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Bismuth-Based High-Temperature Superconductors (Applied Physics)
by Hiroshi Maeda Kazumasa ToganoProvides coverage of the ongoing investigations on bismuth-based high-temperature cuprate superconductors, integrating scattered research activities and literature from 70 leading scientists throughout the world. The text covers crystal structures and microstructures, reversible or equilibrium magnetic and thermal properties, atomic site tunnel spe
Bismuth-Containing Alloys and Nanostructures (Springer Series in Materials Science #285)
by Shumin Wang Pengfei LuThis book focuses on novel bismuth-containing alloys and nanostructures, covering a wide range of materials from semiconductors, topological insulators, silica optical fibers and to multiferroic materials. It provides a timely overview of bismuth alloys and nanostructures, from material synthesis and physical properties to device applications and also includes the latest research findings. Bismuth is considered to be a sustainable and environmentally friendly element, and has received increasing attention in a variety of innovative research areas in recent years. The book is intended as a reference resource and textbook for graduate students and researchers working in these fields.
Bismuth-Containing Compounds (Springer Series in Materials Science #186)
by Zhiming M. Wang Handong LiBismuth-containing compounds comprise a relatively unexplored materials system that is expected to offer many unique and desirable optoelectronic, thermoelectric, and electronic properties for innovative device applications. This book serves as a platform for knowledge sharing and dissemination of the latest advances in novel areas of bismuth-containing compounds for materials and devices, and provides a comprehensive introduction to those new to this growing field. Coverage of bismides includes theoretical considerations, epitaxial growth, characterization, and materials properties (optical, electrical, and structural). In addition to the well-studied area of highly mismatched Bi-alloys, the book covers emerging topics such as topological insulators and ferroelectric materials. Built upon fundamental science, the book is intended to stimulate interest in developing new classes of semiconductor and thermoelectric materials that exploit the properties of Bismuth. Application areas for bismide materials include laser diodes for optical communications, DVD systems, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, transistors, quantum well lasers, and spintronic devices.
Bismuth-Ferrite-Based Electrochemical Supercapacitors (SpringerBriefs in Materials)
by Vijaykumar V. Jadhav Rajaram S. Mane Pritamkumar V. ShindeThis book provides a much-needed, up-to-date overview of unary, binary and ternary bismuth-ferrite-based systems, with a focus on their properties, synthesis methods and applications as electrochemical supercapacitors. It introduces readers to the basic structure and properties of ferrites in general, focusing on the selection criteria for ferrite materials for electrochemical energy storage applications. Along with coverage of ferrite synthesis methods, it discusses bismuth-ferrite structures in unary, binary and mixed ferrite nanostructure systems, as well as future perspectives and limitations for using ferrites as electrochemical supercapacitors. A valuable resource for beginners and advanced researchers working on similar topics, this book enables them to understand the core materials and electrochemical concepts behind bismuth-ferrite-based systems as energy storage materials.
Bismuth-Mediated Organic Reactions (Topics in Current Chemistry #311)
by Thierry OllevierBismuth Catalysts in Aqueous Media, by Shū Kobayashi, Masaharu Ueno and Taku Kitanosono.- Pentavalent Organobismuth Reagents in Organic Synthesis: Alkylation, Alcohol Oxidation and Cationic Photopolymerization , by Yoshihiro Matano.- Environmentally Friendly Organic Synthesis Using Bismuth(III) Compounds, by Scott W. Krabbe and Ram S. Mohan.- Bismuth-Catalyzed Addition of Silyl Nucleophiles to Carbonyl Compounds and Imines, by Thierry Ollevier.- Bismuth Salts in Catalytic Alkylation Reactions, by Magnus Rueping and Boris J. Nachtsheim.- New Applications for Bismuth(III) Salts in Organic Synthesis: From Bulk Chemicals to Steroid and Terpene Chemistry, by J. A. R. Salvador, S. M. Silvestre, R. M. A. Pinto, R. C. Santos and C. Le Roux.- Cationic Bismuth-Catalyzed Hydroamination and Direct Substitution of the Hydroxy Group in Alcohols with Amides, by Shigeki Matsunaga and Masakatsu Shibasaki.- Transition-Metal Catalyzed C-C Bond Formation Using Organobismuth Compounds, by Shigeru Shimada and Maddali L. N. Rao.- Bismuth(III) Salts as Synthetic Tools in Organic Transformations, by J. S. Yadav, Aneesh Antony and Basi V. Subba Reddy.
Bisphenol A Removal from Water and Wastewater
by Magdalena Zielińska Irena Wojnowska-Baryła Agnieszka Cydzik-KwiatkowskaBringing together key research on bisphenol A (BPA) removal to allow students, and designers and operators of treatment plants to gain knowledge and insight into operating practices, this book presents developments in the technology of wastewater treatment for the removal of micropollutants, using BPA as an example.The difficulties in removing BPA from wastewater in traditional wastewater treatment plants are addressed along with a detailed analysis on integrated technologies for BPA removal; wastewater microorganisms that biodegrade BPA, and physical and chemical methods to support the biodegradation of BPA and its removal from wastewater.Readers are able to gain a general understanding of up-to-date techniques for removing BPA from wastewater, and are able to use the book as a reference for specific questions that they have.
Bisphosphonates and Osteonecrosis of the Jaw: A Multidisciplinary Approach
by Francesco Saverio De PonteDuring the early 19th century, it was discovered that adding yellow (now called white) phosphorous to matchstick heads made it easier to ignite matches. The phosphorous vapors were breathed in by workers and combined with other chemicals in the body to produce a potent nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate. Today's oral nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates and intravenous nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates circulate around the body the same way as the phosphorous vapors, and are absorbed into bone and ingested by osteoclasts. When this unique binding process of bisphosphonates to bone occurs, osteoclasts are poisoned, and this reduces or eliminates bone turnover. Alveolar bone in the mandible and maxilla turns over more rapidly than in long bones, so the jaws are a better target for bisphosphonate toxicity. It wasn't until 2003 that today's intravenous and oral nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate medications were implicated as major risk factors in the development of exposed necrotic bone of the jaws. Most of the researchers who reported cases of bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw found that these patients were treated with zoledronate, pamidronate, or a combination of these drugs, which are commonly used for treating breast cancer or myeloma. In about 5% of cases, subjects with BIONJ were being treated for osteoporosis. Precipitating events that contribute to BIONJ are tooth extractions (about 50% of cases), mandibular exostoses, periodontal disease, and local trauma from ill-fitting dentures. It is not known if the placement of dental implants is a precipitating factor. The book aims to meet the need of medical practitioners working in all fields that use bisphosphonates, and to present the conservative and surgical treatment methods currently in use. There will also be detailed information on the literature relating to dental implants in patients treated with bisphosphonates.
Bitch: On the Female of the Species
by Lucy CookeA fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like a sad freak. Not because she loved spiders or would root around in animal feces: all her friends shared the same curious kinks. The problem was her sex. Being female meant she was, by nature, a loser. Since Charles Darwin, evolutionary biologists have been convinced that the males of the animal kingdom are the interesting ones—dominating and promiscuous, while females are dull, passive, and devoted. In Bitch, Cooke tells a new story. Whether investigating same-sex female albatross couples that raise chicks, murderous mother meerkats, or the titanic battle of the sexes waged by ducks, Cooke shows us a new evolutionary biology, one where females can be as dynamic as any male. This isn&‘t your grandfather&’s evolutionary biology. It&’s more inclusive, truer to life, and, simply, more fun.
Bitcoin Widow: Love, Betrayal and the Missing Millions
by Stephen Kimber Jennifer RobertsonShe met the man of her dreams and suddenly had it all. Then, in one fateful night, she lost everything, and the nightmare beganJennifer Robertson was working hard to build a life for herself from the ashes of her first marriage. Still only twenty-six, she swiped right on a dating app and met Gerry Cotten, a man she would not normally have considered—too young and not her type—but found she’d met her match. Eccentric but funny and kind, Cotten turned out to be a bitcoin wizard who quickly amassed substantial wealth through his company, Quadriga. The couple travelled the world, first class all the way, while Cotten worked on his multitude of encrypted laptops. Then, while the couple was on their honeymoon in India, opening an orphanage in their name, Gerry fell ill and died in a matter of hours. Jennifer was consumed by grief and guilt, but that was only the beginning. It turned out that Gerry owed $250 million to Quadriga customers, and all the passwords to his encrypted virtual vaults, hidden on his many laptops, had died with him. Jennifer was left with more than one hundred thousand investors looking for their money, and questions, suspicions and accusations spiralling dangerously out of control. The Quadriga scandal touched off major investment and criminal investigations, not to mention Internet rumours circulating on dark message boards, including claims that Gerry had faked his own death and that his wife was the real mastermind behind a sophisticated sting operation. While Jennifer waited for a dead man’s switch e-mail that would probably never come, it became clear that Cotten had gambled away about $100 million of the funds entrusted to him for investment in his many schemes, leaving Robertson holding the bag. Bitcoin Widow is Catch Me If You Can meets a widow betrayed, a life of fairy-tale romance and private jets torched by duplicity, as Jennifer Robertson tries to reset her life in the wake of one of the biggest investment scandals of the digital age.
Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans
by Bill SchuttFrom three-inch fang blennies to thirty-foot prehistoric crocodiles, from gaboon vipers to Neanderthals, Bite is a fascinating journey through the natural, scientific, and cultural history of something right in front of—or in—our faces: teeth. In Bite, zoologist Bill Schutt makes a surprising case: it is teeth that are responsible for the long-term success of vertebrates. The appearance of teeth, roughly half a billion years ago, was an adaptation that allowed animals with backbones, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, dinosaurs and mammals—including us—to chow down in pretty much every conceivable environment. And it&’s not just food. Tusks and fangs have played crucial roles as defensive weapons—glimpsing the upper canines of snarling dogs is all it takes to know that teeth are an efficient means of aggression. Vampire bats use their razor-sharp teeth to obtain a widespread but generally untappable resource: blood. Early humans employed their teeth as tools to soften tough fibers and animal hides. Our teeth project information and social status—the ancient Etruscans were the first to wear tooth bling, and it&’s doubtful that George Washington would have been elected president without the false teeth he wore. So much of what we know about life on this planet has come from the study of fossilized teeth, which have provided information not only about evolution but also about famine, war, and disease. In his signature witty style, the author of Pump and Cannibalism shows us how our continued understanding of teeth may help us humans through current and future crises, from Alzheimer&’s disease to mental health issues. Bite is popular science at its best and will appeal to readers of Mary Roach, Merlin Sheldrake, and Ed Yong.
Bitemark Evidence: A Color Atlas and Text, 2nd Edition (International Forensic Science and Investigation)
by Robert B. J. DorionExperts in the field of bitemark evidence confront complexities ranging from the identification and collection of evidence, to microscopic analysis, to legal implications and courtroom admissibility. Now in its second edition, Bitemark Evidence reflects the knowledge, training, experience, opinions, and research of 27 authors from around the world
Bites Back #2 (Project: Terra #2)
by Keith Zoo Landry Q. WalkerGuardians of the Galaxy meets Minecraft in the second installment of this hilarious sci-fi series.After narrowly escaping death and saving Paragon from destruction, Elara Adele Vaughn is back in action to start her second year at the Seven Systems Academy of Terraforming Arts. But she's done being a hero this time around--Elara just wants to learn how to build new worlds with her best friends Knot, Beezle, Sabik, and her alien-sponge roommate, Clare. But when an evil time-hopping force threatens to take down the galactic order, Elara's "normal" school year might turn into something weird. But what's a little danger for the Academy's most troublemaking student and her oddball crew of friends? Based on the real science behind terraforming, this action-packed story mixes world-building adventures with side-splitting humor, plus a dash of intergalactic madness.
Bits of Power: Issues in Global Access to Scientific Data
by Committee on Issues in the Transborder Flow of Scientific DataSince Galileo corresponded with Kepler, the community of scientists has become increasingly international. A DNA sequence is as significant to a researcher in Novosibirsk as it is to one in Pasadena. And with the advent of electronic communications technology, these experts can share information within minutes. What are the consequences when more bits of scientific data cross more national borders and do it more swiftly than ever before? Bits of Power assesses the state of international exchange of data in the natural sciences, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. The committee makes recommendations about access to scientific data derived from public funding. The volume examines: Trends in the electronic transfer and management of scientific data. Pressure toward commercialization of scientific data, including the economic aspects of government dissemination of the data. The implications of proposed changes to intellectual property laws and the role of scientists in shaping legislative and legal solutions. Improving access to scientific data by and from the developing world. Bits of Power explores how these issues have been addressed in the European Community and includes examples of successful data transfer activities in the natural sciences. The book will be of interest to scientists and scientific data managers, as well as intellectual property rights attorneys, legislators, government agencies, and international organizations concerned about the electronic flow of scientific data.
Bitten!: Mosquitoes Infect New York (XBooks: Medical)
by John SheaSix New Yorkers are sick with a mysterious virus that attacks the brain.Experts suspect a tiny culprit: mosquitoes! Then birds start dropping dead. Scientists think that the outbreaks are related. But how?High-interest topics, real stories, engaging design, and astonishing photos are the building blocks of the XBooks, a new series of books designed to engage and motivate reluctant and enthusiastic readers alike. How can a bite from a pet prairie dog cause a life-threatening illness? Where does the guinea worm, a parasite that lives under human skin, come from? How can a virus that attacks the brain be related to birds dropping dead at the zoo? With topics based in science, these action-packed books will help students unlock the power and pleasure of reading... and always ask for more!
Bitter Nemesis: The Intimate History of Strychnine
by John BuckinghamEncouraged by the medicinal success of quinine, early 19th century scientists hoped strychnine, another plant alkaloid with remarkable properties, might also become a new weapon against disease. Physicians tried for over a century, despite growing evidence to the contrary, to treat everything from paralysis to constipation with it. But strychnine p
Bitter Roots: The Search for Healing Plants in Africa
by Abena Dove Osseo-AsareFor over a century, plant specialists worldwide have sought to transform healing plants in African countries into pharmaceuticals. And for equally as long, conflicts over these medicinal plants have endured, from stolen recipes and toxic tonics to unfulfilled promises of laboratory equipment and usurped personal patents. In Bitter Roots, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare draws on publicly available records and extensive interviews with scientists and healers in Ghana, Madagascar, and South Africa to interpret how African scientists and healers, rural communities, and drug companies--including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Unilever--have sought since the 1880s to develop drugs from Africa's medicinal plants. Osseo-Asare recalls the efforts to transform six plants into pharmaceuticals: rosy periwinkle, Asiatic pennywort, grains of paradise, Strophanthus, Cryptolepis, and Hoodia. Through the stories of each plant, she shows that herbal medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry have simultaneous and overlapping histories that cross geographic boundaries. At the same time, Osseo-Asare sheds new light on how various interests have tried to manage the rights to these healing plants and probes the challenges associated with assigning ownership to plants and their biochemical components. A fascinating examination of the history of medicine in colonial and postcolonial Africa, Bitter Roots will be indispensable for scholars of Africa; historians interested in medicine, biochemistry, and society; and policy makers concerned with drug access and patent rights.
Bitter Roots: The Search for Healing Plants in Africa
by Abena Dove Osseo-AsareFor over a century, plant specialists worldwide have sought to transform healing plants in African countries into pharmaceuticals. And for equally as long, conflicts over these medicinal plants have endured, from stolen recipes and toxic tonics to unfulfilled promises of laboratory equipment and usurped personal patents. In Bitter Roots, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare draws on publicly available records and extensive interviews with scientists and healers in Ghana, Madagascar, and South Africa to interpret how African scientists and healers, rural communities, and drug companies—including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Unilever—have sought since the 1880s to develop drugs from Africa’s medicinal plants. Osseo-Asare recalls the efforts to transform six plants into pharmaceuticals: rosy periwinkle, Asiatic pennywort, grains of paradise, Strophanthus, Cryptolepis, and Hoodia. Through the stories of each plant, she shows that herbal medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry have simultaneous and overlapping histories that cross geographic boundaries. At the same time, Osseo-Asare sheds new light on how various interests have tried to manage the rights to these healing plants and probes the challenges associated with assigning ownership to plants and their biochemical components. A fascinating examination of the history of medicine in colonial and postcolonial Africa, Bitter Roots will be indispensable for scholars of Africa; historians interested in medicine, biochemistry, and society; and policy makers concerned with drug access and patent rights.
Bitter Shade: The Ecological Challenge of Human Consciousness (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)
by Michael R. DoveA seminal anthropological work on the paradoxical relationship between human consciousness and the environment This book asks an age-old question about the relationship between human consciousness and the environment: How do we think about our own thoughts and actions? How can we transcend the exigencies of daily life? How can we achieve sufficient distance from our own everyday realities to think and act more sustainably? To address these questions, Michael R. Dove draws on the results of decades of research in South and Southeast Asia on how local cultures have circumvented the &“curse of consciousness&”—the paradox that we cannot completely comprehend the ecosystem of which we are part. He distills from his ethnographic, ecological, and historical research three principles: perspectivism (seeing oneself from outside oneself), metamorphosis (becoming something that one is not), and mimesis (copying something that one is not), which help a society to transcend the hubris and myopia of everyday existence and achieve greater insight into its ecosystem.
Bitwise: A Life in Code
by David AuerbachAn exhilarating, elegant memoir and a significant polemic on how computers and algorithms shape our understanding of the world and of who we are Bitwise is a wondrous ode to the computer languages and codes that captured technologist David Auerbach’s imagination. With a philosopher’s sense of inquiry, Auerbach recounts his childhood spent drawing ferns with the programming language Logo on the Apple IIe, his adventures in early text-based video games, his education as an engineer, and his contributions to instant messaging technology developed for Microsoft and the servers powering Google’s data stores. A lifelong student of the systems that shape our lives—from the psychiatric taxonomy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to how Facebook tracks and profiles its users—Auerbach reflects on how he has experienced the algorithms that taxonomize human speech, knowledge, and behavior and that compel us to do the same. Into this exquisitely crafted, wide-ranging memoir of a life spent with code, Auerbach has woven an eye-opening and searing examination of the inescapable ways in which algorithms have both standardized and coarsened our lives. As we engineer ever more intricate technology to translate our experiences and narrow the gap that divides us from the machine, Auerbach argues, we willingly erase our nuances and our idiosyncrasies—precisely the things that make us human.
Bizarre Bioethics: Ghosts, Monsters, and Pilgrims
by Henk A.M.J. ten HaveThe focus of bioethical debates on exceptional cases neglects the underlying values—like justice and community—that would lend to a broader, more well-rounded understanding of today's world.Discussions of ethical problems in health care too often concentrate on exceptional cases. Bioethical controversies triggered by experimental drugs, gene-edited babies, or life extension are understandably fascinating: they showcase the power of medical science and technology while addressing anxieties concerning health, disease, suffering, and death. However, the focus on rare individual cases in the media spotlight turns attention away from more pressing ethical issues that impact global populations, such as access to health care, safe food and water, and the prevention of emerging infectious diseases. In Bizarre Bioethics, Henk A.M.J. ten Have argues that this focus on bizarre cases leads to bizarre bioethics with a narrow agenda for ethical debate. In other words, although these extreme cases are undeniably real, they present a limited and skewed view of everyday moral reality. This focus also assumes that individuals are rational decision-makers, so that the role of feelings and emotions can be downgraded. Larger questions related to justice, solidarity, community, meaning, and ambiguity are not appreciated. Such questions used to be posed by philosophical and theological traditions, but they have been exorcised and marginalized in the development of bioethics. Science, ten Have writes, is not a value-free endeavor that provides facts and evidence: it is driven by underlying value perspectives that are often based on metaphors and world views from philosophical and theological traditions. Drawing on a rich analysis of the literature, ten Have explains how bioethical discussion can be enriched by these metaphors and develops a broader approach that critically delves into the imaginative world views that determine understanding of the world and human existence. Examining the roles of the metaphors of ghosts, monsters, pilgrims, prophets, and relics, ten Have illustrates how science and medicine are animated by imaginations that fuel the search for hope, salvation, healing, and a predictable future. Bizarre Bioethics invites students, researchers, policymakers and teachers interested in ethics and health care to think about the value perspectives on health and disease today.
Bizarre Space: A Kid's Guide to Our Strange, Unusual Universe
by Jennifer Dlugos Charlie HattonSince ancient times, humans have been puzzled and awed by the strange stars, peculiar planets, and out-of-this-world objects that appear in our sky. Advancements in technology are now giving scientists closer looks and first peeks at the weird and wonderful things that make up our solar system and beyond. From Earth-like moons to strange signals from distant galaxies, Bizarre Space showcases the most shocking space discoveries, proving that what lies beyond our little blue-and-green planet is fascinatingly and often frighteningly bizarre. For example, you might know that Pluto's no longer a planet, but why did it get demoted to float among the other “oddities” of space? What happens to stars when they die? What disaster is just waiting to happen to Mars? And why, exactly, can't Uranus seem to roll straight? Bizarre Space takes you deep into our curious cosmos to discover the mysteries that lie beyond our home planet.Ages 9-12
Bizarre: The Most Peculiar Cases of Human Behavior and What They Tell Us about How the Brain Works
by Marc DingmanBrain science at its most accessible, informative and intriguing.The human brain is an impossibly complex and delicate instrument - capable of extraordinary calculations, abundant creativity and linguistic dexterity. But the brain is not just the most brilliant of evolutionary wonders. It's also one of the most bizarre.This audiobook shows a whole other side of how brains work - from the patient who is afraid to take a shower because she fears her body will slip down the drain to a man who is convinced, against all evidence, that he is a cat, and a woman who compulsively snacks on cigarette ashes.Entertaining though they are, these cases are more than just oddities. In attempting to understand them, neuroscientists have uncovered important details about how the brain works. BIZARRE will examine these details while explaining what neuroscience's most unusual patients have taught us about normal brain function -ideal both for listeners seeking a better appreciation of the inner workings of the brain and those who simply want some extraordinary topics for dinner-party conversation.(P) 2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Bizarre: The Most Peculiar Cases of Human Behavior and What They Tell Us about How the Brain Works
by Marc DingmanThe human brain is an impossibly complex and delicate instrument - capable of extraordinary calculations, abundant creativity and linguistic dexterity. But the brain is not just the most brilliant of evolutionary wonders. It's also one of the most bizarre.This book shows a whole other side of how brains work - from the patient who is afraid to take a shower because she fears her body will slip down the drain to a man who is convinced, against all evidence, that he is a cat, and a woman who compulsively snacks on cigarette ashes.Entertaining though they are, these cases are more than just oddities. In attempting to understand them, neuroscientists have uncovered important details about how the brain works. BIZARRE will examine these details while explaining what neuroscience's most unusual patients have taught us about normal brain function -ideal both for readers seeking a better appreciation of the inner workings of the brain and those who simply want some extraordinary topics for dinner-party conversation.
Black America and Existential Incompatibility: Phenomenology, Ethics and the Problem That Is Race (Neighborhoods, Communities, and Urban Marginality)
by Avery Merriel SmithWithin the context of W.E.B. Du Bois’ question “How does it feel to be a problem?”, this volume examines the “problem” using a phenomenological approach, that is to say, in terms of one’s experience of such. More specifically, the author explores three points: the Black person’s experience of being a problem for White America; her experience of White America as a problem or obstacle for their survival and ability to thrive; and her experience of navigating, negotiating and surviving a world that is presented as a duality. This book deconstructs the world(s) that the Black person experiences by first understanding her as a “Dasein” (the Heideggerian concept of a being that is aware of its being in the world and aware of other beings that are in the world it experiences). In considering the Black person as a Dasein, the author affirms the intrinsic value of her being and, therefore, validates the experience she has of the world in which she finds herself. Finally, this volume incorporates Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophy of the face and Paul Ricoeur’s study of the self to help craft an understanding of the ontology of human relationship to support the advocacy for an ethical encounter between the Black person and those whom she encounters in both the Black world and the White world in which she must navigate and concurrently exist.
Black Bodies and Quantum Cats
by Jennifer OuellettePhysics, once known as "natural philosophy," is the most basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the largest scale down to the very, very, verysmallest, and our understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their historical context as well as against a broad cultural backdrop. Newton's laws are illustrated via the film Addams Family Values, while Back to the Futuredemonstrates the finer points of special relativity. Poe's "The Purloined Letter" serves to illuminate the mysterious nature of neutrinos, and Jeanette Winterson's novel Gut Symmetriesprovides an elegant metaphorical framework for string theory. An enchanting and edifying read, Black Bodies and Quantum Cats shows that physics is not an arcane field of study but a profoundly human endeavor-and a fundamental part of our everyday world.