Nnedi Okorafor was never supposed to be paralyzed. A college track star and budding entomologist, Nnedi's lifelong battle with scoliosis was just a bump in her plan - something a simple surgery would easily correct. But when Nnedi wakes from the surgery to find she can't move her legs, her entire sense of who she is begins to waver. Confined to a hospital bed for months, unusual things begin to happen. Psychedelic bugs crawl her hospital walls; strange dreams visit her nightly. She begins to feel as if she's turning into a cyborg. Unsure if she'll ever walk again, Nnedi begins to put these experiences into writing, conjuring up strange, fantastical stories. What Nnedi discovers during her confinement would prove to be the key to her life as a successful science fiction writer: In science fiction, when something breaks, something greater often emerges from the cracks. While she may be bedridden, instead of stopping her journey Nnedi's paralysis opens up new windows in her mind, kindles her creativity and ultimately leads her to become more alive than she ever could have imagined. Nnedi takes the reader on a journey from her hospital bed deep into her memories, from her painful first experiences with racism as a child in Chicago to her powerful visits to her parents' hometown in Nigeria, where she got her first inkling that science fiction has roots beyond the West. This was not the Africa that Nnedi knew from Western literature - an Africa that she always read was a place left behind. The role of technology in Nigeria opened her eyes to future-looking Africa: cable TV and cell phones in the village, 419 scammers occupying the cybercafes, the small generator connected to her cousin's desktop computer, everyone quickly adapting to portable tech devices due to unreliable power sources. Nnedi could see that Africa was far from broken, as she'd been taught, and her experience there planted the early seeds of sci-fi - a genre that speculates about technologies, societies, and social issues - from an entirely new lens. In Broken Places & Outer Spaces, Nnedi uses her own experience as a jumping off point to follow the phenomenon of creativity born from hardship. From Frida Kahlo to Mary Shelly, she examines great artists and writers who have pushed through their limitations, using hardship to fuel their work. Through these compelling stories and her own, Nnedi reveals a universal truth: What we perceive as limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths - far greater than when we were unbroken.

Originally published in 1929, this book presents a comprehensive biography of the clergyman, scientific pioneer and philanthropist Stephen Hales (1677-1761). Aimed at the general reader, together with botanists and physiologists, the text was produced upon instruction from the Masters and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Hales. Illustrative figures and notes are incorporated throughout. This is a highly readable book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in the life and works of Hales or the history of science.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

"What Bodanis does brilliantly is to give us a feel for Einstein as a person. I don't think I've ever read a book that does this as well . . . Whenever there's a chance for storytelling, Bodanis triumphs." --Popular Science "Fascinating." --Forbes Widely considered the greatest genius of all time, Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos with his general theory of relativity and helped lead us into the atomic age. Yet in the final decades of his life, he was ignored by most working scientists, and his ideas were opposed by even his closest friends. How did this happen? Best-selling biographer David Bodanis traces the arc of Einstein's life--from the skeptical, erratic student to the world's most brilliant physicist to the fallen-from-grace celebrity. An intimate biography in which "theories of the universe morph into theories of life" (Times, London), Einstein's Greatest Mistake reveals what we owe Einstein today--and how much more he might have achieved if not for his all-too-human flaws.

The Baskerville Bible of 1763 is perhaps the most famous work published by Cambridge University Press, and Baskerville's own type punches are among its most treasured possessions. This short biography of John Baskerville (1706 75) was published in 1914 by Josiah Henry Benton (1843 1917), an American lawyer and author. Baskerville, born in Worcestershire, set up as a writing-master and letter-cutter in Birmingham, but later built up a business in 'japanning', the imitation of Japanese lacquer work, from which he made his fortune. He began working as a type-founder and printer around 1750, and made innovations not only in typefaces but also in paper, ink and printing machines. The quality of his books - not only the Bible, but also the Book of Common Prayer, an edition of Virgil, and Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, among others - made them collectors' items: Benton provides an appendix listing his own Baskerville books."

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ...In the world of affairs the wind was howling, too, and the storm was gathering which culminated in the series of lawsuits brought by Morse and his associates against the infringers on his patents. The letters to his brother are full of the details of these piratical attacks, but throughout all the turmoil he maintained his poise and his faith in the triumph of justice and truth. In the letter just quoted from he says: "These matters do not annoy me as formerly. I have seen so many dark storms which threatened, and particularly in relation to the Telegraph, and I have seen them so often hushed at the 'Peace, be still' of our covenant God, that now the fears and anxieties on any fresh gathering soon subside into perfect calm." And on November 27, he writes: "The most annoying part of the matter to me is that, notwithstanding my matters are all in the hands of agents and I have nothing to do with any of the arrangements, I am held up by name to the odium of the public. Lawsuits are commenced against them at Cincinnati and will be in Indiana and Illinois as well as here, and so, notwithstanding all my efforts to get along peaceably, I find the fate of Whitney before me. I think I may be able to secure my farm, and so have a place to retire to for the PEACE IN THE NEW HOME 283 evening of my days, but even this may be denied me. A few months will decide.... You have before you the fate of an inventor, and, take as much pains as you will to secure to yourself your valuable invention, make up your mind from my experience now, in addition to others, that you will be robbed of it and abused into the bargain. This is the lot of a successful inventor or discoverer, and no precaution, I believe, will save him from it. He will meet with a mixed estimate; the...

This encyclopedia examines Marie Curie's life and contributions. The chronology provides a thumbnail sketch of events in Curie's life, including her personal experiences, education, and publications. The Introduction provides a brief look at her life. The body of this work consists of alphabetical entries of people, ideas, institutions, places, and publications important in making of Curie as an important scientist. The final section of the book is a bibliography of both primary and selected secondary sources.

Percivall Pott (1713-88) was a leading surgeon in eighteenth-century Britain. This work mines the rich biographical and bibliographical record Pott and his students left behind to add to the historical and intellectual understanding of pre-modern surgery. This was a time when surgery was becoming professionalized. Pott maintained a significant role in crafting the image of a professional surgeon as someone who is capable of treating a multitude of poor hospital patients while at the same time effectively teaching operative skills and manners to the next generation of young men and running a successful and wealth-producing private practice. Pott had more medical conditions named after him during his lifetime than any other surgeon of his era or since; analyzing what conditions surgeons claimed were theirs to manage and what ailments patients sought surgical solutions for reveals the importance and power of rhetoric in crafting the increasingly rigid definition of medicine as a sophisticated scientific activity rather than a mundane lay experience of treating sickness. The practice of naming conditions after surgeons also helps lay bare the power to classify and own certain sites in the body. An account of Pott's life and work challenges the prevailing view in historiographical works of surgery before the era of general anesthesia as a realm of screaming patients and larger than life eccentric medical men whose primary aims were to operate as fast as possible. Through an examination of the life and work of the man rated the best surgeon in England by his contemporaries, the whole field of surgery in history becomes humanized.

Written by his friend, the physician John Baron (1786-1851), this laudatory biography of the 'father of immunology' did much to enhance the reputation of Edward Jenner (1749-1823) upon its publication in two volumes between 1827 and 1838. The work covers Jenner's personal and professional life both before and after his development of the vaccine for smallpox, as well as touching on the vaccine's reception and use around the world. Thoroughly explaining the history and facts of vaccination, Baron established himself as an authority on the subject. Although criticised by some for its unquestioning praise of Jenner's genius, the work is valuable for its use of primary sources, drawing heavily on correspondence and personal notes, excerpts of which appear throughout the text. Volume 1, published in 1827, focuses on Jenner's early life and the history and science of vaccination.

Written by his friend, the physician John Baron (1786-1851), this laudatory biography of the 'father of immunology' did much to enhance the reputation of Edward Jenner (1749-1823) upon its publication in two volumes between 1827 and 1838. The work covers Jenner's personal and professional life both before and after his development of the vaccine for smallpox, as well as touching on the vaccine's reception and use around the world. Thoroughly explaining the history and facts of vaccination, Baron established himself as an authority on the subject. Although criticised by some for its unquestioning praise of Jenner's genius, the work is valuable for its use of primary sources, drawing heavily on correspondence and personal notes, excerpts of which appear throughout the text. Volume 2, published in 1838, covers Jenner's later life and the global reception of vaccination. The appendix lists the various honours bestowed upon him.

"Adventures in Human Being, with its deft mix of the clinical and the lyrical, is a triumph of the eloquent brain and the compassionate heart."--Wall Street Journal We assume we know our bodies intimately, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory, an enigma of bone and muscle, neurons and synapses. How many of us understand the way seizures affect the brain, how the heart is connected to well-being, or the why the foot holds the key to our humanity? In Adventures in Human Being, award-winning author Gavin Francis leads readers on a journey into the hidden pathways of the human body, offering a guide to its inner workings and a celebration of its marvels. Drawing on his experiences as a surgeon, ER specialist, and family physician, Francis blends stories from the clinic with episodes from medical history, philosophy, and literature to describe the body in sickness and in health, in life and in death. When assessing a young woman with paralysis of the face, Francis reflects on the age-old difficulty artists have had in capturing human expression. A veteran of the war in Iraq suffers a shoulder injury that Homer first described three millennia ago in the Iliad. And when a gardener pricks her finger on a dirty rose thorn, her case of bacterial blood poisoning brings to mind the comatose sleeping beauties in the fairy tales we learn as children. At its heart, Adventures in Human Being is a meditation on what it means to be human. Poetic, eloquent, and profoundly perceptive, this book will transform the way you view your body.

Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) was a physicist, chemist and Nobel Prize winner renowned for his fundamental contributions to the development of nuclear physics. Originally published in 1939, this book contains a detailed biography of Rutherford punctuated with numerous extracts from his papers, letters and other sources. As noted in the preface, the text's aim was 'to hold up a mirror in which Rutherford may reveal himself, just as he was, in lectures, books, papers, speeches, portraits, letters, and casual talk.' Illustrative figures and an appendix section are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Rutherford and his achievements.

During bacteriology's Golden Age (roughly 1870-1890) European physicians focused on the role of bacteria as causal agents of disease. Advances in microscopy and laboratory methodology - including the ability to isolate and identify micro-organisms - played critical roles. Robert Koch, the most well known of the European researchers for his identification of anthrax, tuberculosis and cholera, established in Germany the first teaching laboratory for training physicians in the new methods. Bacteriology was largely absent in early U.S. medical schools. Dozens of American physicians-in-training enrolled in Koch's course in Germany and many established bacteriology courses upon their return. This book highlights those who became acknowledged leaders in the field and whose work remains influential.

Originally published in 1936, this book deals with the first writings of a medical nature known to be associated with any English hospital and their mysterious author, Johannes de Mirfeld. Hartley and Aldridge provide the original Latin text of all of Mirfeld's works, along with an English translation on each facing page. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in medical history.

William Watson Cheyne (1852-1932), a surgeon by training and a student of Joseph Lister, was a prominent British bacteriologist who published 60 papers and 13 monographs from 1879 to 1927. A proponent of the idea that bacteriology and medicine were interdependent disciplines, he investigated the causes and treatment of wound infections, tuberculosis, cholera, tetanus and gangrene. In 1897, he organized an historical outline of 19th century bacteriology in five landmark periods of discovery, each defined by the work of an influential figure. This study documents his contributions to the history of microbiology and describes his activities as a laboratory investigator, clinician, surgeon, translator, editor and educator.

Active in fields spanning medicine, ornithology, zoology and even watercolour painting, Frederick Dawtrey Drewitt (1848-1942) was a prominent fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, exhibited at the Royal Academy, and was involved in governing the National Trust. His particular interest in birds led him to study the work of the physician and naturalist Edward Jenner (1749-1823), who contributed to the field of ornithology through his observations of the cuckoo's behaviour. Jenner is better known, however, as the 'father of immunology' for pioneering the smallpox vaccination - the word 'vaccine' comes from the Latin vacca (cow) as Jenner used the cowpox virus to inoculate against smallpox infection in humans. Drewitt had general readers in mind when he wrote about Jenner's extraordinary life and growing worldwide recognition. The first edition of this biography was published in 1931, and this enlarged second edition appeared in 1933.

Richard P. Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. In this lively work that "can shatter the stereotype of the stuffy scientist" (Detroit Free Press), Feynman recounts his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets-and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature. In his stories, Feynman's life shines through in all its eccentric glory-a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah. Included for this edition is a new introduction by Bill Gates.

"People like myself, who truly feel at home in several countries, are not strictly at home anywhere," writes Abraham Pais, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, near the beginning of this engrossing chronicle of his life on two continents. The author of an immensely popular biography of Einstein, Subtle Is the Lord, Pais writes engagingly for a general audience. His "tale" describes his period of hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland (he ended the war in a Gestapo prison) and his life in America, particularly at the newly organized Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, then directed by the brilliant and controversial physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Pais tells fascinating stories about Oppenheimer, Einstein, Bohr, Sakharov, Dirac, Heisenberg, and von Neumann, as well as about nonscientists like Chaim Weizmann, George Kennan, Erwin Panofsky, and Pablo Casals. His enthusiasm about science and life in general pervades a book that is partly a memoir, partly a travel commentary, and partly a history of science. Pais's charming recollections of his years as a university student become somber with the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. He was presented with an unusual deadline for his graduate work: a German decree that July 14, 1941, would be the final date on which Dutch Jews could be granted a doctoral degree. Pais received the degree, only to be forced into hiding from the Nazis in 1943, practically next door to Anne Frank. After the war, he went to the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen to work with Niels Bohr. 1946 began his years at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he worked first as a Fellow and then as a Professor until his move to Rockefeller University in 1963. Combining his understanding of disparate social and political worlds, Pais comments just as insightfully on Oppenheimer's ordeals during the McCarthy era as he does on his own and his European colleagues' struggles during World War II. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.