The big idea: numbers can't be objective, argues political scientist Deborah Stone as she examines the cultural assumptions and social norms underlying the data we rely on to make policy decisions.
Topics include: how unemployment is measured; the ever-evolving race categories on the U.S. Census; the increasing role of automated systems in assessing everything from credit scores to recidivism rates.
Food for thought: "If every number begins with a judgment, and if we allow numbers to determine people's fates, we should hold numbers to the same ethical standards we hold our judges to."
A behind-the-scenes look at the training, basic rules, lessons and procedures of space travel by the former astronaut, space-shuttle pilot and International Space Station commander includes coverage of the realities of living long-term in space.
The director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre identifies the evolutionary link between autism and ingenuity, revealing that people on the spectrum have played an essential role in human progress, often at the expense of their social well-being.
The expert team at SciStarter present this interactive guide to citizen science in which they show how ordinary people can participate in scientific research and help change the world in meaningful ways.
A new homeowner describes her emotional and rewarding journey over the course of a year, after she was given a colony of honeybees as a gift and learned how to care for and live alongside the fascinating creatures.
Featuring: feisty Scottish terrier Molly; Christopher Hogwood, a pig with personality; a trio of emus; tarantula Clarabelle, friend to children in French Guiana; and more!
Is it for you? Author Sy Montgomery opens up about her difficult childhood and lifelong struggle with depression, which is exacerbated by the passing of some of the animals featured in the book.
Crossover alert: Fans of the author's National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus will remember charismatic cephalopod Octavia, who makes an appearance here.
The award-winning theoretical physicist and best-selling co-author of A Briefer History of Time presents an intimate account of his personal and professional relationship with the late Stephen Hawking throughout nearly two decades of collaborative work.
A collection of one hundred and fifty comic strips topical and funny enough to engage any layperson with a rudimentary recall of their old science classes as well as those who consider themselves boffins of the contemporary physical and natural world.
An Alaska Pacific University scientist and National Geographic Explorer recounts his two-year effort to uncover the fate of his adventurer son, who in 2014 disappeared into the untracked rainforest of Corcovado National Park.
Draws on 20 years of research, recently declassified files and interviews with first-person survivors in an account of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster that also reveals how propaganda and secrets have created additional dangers. 75,000 first printing.