BookOdyssey

Life in a research lab can be daunting, especially for early-career scientists. Personal and professional hurdles abound in bench research, and this book by two seasoned lab professionals is here to help graduate students, postdocs, and staff scientists recognize stumbling blocks and avoid common pitfalls. Building and maintaining a mentoring network, practicing self-care and having a life outside of the lab, understanding that what works perfectly for a labmate might not work for you-these are just a few of the strategies that lab manager and molecular biologist Paris H. Grey and PI and geneticist David G. Oppenheimer wished they had implemented far sooner in their careers. They also offer practical advice on managing research projects, sharing your work on social media, and attending conferences. Above all, they coach early-career scientists to avoid burnout and make the most of every lab experience to grow and learn. Σελίδες: 264, Έτος Έκδοσης: 2022, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

\'Has the power to change the way you look at the world\' Steven Bartlett \'The heir to Oliver Sacks\' David Baddiel A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024 AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger. These are the seven deadly sins, the vices of humankind that define immorality, the roots of all evil in the world. Or so some believe. But do these sins really represent moral failings, or are they simply human functions that aid us? Are they just the result of how our bodies, psyches, and brains in particular, are wired? This new book by Dr Guy Leschziner, a professor of neurology and sleep medicine, explores the underlying nature of the seven deadly sins, their neuroscientific and psychological basis, their origin in our genes and crucially how certain medical disorders give rise to them. Drawing on his clinical practice, we meet individuals whose physical and psychological conditions have given rise to these sins, where brain injury or other experiences have sparked ‘immoral’ actions. He explores how illness can simply expose what lies within us and investigates how the origins of these traits lie in evolutionary imperatives to preserve the wellbeing of the tribe. Perhaps, he suggests, these character traits are less of a moral question and more biological, which raises fundamental issues of responsibility and blame in the face of ‘sin’. Combining cutting-edge science placed in the context of real-life experience with patients, the book reexamines where the boundaries between normal human nature, pathology and sin are drawn. And, most importantly, whether these hard-wired traits truly represent sin, or simply the intensity of our intrinsic desire to survive and thrive. Σελίδες: 384, Διαστάσεις: 15.3x15.3cm

From gravity to black holes, special relativity to global warming, this authoritative and entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into manageable chunks, explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the subject.Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things such as gravitational waves, electricity and black holes, wouldn’t it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows?If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mindblowing subject of quantum mechanics or concerned by climate change but haven’t been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let’s take atoms, for example – what on earth are they? Well, if you start to think of them less like things you can’t see with complex little nuclei and more like the alphabet of nature, which in different configurations can make a rose, a galaxy or a newborn baby, they might start to feel a little more understandable. Or gravitational waves – they sound poetic, but why are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space, vibrations on the drumskin of space-time – before delving into all their complexities. In twenty-one short and engaging chapters, Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you’ve always wanted to understand more about. Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 13.5x13.5cm

The triumphs of recent biology - understanding hereditary disease, the modern theory of evolution - are all thanks to the fruit fly, the guinea pig, the zebra fish and a handful of other organisms, which have helped us unravel one of life\'s greatest mysteries - inheritance.Jim Endersby traces his story from Darwin hand-pollinating passion flowers in his back garden in an effort to find out whether his decision to marry his cousin had harmed their children, to today\'s high-tech laboratories, full of shoals of shimmering zebra fish, whose bodies are transparent until they are mature, allowing scientists to watch every step as a single fertilised cell multiples to become millions of specialised cells that make up a new fish. Each story has - piece by piece - revealed how DNA determines the characteristics of the adult organism. Not every organism was as cooperative as the fruit fly or zebra fish, some provided scientists with misleading answers or encouraged them to ask the wrong questions. Σελίδες: 512, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Σελίδες: 264, Διαστάσεις: 16x16cm

The only book you need to understand blockchain: what it is, how it works and how it will transform business, society and our everyday lives. Basic Blockchain is an accessible, non-technical introduction to a revolutionary technology.\'Makes it easy for the average business executive to understand blockchain\' -- Chris Larsen, founder and chairman, Ripple\'An essential tool for those looking to distinguish information from noise\' -- Eva Kaili, MEP and Chair of The Committee for the Future of Science and TechnologyA revolution is under way across the globe, yet very few people understand it. Basic Blockchain will explain everything you need to know to understand the technology that will soon disrupt and revolutionise everything from financial and health services to the property market and how we vote.Born of an obscure body of research on game theory developed by NASA, originally championed by drug dealers seeking to launder ill-gotten gains, accelerated by entrepreneurs seeking to improve financial access for the poor, funded by giant corporate interests attracted to the potential for billions of dollars of cost savings, blockchain heralds a new era of financial inclusion, legal inclusion for the dispossessed and lower prices for consumers. In short, it will enact radical change on our lives.In this book, David L. Shrier, one of MIT and Oxford University\'s leading futurists, explains for the general reader:- The history of blockchain, its apocryphal progenitor Satoshi Nakamoto and the socioeconomic context of its origins in the 2008 financial crisis.- How blockchain works, including the core technologies that drive it such as cryptographic hashes and network theory, all described in simple, understandable terms.- The potential of blockchain, including its impact on our jobs, industry and society as a whole. Blockchain will disrupt and transform our world in profound ways. This accessible book, written by a global authority on blockchain, is the essential introduction to the next technological revolution. Σελίδες: 192, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0114, Διαστάσεις: 19.2x19.2cm

\'Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James.\' New York Post \'James writes with infectious enthusiasm and optimism\' Kirkus Reviews\'A science teacher by profession, Mr. James knows how to get his audience\'s attention.\' The Wall Street Journal\'Humorous, yet deep\' Professor Charles AntoineA rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, accidentally changing humanity (mostly) for the better.We may imagine that science is a process of breakthroughs and light bulb moments. But in reality, science goes wrong 99% of the time.Almost every idea a scientist comes up with is quickly disproved by a failed experiment or rival research. Science moves at a rate of inches per decade and we like it that way. But occasionally, just occasionally, a complete fluke happens and changes everything. From an untimely sneeze in a petri dish leading to antibiotics to the discovery of microwaves via melted chocolate, this is a rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, accidentally changing humanity for the better. Σελίδες: 224, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0409, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

Many societies have imagined going to live in space. What they want to do once they get up there - whether conquering the unknown, establishing space \"colonies,\" privatising the moon\'s resources - reveals more than expected. In this fascinating radical history of space exploration, Fred Scharmen shows that often science and fiction have combined in the imagined dreams of life in outer space, but these visions have real implications for life back on earth.For the Russian Cosmists of the 1890s space was a place to pursue human perfection away from the Earth. For others, such as Wernher Von Braun, it was an engineering task that combined, in the Space Race, the Cold War, and during World War II, with destructive geopolitics. Arthur C Clark in his speculative books offered an alternative vision of wonder that is indifferent to human interaction. Meanwhile NASA planned and managed the space station like an earthbound corporation. Today, the market has arrived into outer space and exploration is the plaything of superrich technology billionaires, who plan to privatise the mineral wealth for themselves. Are other worlds really possible?Bringing these figures and ideas together reveals a completely different story of our relationship with outer space, as well as the dangers of our current direction of extractive capitalism and colonisation. Σελίδες: 272, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0329, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

With more than 1 million copies sold worldwide, The Elements is the most entertaining, comprehensive, and visually arresting book on all 118 elements in the periodic table.Includes a poster of Theodore Gray\'s iconic photographic periodic table of the elements!Based on seven years of research and photography by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann, The Elements presents the most complete and visually arresting representation available to the naked eye of every atom in the universe. Organized sequentially by atomic number, every element is represented by a big beautiful photograph that most closely represents it in its purest form. Several additional photographs show each element in slightly altered forms or as used in various practical ways. Also included are fascinating stories of the elements, as well as data on the properties of each, including atomic number, atomic symbol, atomic weight, density, atomic radius, as well as scales for electron filling order, state of matter, and an atomic emission spectrum.This of solid science and stunning artistic photographs is the perfect gift book for every sentient creature in the universe. Σελίδες: 240, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1220, Διαστάσεις: 25.4x25.4cm

The constants of nature are the numbers that define the essence of the Universe. They tell us how strong its forces are, and what its fundamental laws can do: the strength of gravity, of magnetism, the speed of light, and the masses of the smallest particles of matter. They encode the deepest secrets of the Universe and express at once our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Their existence has taught us the profound truth that Nature abounds with unseen regularities. Yet, while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constants, our frustrating inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we still have to learn about the inner workings of the Universe. What is the ultimate status of these constants of Nature? Are they truly constant? Could life have evolved and persisted if they were even slightly different? And are there other Universes where they are different? These are some of the issues that this book grapples with. It looks back to the discoveries of the first constants of Nature and the impact they had on scientists like Einstein. This book also tells the story of a tantalising new development in astronomy. For the first time astronomical observations are suggesting that some of the constants of Nature were different when the Universe was younger. So are our laws of Nature slowly changing? Is anything about our Universe immune from the ravages of time? Are there any constants of Nature at all? Σελίδες: 368, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

The No.1 New York Times BestsellerIn China, for the first time, the people who weigh too much now outnumber those who weigh too little. In Mexico, the obesity rate has tripled in the past three decades. In the UK over 60 per cent of adults and 30 per cent of children are overweight, while the United States remains the most obese country in the world.We are hooked on salt, sugar and fat. These three simple ingredients are used by the major food companies to achieve the greatest allure for the lowest possible cost. Here, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss exposes the practices of some of the most recognisable (and profitable) companies and brands of the last half century. He takes us inside the labs where food scientists use cutting-edge technology to calculate the ‘bliss point’ of sugary drinks. He unearths marketing campaigns designed – in a technique adapted from the tobacco industry – to redirect concerns about the health risks of their products, and reveals how the makers of processed foods have chosen, time and again, to increase consumption and profits, while gambling with our health.Are you ready for the truth about what’s in your shopping basket? Σελίδες: 480, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

BBC Radio 4\'s celebrated THE LIFE SCIENTIFIC has featured some of the world\'s most renowned experts in the field of deadly viruses. The interviews make sobering reading, a reminder of all the deadly viruses that have threatened global health, and why for the scientists working on the front line in the war against viruses, the arrival of Covid-19 came as no surprise. Among the contributors to this all-too-timely book are:Jeremy Farrar, before he became Director of the Wellcome Trust, worked in an Infectious Diseases Hospital in Vietnam. He was on the frontline tackling SARS and nine months later a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, H5N1. Peter Piot was at the forefront of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. He was the first to identify HIV in Africa. It took him fifteen years to persuade the world that it was also a heterosexual disease. Later as Executive Director of UN AIDS he fought for years to get the UN to take the threat of HIV seriously.Jonathan Ball studies how viruses operate at the molecular level, hoping to find their Achilles\' heel and so develop effective vaccines. During the West Africa Ebola epidemic, he studied how the genome of the Ebola virus evolved as it spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone. He has shown that as this virus (which more happily lives in bats) infects more humans, it becomes ever more infectious.Wendy Barclay seeks to understand how viruses are able to jump from animals to humans and why some viruses are so much more dangerous to humans than others. Most Londoners had no idea they were infected during the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009. The Bird Flu epidemic in Asia claimed thousands of livesKate Jones is a bat specialist who works on how ecological changes and human behaviour accelerate the spread of animal viruses into humans. Bats have been infected with coronaviruses for more than 10,000 years. Σελίδες: 160, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0330, Διαστάσεις: 14.4x14.4cm

WINNER OF THE 2018 BRAGE PRIZE\'[T]his lovely book. An enjoyable sweep through topics ranging from respiration to space exploration -solid science presented in an engagingly human way\' Andrew Crumey, author of The Great Chain of Unbeing\'Perfect popular science . . . not just a well-written story about the elements, but a book about being human in the world today\'Åsmund H. Eikenes, author of Splash: A History of Our BodiesWe all know that we depend on elements for survival - from oxygen in the air we breathe to carbon in the molecular structures of all living things. But we seldom appreciate how, say, phosphorus holds our DNA together or how potassium powers our optic nerves enabling us to see.Physicist and award-winning author Anja Røyne takes us on an astonishing journey through chemistry and physics, introducing the building blocks from which we humans - and everything else in the world - are made. Not only does Røyne explain why our bodies need iron, phosphorus, silicon, potassium and many more elements in just the right amounts in order to function, she also shows us where in the world these precious elements are found (some of them in limited and quickly depleting quantities).Røyne helps us understand how precariously balanced our lives - and ways of living - really are, and to appreciate little known and generally unsung heroes of the periodic table in an entirely new light. Σελίδες: 224, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0811, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

At the beginning of the 21st century, physics is being driven to very unfamiliar territory - the domain of the incredibly small and the incredibly heavy. The new world is a world in which both quantum mechanics and gravity are equally important. But mysteries remain. One of the biggest involved black holes. Famed physicist Stephen Hawking claimed that anything sucked in a black hole was lost forever. For three decades, Leonard Susskind and Hawking clashed over the answer to this problem. Finally, in 2004, Hawking conceded. THE BLACK HOLE WAR will explain the mind-blowing science that finally won out and the emergence of a new paradigm that argues that the world - your home, your breakfast, you - is actually a hologram projected from the edges of space. Σελίδες: 480, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1105, Διαστάσεις: 14x14cm

OUT NOW: the new book from the bestselling authors and hosts of the wildy popular \'The Skeptics Guide to the Universe\'__________Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the \'60s, which didn\'t anticipate the sexual revolution or women\'s liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations.The best we can do is try to absorb from futurism\'s checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.In The Skeptics\' Guide To The Future, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Applying their trademark skepticism, they carefully extrapolate upon each scientific development, leaving no stone unturned as they lay out a vision for the future of tomorrow.__________ Σελίδες: 432, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0927, Διαστάσεις: 15.4x15.4cm

A fascinating exploration of how losing our sense of smell can shape our world, and how the global pandemic transformed our understanding of this mysterious sense. Σελίδες: 256, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0921, Διαστάσεις: 13.8x13.8cm

What can we never do? Barrow looks at what limits there might be to human discovery, and what we might find, ultimately, to be unknowable, undoable, or unthinkable. Science is a big success story, but where will it end? And, indeed, will it end? Weaving together a tapestry of surprises, Barrow explores the frontiers of knowledge. We find that the notion of \'impossibility\' has played a striking role in our thinking. Surrealism, impossible figures, time travel, paradoxes of logic and perspectives - all stimulate us to contemplate something more than what is. Using simple explanations, it shows the reader that impossibility is a deep and powerful notion; that any Universe complex enough to contain conscious beings will contain limits on what those beings can know about their Universe; that what we cannot know defines reality as surely as what we can know. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'In the same light-heartedly informative spirit as his previous Elemental, Tim James gives us an entertaining gallop through light years of space science, from the big bang to UFOs\'Andrew Crumey, author of The Great Chain of UnbeingPRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR\'Humorous, yet deep . . . Fundamental will speak to all readers\' Professor Charles Antoine, Sorbonne University\'Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James\' New York PostDoes the Big Bang prove the existence of God? What\'s the Universe expanding into? Is Earth the only planet which supports life? Why did the greatest astronomer in history murder his pet moose?Space is the biggest, oldest, hottest, coldest, strangest thing a human can study. It\'s no surprise then, that the weirdest facts in science (not to mention the weirdest scientists themselves) are found in astrophysics and cosmology. If you\'re looking for instructions on how to set up your grandad\'s telescope this book probably isn\'t for you. In Astronomical, Tim James takes us on a tour of the known (and unknown) Universe, focusing on the most-mind boggling stuff we\'ve come across, as well as unpacking the latest theories about what\'s really going on out there.Guiding us through Einstein\'s relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory, Astronomical delves into the baffling corners of the cosmos and tackles the biggest mysteries we face: from alien life to the zodiac; from white holes to wormholes; from quasars to quark stars. This is the science of space at its absolute strangest! From the creation of the Universe out of nothing to the Large Hadron Collider and the Universe\'s ongoing expansion, Tim explores our planetary neighbours, where it snows metal on Venus, there are underground lakes on Mars and rivers of petrol on Titan. He then looks beyond our solar system: to exoplanets which could support life, rogue planets, quark stars, quasars, neutron stars and more. Tim looks at black holes (and how to survive in one), wormholes, white holes as well as dark energy, dark matter and even a bit of string theory thrown in for good measure. He explains the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, including the discovery of Martian fossils in the Alan Hills meteorite and the tantalising \'Wow signal\' transmission earth received in 1973 - still unexplained. He also rebuts resurgent anti-science movements, including the Flat Earth Society and discusses what\'s really going on inside Area 51.To close, Tim finishes by looking at human achievements in space including how rockets work, how faster-than-light warp-drives (currently being investigated by NASA) work and how we plan to colonise both the moon and Mars. Σελίδες: 208, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0714, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

From award-winning science writer John Gribbin, Science: A History is the enthralling story of the men and women who changed the way we see the world, and the turbulent times they lived in. From Galileo, tried by the Inquisition for his ideas, to Newton, who wrote his rivals out of the history books; from Marie Curie, forced to work apart from male students for fear she might excite them, to Louis Agassiz, who marched his colleagues up a mountain to prove that the ice ages had occurred. Filled with pioneers, visionaries, eccentrics and madmen, this is the history of science as it has never been told before. \'Gripping and entertaining ... Wonderfully and pleasurably accessible\'   Independent on Sunday \'Tremendous ... moves me to bestow a reviewer\'s cliché I long ago vowed never to use: a tour de force\'   Spectator \'A magnificent history ... enormously entertaining\'   Daily Telegraph \'A splendid book ... demolishes innumerable myths and exposes the factual roots of some of science\'s well known tales (for example, Galileo never dropped weights of different sizes from Pisa\'s leaning tower)\'   Economist \'We experience his subjects\' triumphs and failures as if we knew them personally ... I found myself whizzing through the pages\'   Sunday Telegraph John Gribbin is one of today\'s greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books, including In Search of Schrödinger\'s Cat, Stardust, Science: A History and In Search of the Multiverse. Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex. Σελίδες: 672, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

There aren\'t many scientists famous enough in their lifetime to be canonized by the US Congress as one of America\'s \'living legends\'. Yet few would have grudged this accolade to Stephen Jay Gould, whose writings on history - both of the natural world and of the study of the natural world - had made him a household name by the time of his death in 2002.A committed Darwinian and robust critic of creationist myths, he nevertheless made major revisions to orthodox Darwinian theory, from his concept of punctuated equilibrium to his insistence on the importance of chance in the history of life on earth. And in addition, his trenchant attacks on scientific racism and the pretensions of sociobiology still resonate, nearly three decades after they were first written.In The Richness of Life, Steven Rose and Paul McGarr have selected from across the full range of Gould\'s writing, including some of the most famous of his essays and extracts from his major books. An introduction by Steven Rose sets both the essays, and Gould\'s life, in context. Σελίδες: 656, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'These minibiographies of women who persisted will move anyone with an avid curiosity about the world.\' Publishers Weekly With a foreword by Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics, University of Cambridge and Master of Churchill College.Ten Women Who Changed Science tells the moving stories of the physicists, biologists, chemists, astronomers and doctors who helped to shape our world with their extraordinary breakthroughs and inventions, and outlines their remarkable achievements.These scientists overcame significant obstacles, often simply because they were women. Their science and their lives were driven by personal tragedies and shaped by seismic world events. What drove these remarkable women to cure previously incurable diseases, disprove existing theories or discover new sources of energy? Some were rewarded with the Nobel Prize for their pioneering achievements -Madame Curie, twice - others were not and, even if they had been, many are still not the household names they should be.Despite living during periods when the contribution of women was disregarded, if not ignored, these resilient women persevered with their research, whether creating life-saving drugs or expanding our knowledge of the cosmos. By daring to ask \'How?\' and \'Why?\' and persevering against all odds, each of these women, in a variety of ways, has helped to make the world a better place.The scientists are: Henrietta Leavitt (United States, Astronomy); Lise Meitner (Austria, Physics); Chien-Shiung Wu (United States, Physics); Marie Curie (France, Chemistry); Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (United Kingdom, Chemistry); Virginia Apgar (United States, Medicine); Gertrude Elion (United States, Medicine); Rita Levi-Montalicini (Italy, Biology); Elsie Widdowson (United Kingdom, Biology); Rachel Carson (United States, Biology). Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0212, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

The Solar System – so what is it?We\'ve all learned the basics at school but how much can you remember? Expert astronomers and co-presenters of The Sky at Night Chris North and Paul Abel take a fascinating guided tour of our Solar System and explain its wonders.They look at all the major players, including our more familiar neighbours – the Sun, the planets and their moons – the occasional visitors to our planet – asteroids, meteors and comets – as well as distant stars and what might be beyond our Solar System – Earth Mark II? Chris and Paul recount the history of how everything came about and the myths that once shaped astronomy. They explain the latest science and discoveries, and reveal how any amateur astronomer can view and interpret the Solar System. Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

A groundbreaking exploration of the science of longevity from Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan \'Enthralling and packed with insights.\' - BILL BRYSON\'A must-read.\' - STEPHEN FRY\'Spectacular. Changed my perspective on the whole living world but most of all myself.\' - CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN__________________How can science help us live better and longer? We are living through an exciting revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in our understanding of why we age, and why some species live longer than others. Will we soon be able to cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?In Why We Die, Ramakrishnan takes us on a riveting journey to the frontiers of biology. He explains the latest scientific understanding of exactly why we age and how we might prevent it. He examines the cutting-edge efforts to extend lifespan by altering our natural biology and raises profound questions. Might death serve a necessary biological purpose? As science advances, what will it mean for us all if people start living longer? And how can we increase our chances of living long, healthy and fulfilled lives?Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.\'An incredible journey.\' - SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE\'Joyfully alive\' - STEVE BRUSATTE\'Scientists do not come much more eminent than Venki Ramakrishnan... wonderfully readable... fascinating.\' FINANCIAL TIMES*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Start the Week* Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0312, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

\'The \'Enfant terrible\' of astrophysics . . . Loeb has a joy in conjecture and an omnivorous spirit of inquiry that are more reminiscent of 20th-century thinkers such as Freeman Dyson or Carl Sagan than most of his peers\' The TimesCould we build space craft that could travel to distant stars? Could we augment human biology for spaceflight? Could the search for extraterrestrials be brought into the mainstream of scientific research?Avi Loeb tells us that in each case, the real question is not could we, but will we choose to? With an approach that is firmly grounded in cutting-edge science, he explores the potential for non-rocket space launch, deep space probes, and the technological preservation of human civilisation. He examines the evidence for UFOs and UAPs, and argues that the search for further evidence, using existing scientific technologies, is long overdue.Urgent and important, Noah\'s Spaceship is a mission statement and a blueprint for the future of humanity. Loeb explains why becoming interstellar is imperative for our civilization to survive - and how we can accomplish it.\'One of the more imaginative and articulate scientists around\' New York Times Σελίδες: 256, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0831, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

The modern world is dominated by ideas that are threatening to kill us: that life is one long battle from conception to grave; that all creatures, including human beings, are driven by their selfish DNA; that the universe is just stuff, for us to use at will.These ideas are seen as emerging from science and hard-nosed philosophy, and become self-fulfilling. They have led us to create a world in perpetual strife,that is unjust and in many ways precarious.This remarkable book by an experienced author and thinker argues there\'s another way of looking at the world that is just as rooted in modern science, and yet says precisely the opposite: that life is in fact cooperative; all creatures, including human beings, are basically nice; that there\'s more to the \'stuff\' of the world than meets the eye.This book is both a powerful call to rethink our assumptions, and a message of hope for those who believe we\'re doomed to self-destruction. Σελίδες: 296, Διαστάσεις: 15.6x15.6cm

Σελίδες: 208, Διαστάσεις: 18x18cm

Set amidst the unforgettable sights and smells of 18th and 19th Century Paris, Elixir tells the story of Edouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent, the son of a perfumer and a fellow aspiring chemist, who met on the Left Bank while pursuing their passion for science. Spurned by the scientific establishment of the time, the pair ended up working out of Edouard\'s family perfume shop, Laugier père et fils. By day they prepared the revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux it was famous for, but by night using the ingredients and techniques of the perfumery and the principles of alchemy, they pursued the secret of life itself.Beautifully written, , Elixir reads like a novel, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental daring, and the romance of the Bohemian salon. It is also the story of a long-standing scientific puzzle. and the struggle to gain acceptance and recognition for a new way of thinking about the building blocks of living matter which went on long after those who discovered it were both dead. Yet it is also a story of hope and determination. For while the scientific establishment ignored, and even ridiculed their work at the time, teen-aged lab assistant Louis Pasteur took it seriously and over the course of an exceptionally successful career, was able to show that not only were they correct, but that their work pointed to a deep, inexplicable asymmetry in the molecular arrangement of living things. This unexplained asymmetry remains one of science\'s great mysteries and an important avenue for examining the origins of life on Earth. Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0427, Διαστάσεις: 15.4x15.4cm

Why are girls discouraged from doing science? Why do so many promising women leave science in early and mid-career? Why do women not prosper in the scientific workforce? Not Just For the Boys looks back at how society has historically excluded women from the scientific sphere and discourse, what progress has been made, and how more is still needed. Athene Donald, herself a distinguished physicist, explores societal expectations during both childhood and working life using evidence of the systemic disadvantages women operate under, from the developing science of how our brains are--and more importantly aren\'t--gendered, to social science evidence around attitudes towards girls and women doing science. It also discusses how science is done in practice, in order to dispel common myths: for example, the perception that science is not creative, or that it is carried out by a lone genius in an ivory tower, myths that can be very off-putting to many sections of the population. A better appreciation of the collaborative, creative, and multi-disciplinary nature of science is likely to lead to its appeal to a far wider swathe of people, especially women. This book examines the modern way of working in scientific research, and how gender bias operates in various ways within it, drawing on the voices of leading women in science describing their feelings and experiences. It argues the moral and business case for greater diversity in modern research, the better to improve science and tackle the great challenges we face today. Σελίδες: 288, Διαστάσεις: 24.7x24.7cm

In 1996, Alan Sokal, a Professor of Physics at New York University, wrote a paper for the cultural-studies journal Social Text, entitled \'Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity\'. It was reviewed, accepted and published. Sokal immediately confessed that the whole article was a hoax - a cunningly worded paper designed to expose and parody the style of extreme postmodernist criticism of science. The story became front-page news around the world and triggered fierce and wide-ranging controversy. Sokal is one of the most powerful voices in the continuing debate about the status of evidence-based knowledge. In Beyond the Hoax he turns his attention to a new set of targets - pseudo-science, religion, and misinformation in public life. \'Whether my targets are the postmodernists of the left, the fundamentalists of the right, or the muddle-headed of all political and apolitical stripes, the bottom line is that clear thinking, combined with a respect for evidence, are of the utmost importance to the survival of the human race in the twenty-first century.\' The book also includes a hugely illuminating annotated text of the Hoax itself, and a reflection on the furore it provoked. Σελίδες: 488, Διαστάσεις: 17.1x17.1cm

Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 25x25cm

We are inclined to assume that digital technologies have suddenly revolutionized everything – including our relationships, our forms of work and leisure, and even our democracies – in just a few years. Armin Nassehi puts forward a new theory of digital society that turns this assumption on its head. Rather than treating digital technologies as an independent causal force that is transforming social life, he asks: what problem does digitalization solve?   When we pose the question in this way, we can see, argues Nassehi, that digitalization helps societies to deal with and reduce complexity by using coded numbers to process information. We can also see that modern societies had a digital structure long before computer technologies were developed – already in the nineteenth century, for example, statistical pattern recognition technologies were being used in functionally differentiated societies in order to recognize, monitor and control forms of human behaviour. Digital technologies were so successful in such a short period of time and were able to penetrate so many areas of society so quickly precisely because of a pre-existing sensitivity that prepared modern societies for digital development. This highly original book lays the foundations for a theory of the digital society that will be of value to everyone interested in the growing presence of digital technologies in our lives. Σελίδες: 268, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0729, Διαστάσεις: 15.2x15.2cm

In Warped Passages one of the world\'s most exciting scientists gives us a glimpse into our future. Incredibly readable - and illustrated throughout - it allows the general reader to understand the questions that scientists are dealing with at the frontiers of research today. Lisa Randall allows the reader to understand the kind of problems that extra dimensions might solve and the kind of speculation that is needed even to imagine them. She also gives an introduction to developments in early twentieth century physics, particle physics and string theory and addresses current debates about relativity, quantum mechanics and gravity - and she describes the questions that are still to be solved. Σελίδες: 512, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Let this guide be your very own friendly nutritionist, on hand to debunk common food myths and give you the answers to those pressing health questions with easy-to-swallow information.Is red wine good for your heart? Will caffeine raise your blood pressure? How Food Works gives you answers to these and several more questions by investigating claims surrounding a variety of foods and examining them from a biological standpoint. Discover nutritional facts about the food you eat, learn the benefits of superfoods and antioxidants, and go behind-the-scenes of modern food production.Packed with infographics and colourful images, the book delves into the science behind ways of eating including gluten-free and veganism, as well as the benefits of different diets from around the world. Turn the pages to understand why food intolerances occur, what actually makes food organic, how important sell-by dates really are, and how much salt you should really be eating.Readers will also learn about the social and economic implications of food choices, such as eating disorders and fair-trade businesses.Indispensable and accessible to young and old, How Food Works is the perfect health and dietary companion. Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 19.8x19.8cm

For James Burke, knowledge is a vast interconnected web - which means you never know how a new discovery or development, or even a chance accident, will affect everything else. To prove his point, he takes us on twenty exhilarating, all-new journeys through history\'s byways and shortcuts - from the zigzag path that starts with medieval spicy food and ends with smart bombs to the road that connects bottle caps with the Bowie Knife. Through these and hundreds of other fascinating examples - further linked by 447 cross references - Burke proves once more that he has \'one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world\' - WASHINGTON POST. Σελίδες: 336, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0507, Διαστάσεις: 15.7x15.7cm

We live in a world made by science. How and when did this happen? This book tells the story of the extraordinary intellectual and cultural revolution that gave birth to modern science, and mounts a major challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of its history.Before 1492 it was assumed that all significant knowledge was already available; there was no concept of progress; people looked for understanding to the past not the future. This book argues that the discovery of America demonstrated that new knowledge was possible: indeed it introduced the very concept of \'discovery\', and opened the way to the invention of science.The first crucial discovery was Tycho Brahe\'s nova of 1572: proof that there could be change in the heavens. The telescope (1610) rendered the old astronomy obsolete. Torricelli\'s experiment with the vacuum (1643) led directly to the triumph of the experimental method in the Royal Society of Boyle and Newton. By 1750 Newtonianism was being celebrated throughout Europe.The new science did not consist simply of new discoveries, or new methods. It relied on a new understanding of what knowledge might be, and with this came a new language: discovery, progress, facts, experiments, hypotheses, theories, laws of nature - almost all these terms existed before 1492, but their meanings were radically transformed so they became tools with which to think scientifically. We all now speak this language of science, which was invented during the Scientific Revolution.The new culture had its martyrs (Bruno, Galileo), its heroes (Kepler, Boyle), its propagandists (Voltaire, Diderot), and its patient labourers (Gilbert, Hooke). It led to a new rationalism, killing off alchemy, astrology, and belief in witchcraft. It led to the invention of the steam engine and to the first Industrial Revolution. David Wootton\'s landmark book changes our understanding of how this great transformation came about, and of what science is. Σελίδες: 784, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

THE TIMES SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEARNEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEARFINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYA revelatory and vibrant story of measurement which will make you look at the world around you anew.\'A wildly ambitious book by a formidably talented young writer.\'ROBERT MACFARLANE\'Vivid, epic, and full of curiosities. This is a book to delight and fascinate.\'TIM HARFORD, bestselling author of How to Make the World Add Up\'Beyond Measure offers, with much intellectual flair and style, a bracing new history: how the once innocent urge to quantification took over our lives, our sense of ourselves and the world.\'PANKAJ MISHRA\'The exact value of this book is hard to quantify. Weighty, precise and satisfyingly obsessive, it\'s also an absolute pleasure to read.\'SIMON GARFIELD, bestselling author of The TimekeepersWe measure rainfall and radiation, the depths of space and the emptiness of atoms, calories and steps, happiness and pain. But how did measurement become ubiquitous in modern life? When did humanity first take up scales and rulers, and why does this practice hold authority over so many aspects of our lives?Written with vim and dazzling intelligence, James Vincent provides a fresh and original perspective on human history as he tracks our long search for dependable truths in a chaotic universe. Full of mavericks and visionaries, adventure and the unexpected, Beyond Measure shows that measurement has not only made the world we live in, it has made us too.\'An epic story about humankind\'s relationship with the physical world. Vincent is an erudite and perceptive guide, who with energy and skill weaves history, science and reportage into an enthralling tale.\'ALEX BELLOS\'Telling the story of metrology is not easy [but] Vincent is equal to the task . . . this book is extremely good.\'THE TIMES\'This quirky history is inch-perfect.\'FINANCIAL TIMES\'Gripping.\' NEW SCIENTIST\'Worth its weight in gold . . . Enlightening.\' OBSERVER\'Fascinating . . . an erudiite and elegant read.\' MAIL ON SUNDAY Σελίδες: 432, Διαστάσεις: 15.3x15.3cm