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books tagged “science”
books tagged “science”
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Advice for a Young Investigatorby Santiago Ramo Y. Cajal, Larry W. Swanson, Neely SwansonISBN 0262681501 (0-262-68150-1)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Advice for a Young Investigator'Book summary:Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) was an incredible scientist--he made invaluable contributions to neuroanatomy, including some of the most beautiful scientific illustrations since Vesalius. He was also a popular author, and above all a dedicated teacher, offering fatherly advice to students and young researchers on a wide range of topics. After he achieved success as a scientist, he wrote the first edition of Reglas y Consejos sobre Investigación Biológia (los tonicos de la voluntad) (1916). That work has been retranslated and presented by MIT Press as Advice for a Young Investigator. Although the wisdom contained in this slim, elegant volume is almost a century old, it is as fresh and useful today as it no doubt was then. What student or researcher wouldn't benefit from advice given by a mentor who has carefully examined his own life and career? Translator Larry Swanson writes in the foreword:
Hard work, ambition, patience, humility, seriousness, and passion for work, family, and country were among the traits he considered essential. But above all, master technique and produce original data; all the rest will follow.
Cajal's guidance on such things as the scientific method, resolve, undue admiration of authority, passion for reputation, reading, and "diseases of the will" is priceless. Every page of this little book is filled with read-aloud gems:
If a solution fails to appear after all of this, and yet we feel success is just around the corner, try resting for a while.... Like the early morning frost, this intellectual refreshment withers the parasitic and nasty vegetation that smothers the good seed. Bursting forth at last is the flower of truth.
Whether you're writing a dissertation, conquering writer's block to get that paper submitted to a journal, beginning a new research project, or just starting out in a scientific career, Advice for a Young Investigator will inspire, edify, and amuse you. --Therese Littleton [via]
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The Autobiography and Other Writingsby Benjamin FranklinISBN 0451528107 (0-451-52810-7)
Softcover, Signet Classic
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography and Other Writings'Book summary:One of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, Benjamin Franklin was a true Renaissance Man: writer, publisher, scientist, inventor, diplomat and politician. In his long life of eighty-four years, he offered advice on attaining wealth, organized public institutions, contributed to the birth of a nation, and negotiated with foreign powers to ensure its survival.[via]Through the words of the elder statesman himself, The Autobiography and Other Writings presents a remarkable insight into the man and his accomplishments and additional writings from Benjamin Franklins wife and son provide a more intimate portrait of the husband and father who found himself a legend in his own time.
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Autobiography and Selected Writingsby Benjamin FranklinISBN 0451522028 (0-451-52202-8)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklinby Benjamin FranklinISBN 0300098588 (0-300-09858-8)
Softcover, Yale Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'Book summary:This classic is Franklin's last word on his greatest literary creation--his own invented persona, the original incarnation of the American success story. [via]
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: With Related Documentsby Louis P. MasurISBN 0312404158 (0-312-40415-8)
Softcover, Bedford/st Martins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: With Related Documents'Book summary:This new edition of "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" is built around J.A. Leo Lemay and P.R. Zall's text. Louis Masur's introduction sets the work in its historical context. Masur also discusses America after Franklin and why the autobiography has had such a tremendous impact on 19th- and 20th-century society and culture. The book prompts students to think critically about the text by raising fundamental issues, such as the inherent distortion that occurs in autobiography. The book also contains six portraits of Franklin. Louis Masur is the author of "Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865". [via]
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The Beauty of the Beastly: New Views on the Nature of Lifeby Natalie AngierISBN 0395791472 (0-395-79147-2)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds Criticismby Benjamin FranklinISBN 0393952940 (0-393-95294-0)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds Criticism'Book summary:Franklins Autobiography is the only enduring best-seller written in America before the nineteenth century, as well as the most popular autobiography ever written.
As such it deserves to be offered to twentieth-century readers in the most accurate form possible, and so it is, in this Norton Critical Edition, the first text to be edited directly from the manuscripts, rather than perpetuating the errors of previous editions.
The text is fully annotated, and the reading is assisted by helpful footnotes, biographical sketches, and two maps.
In "Backgrounds", the editors collect Franklins most important reflections on the Autobiographys purpose, some anecdotes, and a number of Franklins statements on wealth, the art of virtue, and perfection. Materials in "Criticism" range from contemporary opinionswhich reveal that readers were divided then as they are now about the art of the Autobiographyto essays written in the twentieth century.
Nineteenth-century opinions include those of John Keats, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, and William Dean Howells, among others.
The twentieth-century materials include D. H. Lawrences celebrated essay, an excerpt from Max Webers Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, and the perspectives of such recent critics as Charles L. Sanford, Robert Freeman Sayre, John William Ward, and David Devin. [via]More editions of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds Criticism:
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Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Manby John Allen PaulosISBN 0394586409 (0-394-58640-9)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man'Book summary:Beyond Numeracy by bestselling author John Allen Paulos is, according to the introduction, "in part a dictionary, in part a collection of short mathematical essays, and in part the ruminations of a numbers man." This book is genuinely different from other books on mathematics intended for a wide audience as the essay topics are indisputably diverse. (Titles include "Human Consciousness, Its Fractal Nature" and "Mathematics in Ethics.") Furthermore, Paulos's unique sense of humor and ability to intelligently editorialize are delightful--especially in a book on such a dry subject. [via]
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Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Mindsby Daniel Clement DennettISBN 0262540908 (0-262-54090-8)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds, 1984-1996'Book summary:One of the movers and shakers in the rapidly converging fields of cognitive science, philosophy of the mind, and cognitive ethology, Daniel C. Dennett is also one of the most popular and engaging expositors of science writing of the 1990s. The essays in Brainchildren will therefore be of interest not only to specialists but to the general reader as well. It is especially convenient to have these essays collected in one volume, as most of them appeared originally in relatively inaccessible publications.
Much of Brainchildren defends and expands views that Dennett advanced elsewhere, particularly in his 1991 magnum opus, Consciousness Explained. The most noteworthy of these is the essay "Real Patterns," in which he locates his "mildly realistic" view of the ontology of beliefs (and other mental items) in relation to the views of Jerry Fodor, Donald Davidson, Richard Rorty, and Paul Churchland. Dennett comments, quite correctly, that "Real Patterns" is utterly central to his thinking; nobody interested in his work should neglect it. Less central but more controversial is "Speaking for Our Selves," coauthored with the psychologist Nicholas Humphrey, which argues that Dennett's view of the self neatly accommodates the possibility of the dubious phenomenon of multiple personality disorder. Also included is a handful of book reviews, forewords, commentaries, and other occasional pieces that will perhaps be of only limited interest to the nonspecialist. But Dennett provides enough philosophical and psychological excitement in Brainchildren to thrill even the casual reader. --Glenn Branch [via]
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Building Blocks of the Universeby Isaac AsimovISBN 0200710990 (0-200-71099-0)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The Case of the Midwife Toadby Arthur KoestlerISBN 0394718232 (0-394-71823-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Case of the Midwife Toad'Book summary:During his 30-plus years of writing, Arthur Koestler has covered a wide range of modern problems from brainwashing in totalitarian societies to the conflict between science & religion &, most recently (in The Act of Creation & The Ghost in the Machine), humanity's potential capability for evolutionary development thru both natural & artificial means. It isn't surprising then that Koestler should hark back to the opprobrious case of Dr Paul Kammerer, an Austrian biologist whose controversial experiments on the evolutionary process (using among other amphibians the midwife toad, so named for its mating habits) were denounced as fraudulent in 1926 by an American herpetologist, G.K. Noble, in the pages of Nature-- whereupon Kammerer blew his brains out, seemingly confirming the old saw "confession is suicide & suicide is confession." But Koestler's investigation, begun as a study of a scientist who betrayed his commitment to truth, indicates that Kammerer, far from being a laboratory quisling, was probably innocent; a victim of an unknown colleague's machinations to discredit his work & therefore in the larger sense a casualty of the still unresolved war between the nco-Darwinist evolutionists who support the random mutation theory & the heretical Lamarckians who maintain (as did Kammerer's experiments) that acquired characteristics can be transmitted from one generation to another. "I did not start with the intention to rehabilitate Paul Kammerer," says Koestler, "but I ended up with an attempt to do so." In the course of that effort he uses his skill as both inventive fantast & experienced researcher to give the midwife toad case a sense of drama & veracity. Those who found The Double Helix satisfying will enjoy this one too, no matter if they agree with Koestler's conclusions. [via]
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Cat's Cradleby Kurt VonnegutISBN 038533348X (0-385-33348-X)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cat's Cradle'Book summary:Cat's Cradle, one of Vonnegut's most entertaining novels, is filled with scientists and G-men and even ordinary folks caught up in the game. These assorted characters chase each other around in search of the world's most important and dangerous substance, a new form of ice that freezes at room temperature. At one time, this novel could probably be found on the bookshelf of every college kid in America; it's still a fabulous read and a great place to start if you're young enough to have missed the first Vonnegut craze. [via]
The Chemicals of Lifeby Isaac AsimovISBN 0451624181 (0-451-62418-1)
Softcover, New Amer Library
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Classical Mechanicsby Charles P. Poole, Herbert Goldstein, John L. SafkoISBN 0201657023 (0-201-65702-3)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Classical Mechanics'Book summary:For 30 years, this book has been the acknowledged standard in advanced classical mechanics courses. This classic book enables readers to make connections between classical and modern physics - an indispensable part of a physicist's education. In this new edition, Beams Medal winner Charles Poole and John Safko have updated the book to include the latest topics, applications, and notation to reflect today's physics curriculum.
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Classical Mechanicsby Herbert GoldsteinISBN 0201029189 (0-201-02918-9)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Classical Mechanics'Book summary:For 30 years, this book has been the acknowledged standard in advanced classical mechanics courses. This classic book enables readers to make connections between classical and modern physics - an indispensable part of a physicist's education. In this new edition, Beams Medal winner Charles Poole and John Safko have updated the book to include the latest topics, applications, and notation to reflect today's physics curriculum. [via]
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Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmosby Jeremy BernsteinISBN 0465014496 (0-465-01449-6)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos'Book summary:This collection from the "Annals of Science" column in "The New Yorker" includes pieces from the last decade. Among the great scientists discussed in this volume are the cryptographer Alan Turing and the physicists Neil Bohr and Albert Einstein. [via]
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The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earthby Edward O. WilsonISBN 0393062171 (0-393-06217-1)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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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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The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imaginationby Daniel J. BoorstinISBN 0394543955 (0-394-54395-5)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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Crime of Galileoby Giorgio SantillanoISBN 0226734811 (0-226-73481-1)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr
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Crystals and Crystal Growingby Alan HoldenISBN 0262580500 (0-262-58050-0)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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Darwin's Century: Evolution and the Men Who Discovered Itby Loren C. EiseleyISBN 0385081413 (0-385-08141-3)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernicanby Galileo Galilei, Stillman Drake, Albert Einstein, J. L. HeilbronISBN 037575766X (0-375-75766-X)
Softcover, Modern Library
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican'Book summary:Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in Florence in 1632, was the most proximate cause of his being brought to trial before the Inquisition. Using the dialogue form, a genre common in classical philosophical works, Galileo masterfully demonstrates the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic one, proving, for the first time, that the earth revolves around the sun. Its influence is incalculable. The Dialogue is not only one of the most important scientific treatises ever written, but a work of supreme clarity and accessibility, remaining as readable now as when it was first published. This edition uses the definitive text established by the University of California Press, in Stillman Drakes translation, and includes a Foreword by Albert Einstein and a new Introduction by J. L. Heilbron. [via]
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Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the Sounds of Space-Timeby Marcia BartusiakISBN 0309069874 (0-309-06987-4)
Hardcover, Natl Academy Pr
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The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Matingby David M. BussISBN 046500802X (0-465-00802-X)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating'Book summary:With two new chapters by the author.If we all want love, why is there so much conflict in our most cherished relationships? To answer this question, says noted psychologist David Buss, we must look into our evolutionary past. Based on the most massive study of human mating ever undertaken, encompassing more than ten thousand people of all ages from thirty-seven cultures worldwide, The Evolution of Desire is the first book to present a unified theory of human mating behavior. Now in a revised and updated edition, Buss's classic presents the latest research in the field, including startling new discoveries about the evolutionary advantages of infidelity, orgasm, and physical attractiveness.[via]More editions of The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating:
Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeingby R. L. GregoryISBN 0198524234 (0-19-852423-4)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press
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A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexicoby Donald Joyce BorrorISBN 0395185238 (0-395-18523-8)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico'Book summary:Find what you're looking for with Peterson Field Guidestheir field-tested visual identification system is designed to help you differentiate thousands of unique species accurately every time.Detailed descriptions of insect orders, families, and many individual species are illustrated with 1,300 drawings and 142 superb color paintings. Illustrations - which use the unique Peterson Identification System to distinguish one insect from another - include size lines to show the actual length of each insect. A helpful glossary explains the technical terms of insect anatomy.[via]More editions of A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico:
A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexicoby Richard E. White, Donald Joyce BorrorISBN 0395911702 (0-395-91170-2)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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A Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-Central North Americaby Margaret McKenny, Roger Tory PetersonISBN 0395911729 (0-395-91172-9)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North Americaby Roger Tory PetersonISBN 0395183251 (0-395-18325-1)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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Fishes, Whales and Dolphinsby National Audubon Society Staff, Herbert T. Boschung, David K. Caldwell, Melba C. Caldwell, Daniel W. GotshallISBN 0394534050 (0-394-53405-0)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fishes, Whales and Dolphins'Book summary:This delightful field guide features 585 full-color photographs of marine and freshwater fishes, 30 photographs and 45 paintings of whales, dolphins, and porpoises, and 24 pictures of freshwater and saltwater habitats. 529 species are described in detailed written accounts-with information on measurements; body shape and color; scales, fins, and gills; habitat; range; and behavior-and 400 other species are briefly noted. Poisonous or otherwise dangerous fish are distinguished by a warning symbol. [via]
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Future Magicby Robert ForwardISBN 0380898144 (0-380-89814-4)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Ghost in the Machineby Arthur KoestlerISBN 0394524721 (0-394-52472-1)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ghost in the Machine'Book summary:Koestler examines the notion that the parts of the human brain-structure which account for reason and emotion are not fully coordinated. This kind of deficiency may explain the paranoia, violence, and insanity that are central parts of human history, according to Koestler's challenging analysis of the human predicament. [via]
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The Glow-in-the-Dark Night Sky Bookby Clint Hatchett, Stephen MarchesiISBN 0394891139 (0-394-89113-9)
Hardcover, Random House Children's Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glow-in-the-Dark Night Sky Book'Book summary:Illus. in full color. Turn off the lights and watch 34 constellations glow in the dark! This unique, convenient guide to the night sky has star maps that shine after exposure to light. The maps, arranged by season, cover constellations of the Northern Hemisphere. Instructions on how to use the book are included. An appendix explains the mythology behind each constellation. [via]
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The Human Body: Its Structure and Operationby Isaac Asimov, Anthony RavielliISBN 0451627075 (0-451-62707-5)
Softcover, Mentor Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Human Body: Its Structure and Operation'Book summary:The master of science fiction discusses the structure and operation of the human body, from the basic skeleton to the reproductive system, offering up-to-date information in biotechnology, transplant surgery, and more. Reissue. LJ. [via]
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- The Human Body : Its Structure and Operations: ISBN 0452276403 (0-452-27640-3)
Softcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated - The Human Body: Its Structure and Operation: ISBN 0395073502 (0-395-07350-2)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin - The Human Body: Its Structure and Operation: ISBN 0451627075 (0-451-62707-5)
Softcover, Mentor Books
- The Human Body : Its Structure and Operations: ISBN 0452276403 (0-452-27640-3)
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If the Universe Is Teeming With Aliens...Where Is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Lifeby Stephen WebbISBN 0387955011 (0-387-95501-1)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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› Find signed collectible books: 'If the Universe Is Teeming With Aliens...Where Is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life'Book summary:In a 1950 conversation at Los Alamos, four world-class scientists generally agreed, given the size of the Universe, that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations must be present. But one of the four, Enrico Fermi, asked, "If these civilizations do exist, where is everybody?" Given the fact that there are perhaps 400 million stars in our Galaxy alone, and perhaps 400 million galaxies in the Universe, it stands to reason that somewhere out there, in the 14 billion-year-old cosmos, there is or once was a civilization at least as advanced as our own. Webb discusses in detail the 50 most cogent and intriguing solutions to Fermi's famous paradox. [via]
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In the Beginning: After Cobe and Before the Big Bangby John GribbinISBN 0316328332 (0-316-32833-2)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'In the Beginning: After Cobe and Before the Big Bang'Book summary:Analyzes the consequences of the most recent discoveries in the field of astronomy, discussing the findings of the COBE satellite, which prove the Big Bang theory but pose other important questions about the origin of life. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo. [via]
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In the Beginning: The Birth of the Living Universeby John GribbinISBN 0316328367 (0-316-32836-7)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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Intelligent Thought: Science Versus The Intelligent Design Movementby John BrockmanISBN 0307277224 (0-307-27722-4)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Intelligent Thought: Science Versus The Intelligent Design Movement'Book summary:Evolutionary science lies at the heart of a modern understanding of the natural world. Darwins theory has withstood 150 years of scientific scrutiny, and today it not only explains the origin and design of living things, but highlights the importance of a scientific understanding in our culture and in our lives.
Recently the movement known as Intelligent Design has attracted the attention of journalists, educators, and legislators. The scientific community is puzzled and saddened by this trendnot only because it distorts modern biology, but also because it diverts people from the truly fascinating ideas emerging from the real science of evolution. Here, join fifteen of our preeminent thinkers whose clear, accessible, and passionate essays reveal the fact and power of Darwins theory, and the beauty of the scientific quest to understand our world. [via]More editions of Intelligent Thought: Science Versus The Intelligent Design Movement:
Intuitionby Allegra GoodmanISBN 0385336101 (0-385-33610-1)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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The Invention That Changed the World: The Story of Radar from War to Peaceby Robert BuderiISBN 0349110689 (0-349-11068-9)
Hardcover, Abacus
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Invention That Changed the World: The Story of Radar from War to Peace'Book summary:In 1940, a team of British scientists arrived in Washington bearing Britain's most closely guarded technological secrets - including the cavity magnetron, a revolutionary new source of microwave energy. Its arrival triggered the most dramatic mobilization of science in history, as America's top scientists enlisted to convert the invention into a potent military weapon. Microwave radars eventually helped destroy Japanese warships and Nazi buzz bombs, and enabled Allied bombers to "see" through cloud cover. After the war, the work of the radar veterans continues to affect our lives - controlling air traffic, forecasting the weather and providing physicians with powerful diagnostic tools. With anecdotes and revelations, this work explores the work of the scientists who created a winning weapon and changed the world forever. [via]
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Magic Science and Religion and Other Essaysby Bronislaw MalinowskiISBN 0285647458 (0-285-64745-8)
Softcover, Souvenir Press
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Mammalby Steve Parker, Jane BurtonISBN 0394822587 (0-394-82258-7)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mammal'Book summary:Full-color photos. "Mammal looks at evolution; contrasts fur-coated and spiny-covered mammals; and studies birth and development, habitations, and grooming practices of members of this animal classification. Each eye-catching double-page spread treats a different, intriguing aspect of animal life. Engravings and caringly selected art reproductions interplay with choice photos, luring readers. Ideal for reference browsing and indexed for ready fact-finding, this is a sumptuous science sampler."--(starred) Booklist. [via]
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Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Scienceby Robert KunzigISBN 0393320634 (0-393-32063-4)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science'Book summary:A vivid, up-to-date tour of the Earth's last frontier, a remote and mysterious realm that nonetheless lies close to the heart of even the most land-locked reader.
The sea covers seven-tenths of the Earth, but we have mapped only a small percentage of it. The sea contains millions of species of animals and plants, but we have identified only a few thousand of them. The sea controls our planet's climate, but we do not really understand how. The sea is still the frontier, and yet it seems so familiar that we sometimes forget how little we know about it. Just as we are poised on the verge of exploiting the sea on an unprecedented scalemining it, fertilizing it, fishing it outthis book reminds us of how much we have yet to learn. More than that, it chronicles the knowledge explosion that has transformed our view of the sea in just the past few decades, and made it a far more interesting and accessible place. From the Big Bang to that far-off future time, two billion years from now, when our planet will be a waterless rock; from the lush crowds of life at seafloor hot springs to the invisible, jewel-like plants that float at the sea surface; from the restless shifting of the tectonic plates to the majestic sweep of the ocean currents, Kunzig's clear and lyrical prose transports us to the ends of the Earth.
Originally published in hardcover as The Restless Sea. "Robert Kunzig is a creator of what oceanographer Harry Hess once referred to as 'geopoetry.' He covers vast tracts of time and space and makes his subjects electrifying."Richard Ellis, The Times [London] "The Restless Sea immediately surfaces at the top of the list of journalistic treatments of oceanography. . . .The book opened my eyes to numerous wonders."Richard Strickland, American Scientist "When you head for the coast this summer, leave that trashy beach novel at home. Instead, pack Robert Kunzig's book. Because just beyond your rental cottage lies the restless sea, where three-mile-tall mountain ranges criss-cross the ocean floor, and deep trenches harbor mysterious creatures. . . . The book is easy to read, and will bring you up to date on the startling discoveries oceanographers have made during the past few decades."Phillip Manning, The News and Observer [Raleigh, North Carolina] ] "Anyone who loves the sea should read this book."Sebastian Junger 8 pages of color, 20 black-and-white illustrations [via]More editions of Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science:
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Mechanicsby Keith R. SymonISBN 0201073927 (0-201-07392-7)
Hardcover, Addison-Wesley
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mechanics'Book summary:This text is intended as the basis for an intermediate course in mechanics at the undergraduate level. Such a course, as essential preparation for advanced work in physics, has several major objectives. It must develop in the student a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of mechanics. It should treat in detail certain specific problems of primary importance in physics, for example, the harmonic oscillator and the motion of a particle under a central force. [via]
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Mistakes That Workedby Charlotte F. JonesISBN 0385262469 (0-385-26246-9)
Hardcover, Random House Children's Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mistakes That Worked'Book summary:Presents the stories behind forty things that were invented or named by accident, including aspirin, X-rays, frisbees, silly putty, and velcro. [via]
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Mistakes That Workedby Charlotte Foltz Jones, John O'BrienISBN 0385320434 (0-385-32043-4)
Softcover, Doubleday
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The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whalesby Diane AckermanISBN 0394585747 (0-394-58574-7)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales'Book summary:Bats are misunderstood creatures. A repository for our fears of the night and the subject of dark myths, they are in fact altruistic and wonderful parents and among the world's most ecologically valuable animals. 100 times more ancient than human beings, crocodiles and alligators are living reminders of the days of the dinosaurs. The haunting songs of whales have lured sailors for centuries; we now know that whales use rhyme to remember their songs. Penguins are the most anthropomorphic of animals. They walk upright, travel in groups, talk all the time; male penguins even give their girlfriends gifts of polished stones. Penguins, however, are creatures of instinct. But then, so are we. The portraits in this book form a work about animals and humans and their relationship. Whether sitting astride an alligator in the swamps of Florida or swimming with whales in the icy waters off Patagonia, Diane Ackerman offers the reader a new perspective on the wonders of nature, and insights into ourselves. The author also wrote "Extended Wings", "A Natural History of Senses" and "Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems". [via]
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fishes: North Americaby James D. Williams, Carter Rowell GilbertISBN 0375412247 (0-375-41224-7)
Softcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Regionby Elbert Luther LittleISBN 0394507606 (0-394-50760-6)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region'Book summary:For the untrained observer, it can be quite a challenge to sort out the many trees that make up a stand of older forest in, say, New England or the Ozarks. This well-illustrated guidebook, covering 364 species, comes to the rescue with photographs organized in several ways: by, for example, the shape of the leaf or needle, by the fruit, by the flower or cone, and by autumn coloration. Following one visible characteristic or another, the reader can narrow the range of possibilities, then turn to an informative text that describes a tree's physical characteristics, habitat, and range. Many of the species covered are relatively rare, such as the "stinking cedar" of the Georgia-Florida border; others are locally abundant, such as the paper birch of the boreal forest, used to make ice-cream sticks; still others, such as the smooth sumac, are widespread. The guidebook also covers ornamentals introduced from other continents, such as the Chinese privet and Mahaleb cherry. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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Nova: Adventures in Scienceby Wgbh BostonISBN 0201053594 (0-201-05359-4)
Softcover, Addison-Wesley
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Of Matters Great and Smallby Isaac AsimovISBN 0385022255 (0-385-02225-5)
Hardcover, Doubleday
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Oryx and Crakeby Margaret AtwoodISBN 0385721676 (0-385-72167-6)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Oryx and Crake'Book summary:In Oryx and Crake, a science fiction novel that is more Swift than Heinlein, more cautionary tale than "fictional science" (no flying cars here), Margaret Atwood depicts a near-future world that turns from the merely horrible to the horrific, from a fool's paradise to a bio-wasteland. Snowman (a man once known as Jimmy) sleeps in a tree and just might be the only human left on our devastated planet. He is not entirely alone, however, as he considers himself the shepherd of a group of experimental, human-like creatures called the Children of Crake. As he scavenges and tends to his insect bites, Snowman recalls in flashbacks how the world fell apart.
While the story begins with a rather ponderous set-up of what has become a clichéd landscape of the human endgame, littered with smashed computers and abandoned buildings, it takes on life when Snowman recalls his boyhood meeting with his best friend Crake: "Crake had a thing about him even then.... He generated awe ... in his dark laconic clothing." A dangerous genius, Crake is the book's most intriguing character. Crake and Jimmy live with all the other smart, rich people in the Compounds--gated company towns owned by biotech corporations. (Ordinary folks are kept outside the gates in the chaotic "pleeblands.") Meanwhile, beautiful Oryx, raised as a child prostitute in Southeast Asia, finds her way to the West and meets Crake and Jimmy, setting up an inevitable love triangle. Eventually Crake's experiments in bioengineering cause humanity's shockingly quick demise (with uncanny echoes of SARS, ebola, and mad cow disease), leaving Snowman to try to pick up the pieces. There are a few speed bumps along the way, including some clunky dialogue and heavy-handed symbols such as Snowman's broken watch, but once the bleak narrative gets moving, as Snowman sets out in search of the laboratory that seeded the world's destruction, it clips along at a good pace, with a healthy dose of wry humor. --Mark Frutkin, Amazon.ca [via]
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Paddle-To-The-Seaby Holling C. HollingISBN 0395292034 (0-395-29203-4)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Paddle-To-The-Sea'Book summary:A young Indian boy carves a little canoe with a figure inside and names him Paddle-to-the-Sea. Paddle's journey, in text and pictures, through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean provides an excellent geographic and historical picture of the region.[via] -
The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstanceby Henry PetroskiISBN 0394574222 (0-394-57422-2)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance'Book summary:Like most other human artifacts, the common pencil, made and sold today by the millions, has a long and complex history. Henry Petroski, who combines a talent for fine writing with a deep knowledge of engineering and technological history, examines the story of the pencil, considering it not only as a thing in itself, but also as an exemplar of all things that are designed and manufactured.
Petroski ranges widely in time, discussing the writing technologies of antiquity. But his story really begins in the early modern period, when, in 1565, a Swiss naturalist first described the properties of the mineral that became known as graphite. Petroski traces the evolution of the pencil through the Industrial Revolution, when machine manufacture replaced earlier handwork. Along the way, he looks at some of pencil making's great innovators--including Henry David Thoreau, the famed writer, who worked in his father's pencil factory, inventing techniques for grinding graphite and experimenting with blends of lead, clay, and other ingredients to yield pencils of varying hardness and darkness. Petroski closes with a look at how pencils are made today--a still-imperfect technology that may yet evolve with new advances in materials and design. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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Peterson First Guide to Wildflowers: Of Northeastern and North-Central North Americaby Roger Tory PetersonISBN 039540777X (0-395-40777-X)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Peterson First Guide to Wildflowers: Of Northeastern and North-Central North America'Book summary:Peterson First Guides are the first books the beginning naturalist needs. Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the animals, plants, and other natural things you are most likely to see. They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides.[via]More editions of Peterson First Guide to Wildflowers: Of Northeastern and North-Central North America:
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The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern Americaby Daniel J. KevlesISBN 0394466314 (0-394-46631-4)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America'Book summary:This magnificent account of the coming of age of physics in America has been heralded as the best introduction to the history of science in the United States. Unsurpassed in its breadth and literary style, Kevles's account portrays the brilliant scientists who became a powerful force in bringing the world into a revolutionary new era.
The book ranges widely as it links these exciting developments to the social, cultural, and political changes that occurred from the post-Civil War years to the present. Throughout, Kevles keeps his eye on the central question of how an avowedly elitist enterprise grew and prospered in a democratic culture.
In this new edition, the author has brought the story up to date by providing an extensive, authoritative, and colorful account of the Superconducting Super Collider, from its origins in the international competition and intellectual needs of high-energy particle physics, through its establishment as a multibillion-dollar project, to its termination, in 1993, as a result of angry opposition within the American physics community and the Congress.
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The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists: A Novelby Gideon DefoeISBN 0375423214 (0-375-42321-4)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists: A Novel'Book summary:Not since Moby-Dick...No, not since Treasure Island...Actually, not since Jonah and the Whale has there been a sea saga to rival The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, featuring the greatest sea-faring hero of all time, the immortal Pirate Captain, who, although he lives for months at a time at sea, somehow manages to keep his beard silky and in good condition.
Worried that his pirates are growing bored with a life of winking at pretty native ladies and trying to stick enough jellyfish together to make a bouncy castle, the Pirate Captain decides it's high time to spearhead an adventure.
While searching for some major pirate booty, he mistakenly attacks the young Charles Darwin's Beagle and then leads his ragtag crew from the exotic Galapagos Islands to the fog-filled streets of Victorian London. There they encounter grisly murder, vanishing ladies, radioactive elephants, and the Holy Ghost himself. And that's not even the half of it. [via]More editions of The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists: A Novel:
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The Planiverse: Computer Contact With a Two-Dimensional Worldby A. K. DewdneyISBN 0387989161 (0-387-98916-1)
Softcover, Springer Verlag
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Planiverse: Computer Contact With a Two-Dimensional World'Book summary:A classic book about life in a two-dimensional universe, written by a well-known author. Now brought back into print in this revised and updated edition, the book is written within the great tradition of Abbott's Flatland, and Hinton's famous Sphereland. Accessible, imaginative, and clever, it will appeal to a wide array of readers, from serious mathematicians and computer scientists, to science fiction fans. [via]
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Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Thinkby Mark Ridley, Alan GrafenISBN 0199291160 (0-19-929116-0)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think'Book summary:With the publication of the international bestseller The Selfish Gene some thirty years ago, Richard Dawkins powerfully captured a newly emerging way of understanding evolution--a gene's eye view. Dawkins went on to publish five more bestselling books, including The Blind Watchmaker and Unweaving the Rainbow. He is one of the most high profile public intellectuals today and any attempt to understand the scientific view of the world must grapple with his ideas.
Now, in this exciting collection of original essays, some of the world's leading thinkers offer their take on how Dawkins has changed the way we think. Readers will find stimulating pieces by Daniel Dennett, the renowned philosopher of mind and author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea; Steven Pinker, the brilliant Harvard linguist who wrote The Language Instinct and The Blank Slate; Matt Ridley, author of the bestselling Genome; and James Watson, who with Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, arguably the greatest scientific discovery of the last century. Dawkins' widely admired literary style forms the subject of several pieces, including one from novelist Philip Pullman (author of the bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy). As one of the world's best known rationalists, Dawkins' stance on religion is another theme in this collection, explored by Simon Blackburn, Michael Ruse, Michael Shermer, and the Bishop of Oxford. Numbering twenty in all, these articles are not simply rosy tributes, but explore how Dawkins' ideas have shaped thinking and public debate, and include elements of criticism as well as thoughtful praise.
Richard Dawkins' work has had the rare distinction of generating as much excitement outside the scientific community as within it. This stimulating volume is a superb summation of the depth and range of his influence. [via]More editions of Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think:
Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think Reflections by Scientists, Writers, and Philosophersby Mark Ridley, Alan GrafenISBN 0199214662 (0-19-921466-2)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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The Science Class You Wish You Had . . . : The Seven Greatest Scientific Discoveries in History and the People Who Made Themby David E. Brody, Arnold R. BrodyISBN 0399523138 (0-399-52313-8)
Softcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Science Class You Wish You Had . . . : The Seven Greatest Scientific Discoveries in History and the People Who Made Them'Book summary:A thorough, authoritative, and accessible introduction to the most profound discoveries in scientific history--from the subatomic level to the boundaries of the universe--this book tells the stories of seven earthshaking scientific discoveries and the people who made them. [via]
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Sense of the Future: Essays on Natural Philosophyby Jacob BronowskiISBN 0262520508 (0-262-52050-8)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Sense of the Future: Essays on Natural Philosophy'Book summary:Jacob Bronowski truly educated an enormous number of members of that diffuse population usually referred to, with a hint of condescension, as "educated laymen" through his widely shared television series on the concepts of science and through such highly regarded books as The Identity of Man and The Ascent of Man. This volume extends the process to a further level of insight, and it may be more than suggestive that its final essay is entitled "The Fulfillment of Man." Bronowski was an extraordinary teacher precisely because he did not condescend to his audience. He did not talk down to them; he knew how to talk them up to something near his own level, however briefly. He felt that if human beings are taken seriously, they can be led to respond to serious and difficult subjects that relate to the deepest aspects of nature, both beyond and within themselves. A Sense of the Future succeeds brilliantly in this respect, in part because it is a collection of essays that can be read independently as self-contained, delimited presentations; and in part because the book is more than the sum of these individual essays--it is a unified whole in which Bronowski's most abiding concerns are interrelated, juxtaposed, and tested for consistency in various intellectual contexts. The major unifying theme of the work is the intensely creative and human nature of the scientific enterprise--its kinship, at the highest levels of individual achievement, with comparable manifestations of the artistic imagination, and its ethical imperatives, evolved within the community of scientists over the centuries, which both embody and forge the values of civilized life at large. Still, the book's diversity of topics is as striking as the unity of its aim. Among the subjects within the realm of Bronowski's mind that are presented here are the limitations of formal logic and experimental methods, the epistemology of science, the distinctive nature of human language and the human mind, and the bases of biological and cultural evolution. Bronowski also contrasts the findings of science as the "here and now" of man's understanding with the ongoing activity of science as the open-ended search for truth, and he undertakes to demonstrate that the factual, individual is and the ethical, societal ought can be derived each from the other. A mathematician by training, Bronowski published poetry as well as books on literature and intellectual history. In addition to those mentioned above, The Common Sense of Science and Science and Human Values are among the most widely read of his books. Before his death in 1974, he was for many years a Senior Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where his formal area of research was concerned with the questions of human specificity and uniqueness. Clearly, his interests ranged far beyond this area, and in many directions. [via]
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Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention of the 19th Century and the Amateur Inventor Whose Genius Sparked a Revolutionby Gavin WeightmanISBN 0306812754 (0-306-81275-4)
Hardcover, Perseus Books Group
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Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beautyby Nancy EtcoffISBN 0385479425 (0-385-47942-5)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty'Book summary:In the latter part of the 20th century, the adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" has evolved far beyond its original intent as an admonition against false vanity to become a cultural manifesto used to explain phenomena as diverse as the art of Andy Warhol and the rise of a multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry. But is there something more to human reaction to beauty than a conditioned response to social cues? Yes, says Harvard Medical School psychologist Nancy Etcoff. Survival of the Prettiest argues persuasively that looking good has survival value, and that sensitivity to beauty is a biological adaptation governed by brain circuits shaped by natural selection.
Etcoff synthesizes a fascinating array of scientific research and cultural analysis in support of her thesis. Psychologists find that babies stare significantly longer at the faces adults find appealing, while the mothers of "attractive" babies display more intense bonding behaviors. The symmetrical face of average proportions may have become the optimal design because of evolutionary pressures operating against population extremes. Gentlemen may prefer blondes not so much for their hair color as for the fairness of their skin--which makes it easier to detect the flush of sexual excitement. And high heels accentuate a woman's breasts and buttocks, signaling fertility. Is beauty programmed into our brain circuits as a proxy for health and youth? In marked contrast to other writers like Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth), Etcoff argues that it is, noting, "Rather than denigrate one source of women's power, it would seem far more useful for feminists to attempt to elevate all sources of women's power." --Patrizia DiLucchio [via]
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Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Timeby Robin Le PoidevinISBN 0198752555 (0-19-875255-5)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time'Book summary:Space and time are the most fundamental features of our experience of the world, and yet they are also the most perplexing. Does time really flow, or is that simply an illusion? Did time have a beginning? What does it mean to say that time has a direction? Does space have boundaries, or is it infinite? Is change really possible? Could space and time exist in the absence of any objects or events? What, in the end, are space and time? Do they really exist, or are they simply the constructions of our minds?
Robin Le Poidevin provides a clear, witty, and stimulating introduction to these deep questions and many other mind-boggling puzzles and paradoxes. He gives a vivid sense of the difficulties raised by our ordinary ideas about space and time, but he also gives us the basis to think about these problems independently, avoiding large amounts of jargon and technicality. His book is an invitation to think philosophically rather than a sustained argument for particular conclusions, but Le Poidevin does advance and defend a number of controversial views. He argues, for example, that time does not actually flow, that it is possible for space and time to be both finite and yet be without boundaries, and that causation is the key to an understanding of one of the deepest mysteries of time: its direction.
Drawing on a variety of vivid examples from science, history, and literature, Travels in Four Dimensions brings to life some of the most profound questions imaginable. [via]More editions of Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time:
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The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behaviorby David AttenboroughISBN 0316057517 (0-316-05751-7)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behavior'Book summary:Phenomenal color photographs form the cornerstone of Attenborough's new book which, along with its companion TV series, picks up where the first two left off. Life on earth traced the development of animal life from its beginnings. [via]
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Twentieth Century Discoveryby Isaac AsimovISBN 044183227X (0-441-83227-X)
Softcover, Berkley Pub Group
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Understanding Physics: Motion Sound and Heatby Isaac AsimovISBN 0451626621 (0-451-62662-1)
Softcover, New Amer Library
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The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Scienceby Anna Claybourne, Felicity Brooks, Rachel Firth, Carrie A. Seay, David HancockISBN 0439560594 (0-439-56059-4)
Hardcover, Scholastic
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science'Book summary:Paperback: 64 pages Publisher: Scholastic (2002) Language: English [via]
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Vibrations and Wavesby A.P. FrenchISBN 0393099369 (0-393-09936-9)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Vibrations and Waves'Book summary:The M.I.T. Introductory Physics Series is the result of a program of careful study, planning, and development that began in 1960.
The Education Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (formerly the Science Teaching Center) was established to study the process of instruction, aids thereto, and the learning process itself, with special reference to science teaching at the university level. Generous support from a number of foundations provided the means for assembling and maintaining an experienced staff to co-operate with members of the Institute's Physics Department in the examination, improvement, and development of physics curriculum materials for students planning careers in the sciences.
After careful analysis of objectives and the problems involved, preliminary versions of textbooks were prepared, tested through classroom use at M.I.T. and other institutions, re-evaluated, rewritten, and tried again. Only then were the final manuscripts undertaken. [via]More editions of Vibrations and Waves:
Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We Seeby Donald David HoffmanISBN 0393319679 (0-393-31967-9)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See'Book summary:Visual intelligence, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman writes, is the power that people use to "construct an experience of objects out of colors, lines, and motions." And what an underappreciated ability it is, too; despite the fact that the visual process uses up a considerable chunk of our brainpower, we're only just learning how it works. Hoffman aptly demonstrates the mysterious constructive powers of our eye-brain machines using lots of simple drawings and diagrams to illustrate basic rules of the visual road. Many of the examples are familiar optical illusions--perspective-confounding cubes, a few lines that add up to a more complex shape than seems right. Hoffman also takes a cue from Oliver Sacks, employing anecdotes about people with various specific visual malfunctions to both further his mechanical explanation of visual intelligence and drive home how important this little-understood aspect of cognition can be in our lives. An especially intriguing example involves a boy, blind from birth, who is surgically given the power to see. At first, he is completely unable to visually distinguish objects familiar by touch, such as the cat and the dog. Other poignant examples show clearly how image construction is normally linked to our emotional well-being and sense of place. Visual Intelligence is a fascinating, confounding look (as it were) at an aspect of human physiology and psychology that very few of us think about much at all. --Therese Littleton [via]
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