Climate discussions often focus on potential impacts over a long period of time--several decades, a century even. But change could also happen much more suddenly. What if we had a real climate emergency--how could we cool the planet in a hurry? This question has led a group of scientists to pursue extreme solutions: huge contraptions that would suck CO2 from the air, machines that brighten clouds and deflect sunlight away from the earth, even artificial volcanoes that spray heat-reflecting particles into the atmosphere. This is the radical and controversial world of geoengineering. "How to Cool the Planet," Jeff Goodell explores the scientific, political, and moral aspects of geoengineering. How are we going to change the temperature of whole regions if we can't even predict next week's weather? What about wars waged with climate control as the primary weapon? There are certainly risks, but Goodell persuades us that geoengineering may be our last best hope, a Plan B for the environment. And if it is, we need to know enough to get it right.

This is the planner that only the world's most off-beat, irreverent, and weirdly wonderful source of science could produce. From the creators of IFLScience comes this 12-month planner, which includes: Undated weekly and monthly overviews for recording dates and appointments. Blank pages for tracking goals and to-do lists. Notes on historic moments in Science history on given days of the year. 50 spot illustrations throughout. Ribbon marker. Rounded corners and full-color cover.

This book introduces a new topic; a critical researched-based analysis of the role of human judgment in social policy formation. It applies what has been learned from research on human judgment to specific examples - from the Challenger disaster to present-day debates on health care.

Human judgment can be a source of both hope and fear in the creation of social policy. Yet this important process has rarely been examined because research on human judgment has been scarce. Now, however, the results of 50 years of empirical work offer an unprecedented opportunity to examine human judgment and the basis of our hopes and fears. Numerous examples from law, medicine, engineering, and economics are used throughout to demonstrate these and other features of human judgment in action.

'Entertaining and enlightening ... offers ways to temper our anti-social tendencies.' Dr Michael Mosley, science journalist and TV presenter

It can often seem that we are utterly surrounded by temptation, from the ease of online shopping and the stream of targeted advertising encouraging us to greedily acquire yet more stuff, to the coffee, cake and fast-food shops that line our streets, beckoning us in to over-indulge on all the wrong things. It can feel like a constant battle to stay away from the temptations we know we shouldn't give in to. Where exactly do these urges come from? If we know we shouldn't do something, for the sake of our health, our pockets or our reputation, why is it often so very hard to do the right thing?

Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, anyone to whom the world seems more vain and self-obsessed than ever, anyone who can't understand why love-cheats pursue their extra-marital affairs, anyone who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa, or anyone who makes themselves bitter through endless comparison with other people, anyone who is addicted to their smartphone - this book is for you.

The Science of Sin brings together the latest findings from neuroscience research to shed light on the universally fascinating subject of temptation - where it comes from, how to resist it and why we all tend to succumb from time to time. With each chapter inspired by one of the seven deadly sins, neurobiologist Jack Lewis illuminates the neural battles between temptation and restraint that take place within our brains, suggesting strategies to help us better manage our most troublesome impulses with the explicit goal of improving our health, our happiness and our productivity - helping us to say 'no!' more often, especially when it really counts.

The spellbinding stories of the scientists whose eureka! breakthroughs in modern physics reveal science's astonishing predictive power.

How does it feel to know something about the universe that no one has ever known before? And why is mathematics so good at revealing nature's secrets?

This is the story of the scientists who, using mathematics, predicted the existence of unknown planets, black holes, invisible force fields, ripples in the fabric of space-time, unsuspected subatomic particles, and even antimatter.

The journey from prediction to proof transports us from seats of learning in Paris and Cambridge to the war-torn Russian front, to bunkers beneath nuclear reactors, observatories in Berlin and California, and huge tunnels under the Swiss-French border. From electromagnetism to Einstein's gravitational waves to Wolfgang Pauli's elusive neutrino, acclaimed science writer Marcus Chown takes us on a breathtaking, mind-altering tour of the major breakthroughs of modern physics and highlights science's central mystery: its astonishing predictive power.

This book presents contributions from an internal symposium organized to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Specola Vaticana, or Vatican Observatory, in the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo. The aim is to provide an overview of the scientific and cultural work being undertaken at the Observatory today and to describe the outcomes of important recent investigations. The contents cover interesting topics in a variety of areas, including planetary science and instrumentation, stellar evolution and stars, galaxies, cosmology, quantum gravity, the history of astronomy, and interactions between science, philosophy, and theology. On September 29, 1935, Pope Pius XI officially inaugurated the new headquarters of the Specola Vaticana at Castel Gandolfo. With new telescopes, a new astrophysical laboratory for spectrochemical analysis, and a young staff comprising Jesuit scientists, this inauguration marked the beginning of an intense period of scientific achievements at the Observatory. This anniversary book, featuring contributions from members of the current Observatory staff and adjunct scholars, will appeal to all with an interest in the history of the Specola Vaticana and its significance for astronomy.

A new collection of vibrant essays to inform, stimulate and inspire every nature lover. Times of darkness offer opportunities to reflect. In Mistletoe Winter, Roy Dennis offers his reflections on the natural world from the past year - from the welcome signs of change to the ongoing problems we are posing for nature, and what humankind can and must do about them. As in his companion volume, Cottongrass Summer, Roy Dennis balances his alarm at the crisis confronting the natural world with his own sense of optimism that new generations can make crucial changes for the future. One of our most prominent advocates for our planet and its species, he writes with insight and originality. This volume will provide inspiration and ideas for everyone who cares about our planet and its species.

The Cenozoic era began about 70 million years ago and still continues. In British Cenozoic Fossils 354 species from this period are classified and illustrated with accurate line drawings. This new edition has been fully revised and updated by John Todd, Curator of Molluscs in the Natural History Museum's Life Sciences Department, reflecting advances in our understanding of the fossil record over the past years. The book's 88-page identification section features those fossil animal and plant species that are most commonly found in Britain, from early plants, corals and fishes to gastropod and bivalve molluscs and the remains of mammals which lived in Britain during the Ice Ages. Each of the species is illustrated with at least one drawing, which is accompanied by details of where it can be found. There is a brief introduction to the subject, stratigraphical tables that show British Cenozoic rock formations, and a colour map of the distribution of Cenozoic strata.

In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem. We think of empathy - the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves - as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. Empathy therefore biases us in favour of individuals we know while numbing us to the plight of thousands. Guiding us expertly through the experiments, case studies and arguments on all sides, Paul Bloom ultimately shows that some of our worst decisions - in charity, child-raising, criminal justice, climate change and war - are motivated by this wolf in sheep's clothing. Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, Against Empathy overturns widely held assumptions to reveal one of the most profound yet overlooked sources of human conflict.

This book sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Imperial family of Japan: For three generations, members of the family have devoted themselves to biological research. Emperor Showa (Hirohito) was an expert on hydrozoans and slime molds. His son, Emperor Akihito, is an ichthyologist specializing in gobioid fishes, and his research is highly respected in the field. Prince Akishino, Emperor Akihito's son, is known for his research on giant catfish and the domestication of fowl, while Prince Hitachi, Emperor Akihito's brother, has conducted research on cancer in animals. The book shows how they became interested in biology, how seriously they were committed to their research, what their main scientific contributions are, and how their achievements are valued by experts at home and abroad. To commemorate the 60-year reign of Emperor Showa and his longtime devotion to biology, the International Prize for Biology was founded in 1985. The prize seeks to recognize and encourage researches in basic biology. A list of winners and a summary of their research are presented in the last part of the book. The author, an eminent biologist who has given lectures to the Imperial Family, explains their research and tells the fascinating story of biology and the Imperial Family of Japan. The book is a valuable resource, not only for biology students and researchers, but also for historians and anyone interested in science and the Royal and Imperial families.

The way science is done has changed radically in recent years. Scientific research and institutions, which have long been characterized by passion, dedication and reliability, have increasingly less capacity for more ethical pursuits, and are pressed by hard market laws. From the vocation of a few, science has become the profession of many - possibly too many. These trends come with consequences and risks, such as the rise in fraud, plagiarism, and in particular the sheer volume of scientific publications, often of little relevance. The solution? A slow approach with more emphasis on quality rather than quantity that will help us to rediscover the essential role of the responsible scientist. This work is a critical review and assessment of present-day policies and behavior in scientific production and publication. It touches on the tumultuous growth of scientific journals, in parallel with the growth of self-declared scientists over the world. The author's own reflections and experiences help us to understand the mechanisms of contemporary science. Along with personal reminiscences of times past, the author investigates the loopholes and hoaxes of pretend journals and nonexistent congresses, so common today in the scientific arena. The book also discusses the problems of bibliometric indices, which have resulted in large part from the above distortions of scientific life.

'If there is one dominant myth about the world, one huge mistake we all make ... it is that we all go around assuming the world is much more of a planned place than it is.' From the industrial revolution and the rise of China, to urbanisation and the birth of bitcoin, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the ground up. In this wide-ranging and erudite book, Matt Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future. As compelling as it is controversial, as authoritative as it is ambitious, Ridley's deeply thought-provoking book will change the way we think about the world and how it works.

Animal science is bizarre and wonderful. At the extreme end of zoology, psychologists are designing personality tests for dogs and logic problems for pigeons. They're giving fish spatial reasoning problems and asking cockatoos to keep a beat.

Now, through dozens of interactive puzzles, IQ tests and quizzes, Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee? lets you test yourself against the best nature has to offer. So: are you more than a match for a marmoset? Or a bit of a birdbrain?

Based on real, cutting-edge science and debunking common myths about animals, Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee? will make you question your assumptions about our place in the animal kingdom - and, finally, explain the real difference between dog-people and cat-people.

1856. Eighteen-year-old chemistry student William Perkin's experiment has gone horribly wrong. But the deep brown sludge his botched project has produced has an unexpected power: the power to dye everything it touches a brilliant purple. Perkin has discovered mauve, the world's first synthetic dye, bridging a gap between pure chemistry and industry which will change the world forever. From the fetching ribbons tying back the hair of every fashionable head in London to the laboratories in which scientists developed modern vaccines against cancer and malaria, Simon Garfield tells the story of how the colour purple became a sensation.

In Brain Wars, acclaimed neuroscientist Mario Beauregard reveals compelling new evidence set to provoke a major shift in our understanding of the mind-body debate: research showing that the mind and consciousness are transmitted and filtered through the brain--but are not generated by it.Following his boundary-breaking neuroscience book The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul, coauthored with Denyse O'Leary, Brain Wars makes a powerful and provocative case against the widely held view equating human beings to complex biological computers.Like Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Beauregard believes that consciousness is more than simply a physical process that takes place in the brain. And here, he presents the evidence to prove it. Brain Wars will revolutionize the way we think about thinking forever.

For almost forty years, Jane Dolinger traveled the world and wrote about her adventures, from the Amazon jungle to the sands of the Sahara. She produced eight books and more than a thousand articles between 1955 and 1995, and she also earned a reputation as a glamorous celebrity and model. Jane Dolinger was an anomaly in her time, a dynamic and attractive woman with an impressive literary talent, a woman who lived and documented a most unconventional and inspirational life. Sometimes controversial but always outstanding, Jane was a pioneer among women and writers. Here for the first time, her life and work are studied in a thoroughly researched yet entertaining literary biography.