indian Physics AssociationThe signs of global warming can be seen everywhere - hotter summers, frequent heavy rains, prolonged droughts, more severe forest fires, fiercer storms (including snow storms) and cyclones, as well as melting polar ice caps. Our indiscriminate actions are raising the spectre of millions of climate refugees who are victims of battles for water, crops, fish, and so on. It is poignant that the poorer countries, that are the least equipped to face these calamities have contributed the least to global warming, but are the worst hit.Only a concerted effort from the entire world by a rapid transition to renewable, clean and green energy sources, while checking wastage, deforestation and pollution, and a genuine adjustment in lifestyles towards moderation can avert the Earth, the only habitable planet we know, from turning into a hothouse.

In the twenty-first century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that discovered vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, quack cures and conspiracy theorizing?

In Rationality, Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply an irrational species - cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and decision-making under uncertainty. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book - until now.

Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humour, Rationality will enlighten, inspire and empower.

The tenth anniversary edition of the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest: the search for the solution of how to calculate longitude and the unlikely triumph of an English genius. With a new Foreword by the celebrated astronaut Neil Armstrong. 'Sobel has done the impossible and made horology sexy - no mean feat' New Scientist Anyone alive in the 18th century would have known that 'the longitude problem' was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day - and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution. The quest for a solution had occupied scientists and their patrons for the better part of two centuries when, in 1714, Parliament upped the ante by offering a king's ransom (GBP20,000) to anyone whose method or device proved successful. Countless quacks weighed in with preposterous suggestions. The scientific establishment throughout Europe - from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton - had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution. Full of heroism and chicanery, brilliance and the absurd, LONGITUDE is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation and clockmaking.

Technoscientific developments often have far-reaching consequences, both negative and positive, for the public. Yet, because science has the authority to decide which judgments about scientific issues are sound, public concerns are often dismissed because they are not part of the technoscientific paradigm they question. This book addresses the role of science popularization in that paradox; it explains how science writing works and argues that it can do better at promoting public discussions about science-related issues. To support these arguments, it situates science popularization in its historical and cultural context; provides a conceptual framework for analyzing popular science texts; and examines the rhetorical effects of common strategies used in popular science writing. Twenty-six years after Dorothy Nelkin's groundbreaking book, Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology, popular science writing is still not meeting its potential as a public interest genre; Communicating Popular Science explores how it can move closer to doing so.

'Damasio undertakes nothing less than a reconstruction of the natural history of the universe ... [A] brave and honest book' The New York Times Book Review The Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular existence and other primitive life-forms; and that inherent in our very chemistry is a powerful force, a striving toward life maintenance that governs life in all its guises, including the development of genes that help regulate and transmit life. The Strange Order of Things is a landmark reflection that spans the biological and social sciences, offering a new way of understanding the origins of life, feeling and culture.

This book is a collection of chapters reflecting the experiences and achievements of some of the Fellows of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE). The book comprises essays that look at reminiscences, eureka moments, inspirations, challenges and opportunities in the journey of an engineering professional. The chapters look at the paths successful engineering professionals take towards self-realisation, the milestones they crossed, and the goals they reached. The book contains 38 chapters on diverse topics that truly reflect the way the meaningful mind of an engineer works.

From pseudoscience to incorrect assumptions and unfounded belief, science hasn't always been right. Contrary to recent debate on the internet, nowadays we are fairly confident that the earth is not flat and that we are in fact inhabitants of a spherical planet. However, this was not always the case, with a widespread belief that if you reached the horizon, you would simply fall off into space. Along with assumptions about the health benefits of heroin, the advantages of injecting monkey glands into the human body and bumps on your head being indicators of personality and temperament, science has a colourful past. In this entertaining and informative look at a dubious history, Graeme Donald examines the origins of some of the most extraordinary and mind-boggling scientific theories of the past.

Coronavirus, AIDS, and Ebola: Viruses are normally defined as pathogens. Most viruses are, however, not enemies or killers. Well-known virologist and cancer researcher Karin Moelling describes surprising insights about a completely new and unexpected world of viruses. Viruses are ubiquitous, in the oceans, our environment, in animals, plants, bacteria, in our body, even in our genomes. They influence our weather, can contribute to control obesity, and can surprisingly be applied against threatening multi-resistant bacteria. The success story of the viruses started more than 3.5 billion years ago in the dawn of life when even cells did not exist. They are the superpower of life. There are more viruses on earth than stars in the sky. Viruses are everywhere. Some of them are incredibly ancient. Many viruses are hundredfold smaller than bacteria, but others are tenfold bigger and they were discovered only recently - the giant viruses, even deep within the permafrost where they were reactivated after 30,000 years.The author talks about a completely new world of viruses, which are based on the most recent, in part her own research results. Could viruses have been our oldest ancestors? Have viruses even 'invented' social behavior, do they lead to geniuses such as Mozart or Einstein - or alternatively to cancer? They can help to cure cancer. In this book, the author made a clear distinction between what is fact and what is her vision. This book is written for a general audience and not just for the experts. Its aim is to stimulate thinking, and perhaps to attract more young scientists to enter this field of research.This revised edition is brought up to date by a new chapter on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Related Link(s)