Die Polisie se slim en gewilde forensiese deskundige kry skielik 'n openbare skadu toe 'n koerantberig met die ergste naamskending denkbaar verskyn. Volgens oudkaptein Dirk Coetzee van die Polisie se eenheid by Vlakplaas het Neethling middels voorsien om mense aan die slaap te maak of te vermoor. Neethling wen uiteindelik 'n lastersaak, maar die vrae bly spook. Wie was die weeskind wat in September 1948 uit 'n verpletterde Duitsland in Kaapstad aangekom het? Die skrywer en akademikus Annette Jordaan het jare later eers uitgevind dat Lothar nie haar biologiese ouboet is nie. Self het hy min oor sy herkoms vertel, dus steun sy op karige bronne vir die rekonstruksie van sy lewe. Mens lees van Paul Tietz wat in die oorlog geveg het, van Hedwig en haar suster wat met hul kinders voor die Russiese leers uit gevlug het, van aanhoudende honger en ontbering en van die begrafnis van 'n bababoetie in 'n woud. Albei ouers sterf, en in 1948 breek 'n nuwe bedeling vir die Duitse weeskinders en vir Suid-Afrika aan. Lothar is deur 'n vurige Afrikaner-nasionalis en sy vrou aangeneem. Hy het vinnig gepresteer, op 'n jong ouderdom twee doktorsgrade behaal en die Polisie se forensiese laboratorium tot een van die bestes ter wereld ontwikkel - die plek waar gif glo ook vervaardig is. Met sy dood in 2005 stroom boodskappe van meelewing en waardering in. En Dirk Coetzee se dis die beste nuus wat hy in jare gehoor het. Wie was Lothar Neethling dan? Uiteindelik praat 'n lewe self.

James Douglas (1753-1819) was a polymath, well ahead of his time in both the fields of archaeology and earth-sciences. His examinations of fossils from the London Clay and other geological formations caused him to conclude that the Earth was much older than the 4004 BC allotted to it by his contemporaries. He had come to this conclusion by 1785 and published these findings in that year, long before other researchers in the same field. His Nenia Britannica, published in 1793, reveals a remarkably accurate grasp of the dating of Anglo- Saxon burials; further illuminated by the contents of his common-place book for 1814-16, discovered by the author in a second-hand bookshop. This common-place book, correspondence with his contemporaries and other sources resulted in the present publication recounting his archaeological and other activities in Sussex during the first two decades of the 19th century.

Francois Arago, the first to show in 1810 that the surface of the Sun and stars is made of incandescent gas and not solid or liquid, was a prominent physicist of the 19th century. He used his considerable influence to help Fresnel, Ampere and others develop their ideas and make themselves known. This book covers his personal contributions to physics, astronomy, geodesy and oceanography, which are far from negligible, but insufficiently known. Arago was also an important and influential political man who, for example, abolished slavery in the French colonies. One of the last humanists, he had a very broad culture and range of interests. In parallel to his biography, this title also covers the spectacular progresses of science at the time of Arago, especially in France: the birth of physical optics, electromagnetism and thermodynamics. Francois Arago's life is a fascinating epic tale that reads as a novel.

Vladimir Maz'ya (born 1937) is an outstanding mathematician who systematically made fundamental contributions to a wide array of areas in mathematical analysis and in the theory of partial differential equations. In this fascinating book he describes the first thirty years of his life. He starts with the story of his family, speaks about his childhood, high school and university years, describe his formative years as a mathematician. Behind the author's personal recollections, with his own joys, sorrows and hopes, one sees a vivid picture of the time. He speaks warmly about his friends, both outside and inside mathematics. The author describes the awakening of his passion for mathematics and his early achievements. He mentions a number of mathematicians who influenced his professional life. The book is written in a readable and inviting way sometimes with a touch of humor. It can be of interest for a very broad readership.

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.

Samuel Smiles published his "Lives of the Engineers" in 1862, presenting engineers as heroic characters, conquering nature and often overcoming impossible problems on their way to success. He also invented much of it, so while an interesting historical document, it must be taken with a pinch of salt. Anthony Burton has turned his attention to a new book collating the lives of the great engineers of the 18th and 19th centuries, the extraordinary men who made the industrial revolution possible. This definitive study investigates the common themes that run between each man's story, and how they learned from one another, truly standing on the shoulders of giants. This book presents ten incredible engineers: Jack Metcalf, James Brindley, John Smeaton, William Jessop, John Rennie, Thomas Telford, James Watt, Richard Trevithick, George and Robert Stephenson, and Isambard Brunel.

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921-2 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin, discovered by the Canadian research team of Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod, was a wonder drug with the ability to bring diabetes patients back from the brink of death. It was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded for its discovery. In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss draws on archival records and personal adventures to recount the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin - a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius. With a new preface by Michael Bliss and a foreword by Alison Li, the special centenary edition of The Discovery of Insulin honours the one hundredth anniversary of insulin's discovery and its continued significance a century later.

The Finnish mathematician and astronomer Anders Johan Lexell (1740-1784) was a long-time close collaborator as well as the academic successor of Leonhard Euler at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. Lexell was initially invited by Euler from his native town of Abo (Turku) in Finland to Saint Petersburg to assist in the mathematical processing of the astronomical data of the forthcoming transit of Venus of 1769. A few years later he became an ordinary member of the Academy. This is the first-ever full-length biography devoted to Lexell and his prolific scientific output. His rich correspondence especially from his grand tour to Germany, France and England reveals him as a lucid observer of the intellectual landscape of enlightened Europe. In the skies, a comet, a minor planet and a crater on the Moon named after Lexell also perpetuate his memory.

'In a short life he accomplished much, and to the roll of great names in the history of his particular studies added his own.' So is described one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century, yet Alan Turing's name was not widely recognised until his contribution to the breaking of the German Enigma code became public in the 1970s. The story of Turing's life fascinates and in the years since his suicide, Turing's reputation has only grown, as his contributions to logic, mathematics, computing, artificial intelligence and computational biology have become better appreciated. To commemorate the centenary of Turing's birth, this republication of his mother's biography is enriched by a new foreword by Martin Davis and a never-before-published memoir by Alan's older brother. The contrast between this memoir and the original biography reveals tensions and sheds new light on Turing's relationship with his family, and on the man himself.

With a Foreword by Sydney Brenner (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2002)This biography details the life of Paul Berg (Emeritus Professor at Stanford University), tracing Berg's life from birth, in 1926, to the present, with special emphasis on his enormous scientific contributions, including being the first to develop technology that led to gene cloning science. In 1980, Berg received a Nobel Prize in chemistry for this work.In addition to his contributions in the research laboratory, Berg orchestrated and oversaw a historic meeting at Asilomar, California that centered on a threatening controversy surrounding the perception by some of the harmful potential of recombinant DNA technology. This meeting did much to forestall this controversy and to put in place the regulation of recombinant DNA work, thus putting fears to rest.The recombinant DNA controversy was a historic outcome of the discovery of gene cloning. Notably, it represented a paramount example of scientific foresight and due diligence by the scientific community, rather than by regulatory entities in the United States and many other countries. The ultimate acceptance of gene/DNA cloning led to a new era of modern biology that thrives to the present.This book is aimed primarily at scientists and those in training. The book strives to simply provide information for the general reader, but is not specifically tailored for a general reading audience.While many books cover the recombinant DNA controversy, none have satisfactorily addressed this historic period and are often contradictory about the many who's, where's, and why's involved. Additionally, the great majority of these were written by non-scientists. This biography of Paul Berg provides access to numerous archived letters and documents at Stanford University not previously addressed, and to the chronology of events as recalled and documented by him, as well as other key personalities, many of whom were interviewed.

As a practising mortician, Caitlin Doughty has long been fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies. In From Here to Eternity she sets out in search of cultures unburdened by such fears. With curiosity and morbid humour, Doughty introduces us to inspiring death-care innovators, participates in powerful death practices almost entirely unknown in the West and explores new spaces for mourning - including a futuristic glowing-Buddha columbarium in Japan, a candlelit Mexican cemetery, and America's only open-air pyre. In doing so she expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with 'dignity' and reveals unexpected possibilities for our own death rituals.

Mohamud Ege grew up in the heat and dust of northern Somalia, the son of a family of nomads who were kept constantly on the move by the need to find water and grazing for the camels and sheep which were their only possessions. When Mohamud was five, his father was killed by a snake. A wise uncle then suggested that Mohamud, alone of his family, should go to school - a rare privilege in their culture. To attend school, Mohamud had to sleep on a rush mat, survive for long periods on nothing but pancakes and do his homework by moonlight. The hardships did not prevent him from discovering the joy of reading books and developing a keen appetite for learning. By the time he was in his teens he was determined to break free of the poverty of the nomad life and become a doctor in the West. Thanks to hard work and help from his friends he managed to qualify as one of Somalia's first doctors, but he had to battle the strife and unrest of his native land, as well as prejudice and red tape from those in authority, for more than twenty years before he finally managed to qualify as a doctor in the UK. This is his story.

'This book will stay with me for years.' - Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt What happens to pregnant women when a humanitarian catastrophe strikes? Belly Woman shines a light on a story often left untold. May, 2014. Sierra Leone is ranked the country with the highest death rate of pregnant women in the world. The same month, Ebola crosses in from neighbouring Guinea. Arriving a few weeks later, Dr Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of an exponential Ebola outbreak. From impossible decisions on the maternity ward to moral dilemmas at the Ebola Treatment Centres. One mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster. An eye-opening work of reportage and advocacy, Belly Woman chronicles the inside journey through an unfolding global health crisis and the struggle to save the lives of young mothers. As Black reckons with the demons of the past, he must try to learn the lessons for a different, more resilient, future. 'A must-read for our times - riveting, illuminating and humbling.' - Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love and The Devil That Danced on the Water

Lhwyd, the illegitimate son of a father ruined by the Civil War, had to make his own way in the world. A competent botanist before going up to Oxford as a student, he spent much time there at the Botanical Garden before being appointed to the newly established Ashmolean Museum, where he became its second Keeper. This biography traces the development of his research interests from botany to palaeontology - and then to antiquarian studies, which led to him studying the Celtic languages as a source of linguistic evidence in historical studies. Thus he became the founder of Celtic Studies. Lhwyd's diverse research interests were underpinned by an evidence-led methodology - the collection (by personal observation where possible) of material, which would then be classified as a preliminary to drawing conclusions - and, as such, his is a valuable contribution to the history of science.

This book, for a broad readership, examines the young Einstein from a variety of perspectives - personal, scientific, historical, and philosophical.

A New Statesman Book of the Year for 2017

His father conceived of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it was Washington Roebling who built this iconic feat of human engineering after his father's tragic death. It has stood for more than 130 years and is now as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet, as recognisable as the bridge is, its builder is too often forgotten.

The Chief Engineer is a brilliant examination of the life of one of America's most distinguished engineers. Roebling's experience as an engineer building bridges in the Union Army during the civil War has never before been documented, and played a central role in the bridge that links Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge took fourteen dramatic years to complete, and the personal story that lay behind that construction is told here for the first time.

The Chief Engineer is an engaging portrait of a brilliant and driven man, and of the era in which he lived. Meticulously researched, and written with revealing archival material only recently uncovered, including Washington Roebling's own memoir that was previously thought to be lost to history, in The Chief Engineer Erica Wagner relates the fascinating history of the bridge and its maker.

"Transformative...[Taylor's] experience...will shatter [your] own perception of the world."-ABC News The astonishing New York Times bestseller that chronicles how a brain scientist's own stroke led to enlightenment On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all within four hours-Taylor alternated between the euphoria of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace, and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized she was having a stroke and enabled her to seek help before she was completely lost. It would take her eight years to fully recover. For Taylor, her stroke was a blessing and a revelation. It taught her that by "stepping to the right" of our left brains, we can uncover feelings of well-being that are often sidelined by "brain chatter." Reaching wide audiences through her talk at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference and her appearance on Oprah's online Soul Series, Taylor provides a valuable recovery guide for those touched by brain injury and an inspiring testimony that inner peace is accessible to anyone.