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books tagged “popular science”
books tagged “popular science”
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The Age of Intelligent Machinesby Raymond KurzweilISBN 0262610795 (0-262-61079-5)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Age of Intelligent Machines'Book summary:What is artificial intelligence? At its essence, it is another way of answering a central question that has been debated by scientists, philosophers, and theologians for thousands of years: How does the human brain - three pounds of ordinary matter - give rise to thought? With this question in mind, inventor and visionary computer scientist Raymond Kurzweil probes the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence, from its earliest philosophical and mathematical roots through today's moving frontier, to tantalizing glimpses of 21st-century machines with superior intelligence and truly prodigious speed and memory. Lavishly illustrated and easily accessible to the nonspecialist, "The Age of Intelligent Machines provides the background needed for a full understanding of the enormous scientific potential represented by intelligent machines and of their equally profound philosophic, economic, and social implications. It examines the history of efforts to understand human intelligence and to emulate it by building devices that seem to act with human capabilities. Running alongside Kurzweil's historical and scientific narrative, are 23 articles examining contemporary issues in artificial intelligence by such luminaries as Daniel Dennett, Sherry Turkle, Douglas Hofstadter, Marvin Minsky, Seymour Papert, Edward Feigenbaum, Allen Newell, and George Gilder. Raymond Kurzweil is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Kurzweil Music Systems, and the Kurzweil Reading Machines division of Xerox. He was the principal developer of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind and other significant advances in artificial intelligencetechnology. [via]
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The Amateur Naturalistby Lee Durrell, Gerald Malcolm Lee DurrellISBN 0241108411 (0-241-10841-1)
Hardcover, H. Hamilton
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Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the Worldby Paul CollinsISBN 0312300336 (0-312-30033-6)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World'Book summary:The historical record crowns success. Those enshrined in its annals are men and women whose ideas, accomplishments, or personalities have dominated, endured, and most important of all, found champions. John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists, and Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Poets are classic celebrations of the greatest, the brightest, the eternally constellated.[via]
Paul Collins' Banvard's Folly is a different kind of book. Here are thirteen unforgettable portraits of forgotten people: men and women who might have claimed their share of renown but who, whether from ill timing, skullduggery, monomania, the tinge of madness, or plain bad luck-or perhaps some combination of them all-leapt straight from life into thankless obscurity. Among their number are scientists, artists, writers, entrepreneurs, and adventurers, from across the centuries and around the world. They hold in common the silenced aftermath of failure, the name that rings no bells.
Collins brings them back to glorious life. John Banvard was an artist whose colossal panoramic canvasses (one behemoth depiction of the entire eastern shore of the Mississippi River was simply known as "The Three Mile Painting") made him the richest and most famous artist of his day. . . before he decided to go head to head with P. T. Barnum. René Blondot was a distinguished French physicist whose celebrated discovery of a new form of radiation, called the N-Ray, went terribly awry. At the tender age of seventeen, William Henry Ireland signed "William Shakespeare" to a book and launched a short but meteoric career as a forger of undiscovered works by the Bard -- until he pushed his luck too far. John Symmes, a hero of the War of 1812, nearly succeeded in convincing Congress to fund an expedition to the North Pole, where he intended to prove his theory that the earth was hollow and ripe for exploitation; his quixotic quest counted Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe among its greatest admirers.
Collins' love for what he calls the "forgotten ephemera of genius" give his portraits of these figures and the other nine men and women in Banvard's Folly sympathetic depth and poignant relevance. Their effect is not to make us sneer or revel in schadenfreude; here are no cautionary tales. Rather, here are brief introductions-acts of excavation and reclamation-to people whom history may have forgotten, but whom now we cannot.More editions of Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World:
Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luckby Paul CollinsISBN 0312268866 (0-312-26886-6)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: A Life in Scienceby P. C. DohertyISBN 0231138962 (0-231-13896-2)
Hardcover, Columbia Univ Pr
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Black Holes: The End of the Universe?by John TaylorISBN 0285634437 (0-285-63443-7)
Softcover, Souvenir Pr Ltd
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Brain Fiction: Self-deception And the Riddle of Confabulationby William HirsteinISBN 0262582716 (0-262-58271-6)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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Chaos Theory Tamedby Garnett P. WilliamsISBN 0309063515 (0-309-06351-5)
Hardcover, Natl Academy Pr
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Chariots of the Godsby Erich Von DanikenISBN 0317199617 (0-317-19961-7)
Hardcover, Pubn Development Co
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Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Pastby Erich Von DanikenISBN 0285502565 (0-285-50256-5)
Hardcover, Souvenir
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past'Book summary:Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods is a work of monumental importance-the first book to introduce the shocking theory that ancient Earth was visited by aliens. This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eye of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began-von Däniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Däniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendents of these galactic pioneers-and the archaeological discoveries that prove it:-An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid-Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts-Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins-A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica-A giant spaceport preserved in the Andes[via]More editions of Chariots of the Gods: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past:
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Conceptual Physical Scienceby Paul G. Hewitt, John Suchocki, Leslie HewittISBN 0321051734 (0-321-05173-4)
Hardcover, Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Conceptual Physical Science'Book summary:Conceptual Physical Science, Third Edition takes learning physical science to a new level by combining HewittÕs leading conceptual approach and friendly writing style in a new edition that provides stronger integration of the sciences, more quantitative coverage, and a wealth of new media resources to help readers. The dynamic new media program includes hundreds of animations and interactive tutorials developed specifically for students taking physical science courses. Media references throughout the book point readers to additional online help. KEY TOPICS The bookÕs consistent, high-quality coverage includes five new chapters on chemistry, astronomy, and earth science for an even more balanced approach to physical science. For college instructors, students, or anyone interested in physical science.
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Conceptual Physical Science Explorationsby Paul G. Hewitt, John Suchocki, Leslie A. HewittISBN 0321051661 (0-321-05166-1)
Softcover, Addison-Wesley
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Conceptual Physicsby Paul G. HewittISBN 0316359696 (0-316-35969-6)
Hardcover, Little, Brown
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Conceptual Physics--a New Introduction to Your Environment'Book summary:Written for students of introductory physics, this best-selling text offers students an upbeat, non-threatening overview of the discipline which focuses on concepts and critical thinking rather than number-crunching. It presents physics in a language students can comprehend, using analogies and mental imagery based on real world situations. Mathematical equations, formulas, and calculations appear as a footnote on the page to reference and supplement chapter concepts and help students see the connection between math and science [via]
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- Conceptual Physics: A New Introduction to Your Environment: ISBN 0316359742 (0-316-35974-2)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co - Conceptual Physics: ISBN 0321009215 (0-321-00921-5)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley - Conceptual Physics: ISBN 0321009711 (0-321-00971-1)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley - Conceptual Physics: ISBN 0321052021 (0-321-05202-1)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley - Conceptual Physics--a New Introduction to Your Environment: ISBN 0316359696 (0-316-35969-6)
Hardcover, Little, Brown
- Conceptual Physics: A New Introduction to Your Environment: ISBN 0316359742 (0-316-35974-2)
Conceptual Physics for Everyoneby Paul G. HewittISBN 0321051629 (0-321-05162-9)
Softcover, Pearson P T R
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Connectionsby James BurkeISBN 0316116726 (0-316-11672-6)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Connections'Book summary:You can make all the plans you will, plot to make a fortune in the commodities market, speculate on developing trends: all will likely come to naught, for "however carefully you plan for the future, someone else's actions will inevitably modify the way your plans turn out." So writes the English scholar and documentary producer James Burke in his sparkling book Connections, a favorite of historically minded readers ever since its first publication in 1978. Taking a hint from Jacob Bronowski's Ascent of Man, Burke charts the course of technological innovation from ancient times to the present, but always with a subversive eye for things happening in spite of, and not because of, their inventors' intentions. Burke gives careful attention to the role of accident in human history. In his opening pages, for instance, he writes of the invention of uniform coinage, an invention that hinged on some unknown Anatolian prospector's discovering that a fleck of gold rubbed against a piece of schist--a "touchstone"--would leave a mark indicating its quality. Just so, we owe the invention of modern printing to Johann Gutenberg's training as a goldsmith, for his knowledge of the properties of metals enabled him to develop a press whose letterforms would not easily wear down. With Gutenberg's invention, Burke notes, came a massive revolution in the European economy, for, as he writes, "the easier it is to communicate, the faster change happens." Burke's book is a splendid and educational entertainment for our fast-changing time. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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Consciousness Reconsideredby Owen FlanaganISBN 0262560771 (0-262-56077-1)
Softcover, Bradford Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Consciousness Reconsidered'Book summary:Literary Studies, Psychology, Sociology [via]
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Cosmic Dawn: The Origins of Matter and Lifeby Eric ChaissonISBN 0316135909 (0-316-13590-9)
Hardcover, Little, Brown
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cosmic Dawn: The Origins of Matter and Life'Book summary:Cosmic Dawn describes a highly interdisciplinary tour of billions of years of cosmic history, an epochal saga drawing on every field of modern science astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and anthropology to address the two most fundamental problems of all: the origins of matter and life. Winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Award, the American Institute of Physics Award, and a National Book Award Nomination. [via]
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The Cradle of Thoughtby R. Peter HobsonISBN 0333766334 (0-333-76633-4)
Hardcover, Macmillan
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Creation: Life and How to Make Itby Steve GrandISBN 0297643916 (0-297-64391-6)
Hardcover, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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Darwin's Audubon: Science and the Liberal Imagination New and Selected Essaysby Gerald WeissmannISBN 0306459817 (0-306-45981-7)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The Day the Universe Changedby James BurkeISBN 0316117048 (0-316-11704-8)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Day the Universe Changed'Book summary:[via]When humans understood that the earth was flat and it was the center of the universe, all life revolved around that truth. Then, Galileo introduced his telescope. And with that single innovation, architecture, music, literature, science, politics--all of it changed, mirroring the new view of truth. This program is James Burke's examination of the moments in history when a change in knowledge radically altered man's understanding of himself and the world around him.Few people are able to look at human history and see it not as a jumble of half-remembered names and dates, but as an intricate mosaic of neatly interlocking pieces. Fewer still can describe the patterns and explain the parts of the puzzle so that it not only makes sense, but so that it also fascinates and intrigues, excites and entertains. James Burke tells history like it's the plot of the most interesting mystery ever written.More editions of The Day the Universe Changed:
The Descent of Womanby Elaine MorganISBN 0285627007 (0-285-62700-7)
Softcover, Souvenir Pr Ltd
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The Design of Everyday Thingsby Donald A. NormanISBN 0262640376 (0-262-64037-6)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Design of Everyday Things'Book summary:First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, reveals how smart design is the new competitive frontier. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how--and why--some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them. [via]
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The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientistby Fred JeromeISBN 0312316097 (0-312-31609-7)
Softcover, Strategic Planning Management
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- The Einstein File : J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist: ISBN 0312288565 (0-312-28856-5)
Hardcover, St. Martin's Press - The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist: ISBN 0312316097 (0-312-31609-7)
Softcover, Strategic Planning Management
- The Einstein File : J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist: ISBN 0312288565 (0-312-28856-5)
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The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Ageby John HorganISBN 0316640522 (0-316-64052-2)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age'Book summary:In a series of interviews with luminaries of modern science, Scientific American senior editor John Horgan conducted a guided tour of the scientific world and where it might be headed in The End of Science. The book, which generated great controversy and became a bestseller, now appears in paperback with a new afterword by the author. Through a series of essays in which he visits with such figures as Roger Penrose, Stephen Jay Gould, Stephen Hawking, Freeman Dyson, and others, Horgan captures the distinct personalities of his subjects while investigating whether science may indeed be reaching its end. While this book is in no way dumbed down, it is accessible and can take the general reader to the outer edges of scientific exploration. [via]
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The Essence of Chaosby Edward N. LorenzISBN 0295975148 (0-295-97514-8)
Softcover, Univ of Washington Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Essence of Chaos'Book summary:The study of chaotic systems has become a major scientific pursuit in recent years, shedding light on the apparently random behaviour observed in fields as diverse as climatology and mechanics. InThe Essence of Chaos Edward Lorenz, one of the founding fathers of Chaos and the originator of its seminal concept of the Butterfly Effect, presents his own landscape of our current understanding of the field.
Lorenz presents everyday examples of chaotic behaviour, such as the toss of a coin, the pinball's path, the fall of a leaf, and explains in elementary mathematical strms how their essentially chaotic nature can be understood. His principal example involved the construction of a model of a board sliding down a ski slope. Through this model Lorenz illustrates chaotic phenomena and the related concepts of bifurcation and strange attractors. He also provides the context in which chaos can be related to the similarly emergent fields of nonlinearity, complexity and fractals.
As an early pioneer of chaos, Lorenz also provides his own story of the human endeavour in developing this new field. He describes his initial encounters with chaos through his study of climate and introduces many of the personalities who contributed early breakthroughs. His seminal paper, "Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" is published for the first time. [via] 
The Essential Darwinby Charles Darwin, Robert Jastrow, Kenneth KoreyISBN 0316458260 (0-316-45826-0)
Hardcover, Little, Brown
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Fire on Earth: Doomsday, Dinosaurs, and Humankindby Mary Gribbin, John R. GribbinISBN 0312155298 (0-312-15529-8)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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Fly: An Experimental Lifeby Martin BrookesISBN 0297645897 (0-297-64589-7)
Hardcover, Trafalgar Square
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H20: A Biography of Waterby Philip BallISBN 0297643142 (0-297-64314-2)
Softcover, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd
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Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bombby Thomas PowersISBN 0306810115 (0-306-81011-5)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb'Book summary:One of the most important and controversial aspects of the history of World War II is the failure of the Germans to build an atomic bomb. Germany was the birthplace of modern physics; it possessed the raw materials and the industrial base; and it commanded key intellectual resources. What happened? This study tells of the interplay between science and espionage, morality and military necessity, and paranoia and cool logic that marked the German bomb programme and the Allied response to it. On the basis of interviews and intensive research, the author concludes that Werner Heisenberg, who was in charge of the German atomic effort, consciously obstructed the development of the bomb and, in a famous 1941 meeting in Copenhagen with his former mentor Neils Bohr, in effect sought to dissuade the Allies from their pursuit of the bomb. [via]
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How Brains Make Up Their Mindsby Walter J. FreemanISBN 0231120087 (0-231-12008-7)
Hardcover, Columbia Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'How Brains Make Up Their Minds'Book summary:I think, therefore I am. The legendary pronouncement of philosopher René Descartes lingers as accepted wisdom in the Western world nearly four centuries after its author's death. But does thought really come first? Who actually runs the show: we, our thoughts, or the neurons firing within our brains?
Walter J. Freeman explores how we control our behavior and make sense of the world around us. Avoiding determinism both in sociobiology, which proposes that persons' genes control their brains' functioning, and in neuroscience, which posits that their brains' disposition is molded by chemistry and environmental forces, Freeman charts a new course -- one that gives individuals due credit and responsibility for their actions.
Drawing upon his five decades of research in neuroscience, Freeman utilizes the latest advances in his field as well as perspectives from disciplines as diverse as mathematics, psychology, and philosophy to explicate how different human brains act in their chosen diverse ways. He clarifies the implications of brain imaging, by which neural activity can be observed during the course of normal movements, and shows how nonlinear dynamics reveals order within the fecund chaos of brain function.
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How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Lifeby Len FisherISBN 0297607561 (0-297-60756-1)
Hardcover, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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Im/Partial Science: Gender Ideology in Molecular Biologyby Bonnie SpanierISBN 0253209684 (0-253-20968-4)
Softcover, Indiana Univ Pr
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Incredible Storiesby Liz McLeodISBN 0233050736 (0-233-05073-6)
Softcover, Trafalgar Square
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Influenceby Robert B. CialdiniISBN 0321011473 (0-321-01147-3)
Softcover, Allyn & Bacon
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Influence'Book summary:Influence: Science and Practice is an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say "yes" to another's request) and is written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research. Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and other positions, inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say "yes." Widely used in graduate and undergraduate psychology and management classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion. Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. New Reader's Reports are included in the Fourth Edition and illustrate how readers have used one of the principles or have had a principle of influence used on them. [via]
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Knowledge and Wonder : The Natural World As Man Knows Itby Victor F. WeisskopfISBN 0262730529 (0-262-73052-9)
Softcover, MIT Press
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Knowledge and Wonder: The Natural World as Man Knows Itby Victor Frederick WeisskopfISBN 0262230984 (0-262-23098-4)
Hardcover, MIT Press
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Leonardo: The First Scientistby Michael WhiteISBN 0312270267 (0-312-27026-7)
Softcover, Griffin
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Life in the Treetops: Adventures of a Woman in Field Biologyby Margaret D. Lowman, Robert D. BallardISBN 0300084641 (0-300-08464-1)
Softcover, Yale Univ Pr
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The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earthby David AttenboroughISBN 0316057495 (0-316-05749-5)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth'Book summary:Attenborough looks here at continuing evolution and the adaptation of plants and animals to specific and differing environments. For example, he finds that the coral reef is the marine equivalent of the tropical rain forest, that modern cities, with their masonry and concrete, are the counterparts of the ash fields and lava flows of volcanoes. PW lauded this book, maintaining that it deserves as much attention as its predecessor, Life on Earth. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. [via]
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The Man Who Tasted Shapesby Richard E. Cytowic, Jonathan ColeISBN 0262532557 (0-262-53255-7)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Man Who Tasted Shapes'Book summary:In 1980, Richard Cytowic was having dinner at a friend's house, when his host exclaimed, "Oh, dear, there aren't enough points on the chicken." With that casual comment began Cytowic's journey into the condition known as synesthesia.
The ten people in one million who are synesthetes are born into a world where one sensation (such as sound) conjures up one or more others (such as taste or color). Although scientists have known about synesthesia for two hundred years, until now the condition has remained a mystery. Extensive experiments with more than forty synesthetes led Richard Cytowic to an explanation of synesthesiaand to a new conception of the organization of the mind, one that emphasized the primacy of emotion over reason.
Because there were not enough points on chicken served at a dinner almost two decades ago, Cytowic came to explore a deeper reality that he believes exists in all individuals, but usually below the surface of awareness. In this medical detective adventure, he reveals the brain to be an active explorer, not just a passive receiver, and offers a new view of what it means to be humana view that turns upside down conventional ideas about reason, emotion, and who we are.
* Not for sale in the United Kingdom and Eire [via]More editions of The Man Who Tasted Shapes:
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Mazes for the Mind: Computers and the Unexpectedby Clifford A. PickoverISBN 0312103530 (0-312-10353-0)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mazes for the Mind: Computers and the Unexpected'Book summary:A collection of games and computer graphics is divided into sections dealing with pattern, games and speculation, music, space, time, and others and offers puzzles inspired by those dating back several centuries. [via]
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Mendeleyev's Dream : The Quest for the Elementsby Paul StrathernISBN 0312262043 (0-312-26204-3)
Hardcover, St. Martin's Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mendeleyev's Dream : The Quest for the Elements'Book summary:On the night of February 17, 1869, the Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev went to bed frustrated by a puzzle he had been playing with for years: how the atomic weights of the chemical elements could be grouped in some meaningful way--and one that, with any luck, would open a window onto the hidden structure of nature. He dreamed, as he later recalled, of "a table where all the elements fell into place as required." His intuition that when the elements were listed in order of weight, their properties repeated in regular intervals, gave rise to the Periodic Table of the Elements--which, though much revised since, underlies modern chemistry.
Mendeleyev's discovery brackets Paul Strathern's learned and literate history of chemistry. He traces the origins of that science, as it is understood in the West, to the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, who backed up his surmises about the nature of things with evidence and used arguments "entirely within the realm of this world." From Thales's day, Strathern takes us into the studies of Arabic-speaking scientists such as Avicenna and Al-Razi, who preserved classical science and added to it their own insights; introduces us to the medieval alchemists who in turn preserved the work of Islamic scholars while questing to discover the inner secrets of matter (and perhaps make a little gold in the bargain); and leads us into the early modern world of such greats as Lavoisier, Van Helmont, and Cavendish, who added rigorous methodology and important discoveries to that quest.
Strathern relates false steps and true breakthroughs alike, and his narrative is a pleasure to read. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Stepsby Marshall T. SavageISBN 0316771635 (0-316-77163-5)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavorby Herve This, M. B. DebevoiseISBN 023113312X (0-231-13312-X)
Hardcover, Columbia Univ Pr
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Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Beganby Colin TudgeISBN 0300080247 (0-300-08024-7)
Hardcover, Yale Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began'Book summary:Colin Tudge overturns the traditional view that farming began in the Middle East 10,000 years ago, quickly led to the Neolithic farming revolution, and ended the hunting-gathering lifestyle. Agriculture in some form had been practiced for thousands of years before that, Tudge argues. Neolithic farming was not the beginning of agriculture but the beginning of agriculture on a large scale, in one place, with refined tools. [via]
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New Guide to the Planetsby Patrick MooreISBN 0283061456 (0-283-06145-6)
Hardcover, Trans-Atlantic Pubns
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Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolutionby Francis FukuyamaISBN 0312421710 (0-312-42171-0)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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Philosophical Consequences of Quantum Theory: Reflections on Bell's Theoryby Ernan McMullinISBN 0268015791 (0-268-01579-1)
Softcover, Univ of Notre Dame Pr
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The Pinball Effect: How Rennaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburator Possibleby James Burke, Geoffrey KloskeISBN 0316116106 (0-316-11610-6)
Softcover, Back Bay Books
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The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everythingby John GribbinISBN 0316326143 (0-316-32614-3)
Softcover, Little Brown & Company
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Sexing the Brainby Lesley RogersISBN 0231120117 (0-231-12011-7)
Softcover, Columbia Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Sexing the Brain'Book summary:The question of free will versus predestination is an old one in theology. It is a commonplace of science as well, emerging in recent years in claims that human sexuality is an expression of biological inheritance alone, that sexual orientation is genetically encoded and thus immutable.
In this slender, provocative book, a volume in the series Maps of the Mind, neuroscientist Lesley Rogers examines the evidence for and against gene-deterministic views of sex differences, ranging from 19th-century attempts to prove that women are intellectually inferior because their brains, on average, weigh 10 percent less than men's ("There is no difference between the sexes," Rogers observes, "when brain weight is adjusted for body size") to more recent efforts to isolate a "gay gene." Such research, Rogers holds, fails to take into account cultural reasons for sex differences in brain function, which "are manifestations of social values held at a particular time." Among those values are an apparent educational segregation that produces boys with superior mathematical and spatial abilities and girls with superior verbal skills--a differentiation that has no proven biological basis, just as, Rogers argues, "sexual preference is not likely to depend on a single gene, a single neurotransmitter, or a single place in the brain." Rogers's book is certain not to be the last word on the subject, but those who consider nurture to be at least as important as nature in shaping the self will find fuel for their arguments in Rogers's antireductionist views. --Gregory McNamee [via]
The Single Helix: A Turn Around the World of Scienceby Steve JonesISBN 0316731935 (0-316-73193-5)
Hardcover, Little Brown Uk
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The Soul of a New Machineby Tracy KidderISBN 0316491977 (0-316-49197-7)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Soul of a New Machine'Book summary:The computer revolution brought with it new methods of getting work done--just look at today's news for reports of hard-driven, highly-motivated young software and online commerce developers who sacrifice evenings and weekends to meet impossible deadlines. Tracy Kidder got a preview of this world in the late 1970s when he observed the engineers of Data General design and build a new 32-bit minicomputer in just one year. His thoughtful, prescient book, The Soul of a New Machine, tells stories of 35-year-old "veteran" engineers hiring recent college graduates and encouraging them to work harder and faster on complex and difficult projects, exploiting the youngsters' ignorance of normal scheduling processes while engendering a new kind of work ethic.
These days, we are used to the "total commitment" philosophy of managing technical creation, but Kidder was surprised and even a little alarmed at the obsessions and compulsions he found. From in-house political struggles to workers being permitted to tease management to marathon 24-hour work sessions, The Soul of a New Machine explores concepts that already seem familiar, even old-hat, less than 20 years later. Kidder plainly admires his subjects; while he admits to hopeless confusion about their work, he finds their dedication heroic. The reader wonders, though, what will become of it all, now and in the future. --Rob Lightner [via]
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The Spike: How Our Lives Are Being Transformed by Rapidly Advancing Technologiesby Damien BroderickISBN 031287782X (0-312-87782-X)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Spike: How Our Lives Are Being Transformed by Rapidly Advancing Technologies'Book summary:If we are to believe the projections outlined in Damien Broderick's The Spike, the acceleration of change is increasing so sharply that the future is not just unknowable but unrecognisable. Dr Broderick pulls together his vast learning to expand on Vernor Vinge's notion of the technological Singularity and to share with us his necessarily clouded vision of a posthuman future. Writing with a rare enthusiasm unmuted by years of dystopian fiction and news reports, Broderick peels back the layers of jargon enshrouding recent advances in nanotech, biotech and all the other tech that's daring us to keep up.
It's hard for the reader to avoid feeling swept up in the rush of novelty, and that of course is the author's point. As we learn to modify even our deepest natures, how can we ever hope to maintain intellectual distance from our technology? Forewarned is forearmed, and Broderick hopes that awareness of the maelstrom will keep us from drowning; this might be the best cure for post-millennial despair. In any case, not everyone believes that the world of 2050 will be incomprehensible to those of us who lived through part of the 20th century. Will the curve spike, as Broderick suggests, or will it plateau? We should know in relatively little time, as we find ourselves either downloaded into space-travelling robots or watching the latest incarnation of holographic Star Trek. --Rob Lightner [via]
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Turingby Christos H. PapadimitriouISBN 0262661918 (0-262-66191-8)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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Ubiquity: The Science of History . . . or Why the World Is Simpler Than We Thinkby Mark BuchananISBN 0297643762 (0-297-64376-2)
Hardcover, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Ubiquity: The Science of History . . . or Why the World Is Simpler Than We Think'Book summary:Scientists have recently discovered a new law of nature. Its footprints are virtually everywhere - in the spread of forest fires, mass extinctions, traffic jams, earthquakes, stock-market fluctuations, the rise and fall of nations, and even trends in fashion, music and art. Wherever we look, the world is modelled on a simple template: like a steep pile of sand, it is poised on the brink of instability, with avalanches - in events, ideas or whatever - following a universal pattern of change. This remarkable discovery heralds what Mark Buchanan calls the new science of 'ubiquity', a science whose secret lies in the stuff of the everyday world. Combining literary flair with scientific rigour, this enthralling book documents the coming revolution by telling the story of the researchers' exploration of the law, their ingenious work and unexpected insights. Mark Buchanan reveals how the principle of ubiquity will help us to manage, control and predict the future. More controversially, he claims that it may well contain the beginnings of a mathematics of cultural and historical change. Every decade sees a major scientific breakthrough that has implications that go way beyond science. 'Ubiquity' is one of them. This book, the world's first on the topic, will change how we think about the world and our place in it. Chaos Disorder from order. Complexity Complexity from simplicity. UBIQUITY World has a natural 'rhythm': there is a mysterious archetypal organisation that works in the world at all levels and which gives rise to a universal pattern of change - in groups of people, things or ideas. [via]
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Vanished Civilizations: The Hidden Secrets of Lost Cities and Forgotten Peoplesby Reader's Digest, Andrew Kerr-Jarrett, Alison BravingtonISBN 0276426584 (0-276-42658-4)
Hardcover, Putnam Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Vanished Civilizations: The Hidden Secrets of Lost Cities and Forgotten Peoples'Book summary:Embark on an extraordinary journey of wonder and awe with Vanished Civilizations. Immerse yourself in the cultures and lands which have now faded into legend, from Ur to Olympia and from Angkor to Tarquinia. Wander through Babylon's hanging gardens, or visit Chang'an, the heart of the Celestial Empire of Ancient China, or experience the excitement of the World's first Olympic Games. Share the stories of those long-gone eras and receive intriguing insights into the day-to-day realities of people's lives, from working, worshipping and waging war to eating, drinking, celebrating and mourning. You'll also discover how archaeologists piece together the past and unearth the secrets of their ancient civilizations. This is an essential reference guide for the entire family, whether you're working on a homework assignment, or reading for pleasure. [via]
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Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychologyby Valentino BraitenbergISBN 0262521121 (0-262-52112-1)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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Volcano Cowboys: The Rocky Evolution of a Dangerous Scienceby Dick ThompsonISBN 0312286686 (0-312-28668-6)
Softcover, St. Martin's Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Volcano Cowboys: The Rocky Evolution of a Dangerous Science'Book summary:Vulcanology is not the sexiest of sciences, despite Hollywood movies in which clenched-jawed heroes tame ferocious floods of lava that are busily swallowing up some crowded metropolis or another, racing against the clock to save humankind from the elements. It turns out that those movies aren't really so far-fetched, though, and in the pages of Volcano Cowboys the world's small corps of magma hunters acquire well-deserved élan.
The study of volcanoes, Time magazine writer Dick Thompson notes, is largely an observational and not theoretical science; where the vital memory of a molecular biologist "generally drops off after a decade," a vulcanologist will carry reams of data about the behavior of the earth gleaned from reports stretching back to the time of Plato and Pliny the Elder, those amateur volcano-watchers of antiquity. They've had plenty more to do in recent years, though, than to quote the ancients. Thompson's vigorous narrative begins with the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, an event that U.S. Geological Survey scientists had been able to predict with some accuracy. They lacked, however, a coordinated means to effect an evacuation of the area, and 57 people died. Battling institutional inertia and struggling for funding, teams of these scientists, the "volcano cowboys" of Thompson's title, set about trying to develop methods to predict more accurately dangerous volcanic events and to trim the body count when such events took place. His story recounts their eventual victory when, in 1991, the Philippine volcano Pinatubo exploded--but, thanks to the work of these dedicated field scientists, "less than one quarter of one percent of those at risk had died during the eruption."
Tens of millions of people around the world live within the reach of volcanoes. Thompson's narrative reveals that the "volcano cowboys" have made their lives safer--and it's much better than the movies. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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The War Against Childrenby Peter R. Breggin, Ginger Ross BregginISBN 0312110650 (0-312-11065-0)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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When the Clock Struck Zero: Science's Ultimate Limitsby John TaylorISBN 0312110960 (0-312-11096-0)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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Wider Than The Sky: The Phenomenal Gift Of Consciousnessby Gerald M. EdelmanISBN 0300107617 (0-300-10761-7)
Softcover, Yale Univ Pr
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The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematicsby Clifton Fadiman, Timothy FerrisISBN 0316281298 (0-316-28129-8)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics'Book summary:New Large Collectible Hardcover with dust jacket [via]
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The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematicsby Timothy FerrisISBN 0316281336 (0-316-28133-6)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics'Book summary:The most Eloquent and inspired scienc writing of our time.
An astonishing cast of more than ninety renowned writers provides thoughtful and lucid reflections on some of the major scentific topics of our time - from black holes and galaxies to artificial intelligence and chaos theory. Featuring essays, articles, and poems penned by notables in the worlds of both science and literature, this unique book will delight the science enthusiast and the inquisitive general reader alike. [via]
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