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When Einstein walked with Godel
by Jim Holt
In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites us to consider why the greatest logician of the twentieth century believed the U.S. Constitution contained a terrible contradiction―and whether the universe truly has a future.
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The many lives of carbon
by Dag Olav Hessen
In its pure form, carbon appears as the soft graphite of a pencil or as the sparkling diamond in a woman’s engagement ring. Underneath the surface, carbon is also the basic building block of the cells in our bodies and of all known life on earth. And at a molecular level, carbon bonds with oxygen to create carbon dioxide—a gas as vital to our life on this planet as it is detrimental at high levels in our atmosphere. As we face the climate change crisis, it’s now more important than ever to understand carbon and its life cycle.
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Strange survivors : how organisms attack and defend in the game of life
by Oné R. Pagán
Biologist Oné R. Pagán explores the strange, surprising, and truly bizarre strategies that enable a variety of creatures to avoid extinction. Strange Survivors is a fascinating field guide to nature’s most colorful characters in which you’ll meet killer snails, social bacteria, and an animal with toxic elbows.
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A wilder time : notes from a geologist at the edge of the Greenland ice
by William E. Glassley
Greenland, one of the last truly wild places, contains a treasure trove of information on Earth's early history embedded in its pristine landscape. Over numerous seasons, William E. Glassley and two fellow geologists traveled there to collect samples and observe rock formations for evidence to prove a contested theory that plate tectonics, the movement of Earth's crust over its molten core, is a much more ancient process than some believed. As their research drove the scientists ever farther into regions barely explored by humans for millennia―if ever―Glassley encountered wondrous creatures and natural phenomena that gave him unexpected insight into the origins of myth, the virtues and boundaries of science, and the importance of seeking the wilderness within.
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The genius within : unlocking our brain's potential
by David Adam
Draws on the latest research in cognitive enhancement to explore how new revelations in neuroscience are changing the way the mind works to render it more focused and more intelligent, sharing case studies and stories from the author's own personal experimentations with "smart pills" and electrical brain stimulation.
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The rise and fall of the dinosaurs : a new history of a lost world
by Stephen Brusatte
The "resident paleontologist" for BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs presents a narrative scientific history of the dinosaur eras that examines their origins, habitats, extinction and living legacy, chronicling nearly 200 million years of their evolution from small shadow dwellers through the emergences of prehistoric ancestors that became more than 10,000 modern bird species.
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Trooper : the bobcat who came in from the wild
by F. B Johnson
Whenever middle-aged desert tour guide Forrest Bryant Johnson went out on his daily walks into the Mojave, all was usually peaceful and serene. But one beautiful summer day in 1987, Forrest heard a cry of distress. Following the cries, he came upon a small bobcat kitten, injured, orphaned, and desperately in need of help. So Forrest took his new feline friend home for a night. But when the little “trooper” clearly needed some more time to recoup, that night turned into two nights, a week, and eventually nineteen years. And so Trooper became a part of the Johnson family. Harrowing and heartfelt, Trooper: The Bobcat Who Came in from the Wild is for any reader who ever had their heart stolen by their pet.
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The wisdom of wolves : lessons from the Sawtooth pack
by Jim Dutcher
The authors of The Hidden Life of Wolves, who lived alongside a three-generation wolf pack, reflect on the virtues they observed in wolf society and behavior, providing a thought-provoking meditation on the values shared between the human and the animal world.
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Close encounters with humankind : a paleoanthropologist investigates our evolving species
by Sang-Hee Lee
An international best-seller by Korea's first paleoanthropologist explores how the field enables new insights into some of the world's leading evolutionary questions, drawing on cutting-edge findings to explore such topics as the life cycles of ancient people, the origins of social nature and the common traits between today's humans and Neanderthals.
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The Earth gazers : on seeing ourselves
by Christopher Potter
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, a full-color book examines the beautiful images of the whole earth taken by the mission’s astronauts and the long road that led to that point by showcasing the visionaries that came before.
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A magical world : superstition and science from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment
by Derek K. Wilson
A multi-faceted history of the significant advances in human knowledge that occurred between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment illuminates the contributions of herbal healers, religious practitioners, alchemists and astrologists to the establishment of the scientific method and the founding of the French Academy of Sciences.
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Crash test girl : an unlikely experiment in applying the scientific method to life
by Kari Byron
Crash Test Girl reminds us that science is for everyone, as long as you’re willing to strap in, put on your safety goggles, hit a few walls, and learn from the results. Using a combination of methodical experimentation and unconventional creativity, you’ll come to the most important conclusion of all: In life, sometimes you crash and burn, but you can always crash and learn.
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Broad band : the untold story of the women who made the Internet
by Claire Lisa Evans
The YACHT lead singer and VICE reporter celebrates the lesser-known contributions of women to the history of technology, sharing brief profiles of such boundary-breaking innovators as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler and Stacy Horn.
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Algorithms of oppression : how search engines reinforce racism
by Safiya Umoja Noble
Run a Google search for “black girls”—what will you find? “Big Booty” and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in “white girls,” the results are radically different.
Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance—operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond—understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance.
An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
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