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The Big Ideas in Science: A complete introduction
by Jon EvansBy the simple expedient of asking questions and conducting experiments to answer them, science has transformed our understanding of the world. It has made us who we are, and revealed a universe that is older, bigger and stranger than we could ever have imagined.The Big Ideas in Science is an accessible and easy-to-use introduction to the scientific world, what it has achieved over the past few hundred years and what it promises for the future. Covering everything from the Big Bang to global warming, it provides everything you need to know in one book.You will learn what science has discovered about matter, space, energy, life, weather and information, and how we have transformed these discoveries into our modern technologies. You will witness the birth of the solar system, follow ocean currents for thousands of miles, ride on beams of light and, ultimately, gain a deeper understanding of issues as complex as global warming, and as controversial as synthetic life.ABOUT THE SERIESThe Complete Introduction series from Teach Yourself is the ultimate one-stop guide for anyone wanting a comprehensive and accessible entry point into subjects as diverse as philosophy, mathematics, psychology, economics and practical electronics. Loved by students and perfect for general readers who simply want to learn more about the world around them, these books are your first choice for discovering something new.
The Big Ideas in Science: A complete introduction
by Jon EvansBy the simple expedient of asking questions and conducting experiments to answer them, science has transformed our understanding of the world. It has made us who we are, and revealed a universe that is older, bigger and stranger than we could ever have imagined.The Big Ideas in Science is an accessible and easy-to-use introduction to the scientific world, what it has achieved over the past few hundred years and what it promises for the future. Covering everything from the Big Bang to global warming, it provides everything you need to know in one book.You will learn what science has discovered about matter, space, energy, life, weather and information, and how we have transformed these discoveries into our modern technologies. You will witness the birth of the solar system, follow ocean currents for thousands of miles, ride on beams of light and, ultimately, gain a deeper understanding of issues as complex as global warming, and as controversial as synthetic life.ABOUT THE SERIESThe Complete Introduction series from Teach Yourself is the ultimate one-stop guide for anyone wanting a comprehensive and accessible entry point into subjects as diverse as philosophy, mathematics, psychology, economics and practical electronics. Loved by students and perfect for general readers who simply want to learn more about the world around them, these books are your first choice for discovering something new.
The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters
by Rose GeorgeDelving deep into the history and implications of a daily act that dare not speak its name, The Big Necessity is on its way to removing the taboo on bodily waste something common to all and as natural as breathing.
The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics
by Mark Olshaker Michael T. OsterholmAs bad as Covid-19 was, the next pandemic could be worse—but we have the tools to prepare, as revealed in this urgent, gripping warning by the New York Times bestselling authors of Deadliest Enemy. The Covid-19 pandemic was the most devastating natural event of the last century, killing more than 7 million people around the globe, straining the fabric of societies internationally, and shaking the foundations of the global economy. And yet, as horrifying as the experience was, Covid-19 was not actually &“the Big One&” — the dreaded potential pandemic that haunts the nightmares of epidemiologists and public health officials everywhere, and which will alter life across the world on every meaningful level unless we are ready to deal with it. Indeed, even as we learn to live with Covid-19 and continue to recover from its worst effects, the next pandemic is already lurking around the corner—and it may very well be worse. In The Big One, founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker examine past pandemics, highlighting the ways societies both succeeded and failed to address them; trace the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate how it was handled; and look to the future, projecting what the next pandemics might look like and what must be done to mitigate them. Drawing on years of high-level research as well as cutting-edge analysis and an innovative hypothetical scenario threaded throughout each chapter, The Big One is a gripping, comprehensive, and urgent wake-up call. Because Covid-19 was just a taste of what&’s to come. If we&’re going to survive the next big pandemic, we need to be prepared.
The Big Picture
by David Suzuki David TaylorWhether he's discussing how to reconcile economy with ecology, why a warmer world will result in more poison ivy, why Britney Spears gets more hits on Google than global warming does, or why we might need to start eating jellyfish for supper, David Suzuki points the direction we must take as a society if we hope to meet the environmental challenges we face in our still-young century. Covering suburban sprawl, sustainable transportation, food shortages, biodiversity, technology, public policy, and more, The Big Picture not only identifies the problems we face but proposes solid, science-based solutions. These engaging essays look beyond environmental challenges to examine the forces that are preventing real change from occurring. Together they tell the story of a species struggling to come to grips with its own biological nature, a nature we must ultimately embrace to live in balance with the systems that sustain us.
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
by Sean Carroll<P>Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on Higgs bosons and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. <P>Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview? <P>In short chapters filled with intriguing historical anecdotes, personal asides, and rigorous exposition, readers learn the difference between how the world works at the quantum level, the cosmic level, and the human level--and then how each connects to the other. <P>Carroll's presentation of the principles that have guided the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is dazzlingly unique. Carroll shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. <P>Our lives are dwarfed like never before by the immensity of space and time, but they are redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning. <P>The Big Picture is an unprecedented scientific worldview, a tour de force that will sit on shelves alongside the works of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Daniel Dennett, and E. O. Wilson for years to come. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Big Question: Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Science, Faith and God
by Alister McGrathRichard Dawkins's groundbreaking book The God Delusion created an explosion of interest in the relation of science and faith. This often troubled relationship between science and religion was seemingly damaged by the rise of the New Atheism, which insisted that science had essentially disproved not just God but also the value of religion. There is increasing skepticism towards its often glib and superficial answers; and the big questions about faith, God and science haven't gone away--in fact, we seem to talk about them more than ever. Alister McGrath's The Big Question is an accessible, engaging account of how science relates to faith, exploring how the working methods and assumptions of the natural sciences can be theologically useful. McGrath uses stories and analogies, as well as personal accounts, in order to help readers understand the scientific and theological points he makes, and grasp their deeper significance. An extremely accomplished scientist and scholar, McGrath criticizes the evangelism of the New Atheists and paves a logical well-argued road to the compatibility between science and faith.Some of his main discussion points include:1. There is much more convergence between science and faith than is usually appreciated2. How the three great models of scientific explanation can be adapted to religious belief3. Belief in God provides a 'big picture' of reality, making sense of science's successes
The Big Questions The Universe
by Stuart ClarkThe Big Questions series enables renowned experts to tackle the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, providing answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: The Universe, Dr Stuart Clark tackles the 20 key questions of astronomy and cosmology: What is the universe? How big is the universe? How old is the universe? What are stars made from? How did the Universe form? Why do the planets stay in orbit? Was Einstein right? What are black holes? How did the Earth form? What were the first celestial objects? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Are we really made from stardust? Is there life on Mars? Are there other intelligent beings? Can we travel through time and space? Can the laws of physics change? Are there alternative universes? What will be the fate of the universe? Is there cosmological evidence for God?
The Big Questions The Universe
by Stuart ClarkThe Big Questions series enables renowned experts to tackle the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, providing answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: The Universe, Dr Stuart Clark tackles the 20 key questions of astronomy and cosmology: What is the universe? How big is the universe? How old is the universe? What are stars made from? How did the Universe form? Why do the planets stay in orbit? Was Einstein right? What are black holes? How did the Earth form? What were the first celestial objects? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Are we really made from stardust? Is there life on Mars? Are there other intelligent beings? Can we travel through time and space? Can the laws of physics change? Are there alternative universes? What will be the fate of the universe? Is there cosmological evidence for God?
The Big Questions: Evolution
by Francisco AyalaEasy, enlightening and mind-stretching, here are answers to the 20 biggest questions of evolution and what they tell us about life on Earth.The Big Questions series is designed to let renowned experts address the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3,000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, and provides answers based on the latest research. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In The Big Questions: Evolution, Francisco Ayala answers the 20 key questions: What is evolution? Was Darwin right? What is natural selection? What is survival of the fittest? Is evolution a random process? What is a species? What are chromosomes, genes and DNA? How do genes build bodies? What is molecular evolution? How did life begin? What is the tree of life? Am I really a monkey? What does the fossil record tell us? What is the missing link? Is intelligence inherited? Will humans continue to evolve? Can I clone myself? Where does morality come from? Is language a uniquely human attribute? Is Creationism true?
The Big Questions: Evolution
by Francisco AyalaIn The Big Questions: Evolution, one of the world's leading experts, Francisco Ayala, examines key facets of genetics, evolution and cloning. He uses the most up-to-date research to answer the 20 key questions of evolution, and investigate what they tell us about life on Earth.What is evolution? What is natural selection? Is evolution a random process? What are chromosomes, genes and DNA? What is molecular evolution? What is the tree of life? What does the fossil record tell us? Is intelligence inherited? Can I clone myself? Is language a uniquely human attribute? Was Darwin right? What is 'survival of the fittest'? What is a species? How do genes build bodies? How did life begin? Am I really a monkey? What is the missing link? Will humans continue to evolve? Where does morality come from? Is Creationism true?
The Big Questions: Evolution
by Francisco AyalaIn The Big Questions: Evolution, one of the world's leading experts, Francisco Ayala, examines key facets of genetics, evolution and cloning. He uses the most up-to-date research to answer the 20 key questions of evolution, and investigate what they tell us about life on Earth.What is evolution? What is natural selection? Is evolution a random process? What are chromosomes, genes and DNA? What is molecular evolution? What is the tree of life? What does the fossil record tell us? Is intelligence inherited? Can I clone myself? Is language a uniquely human attribute? Was Darwin right? What is 'survival of the fittest'? What is a species? How do genes build bodies? How did life begin? Am I really a monkey? What is the missing link? Will humans continue to evolve? Where does morality come from? Is Creationism true?
The Big Questions: Mind
by Richard M. Restak'The Big Questions' series is designed to let renowned experts confront the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. In 'The Big Questions: Mind' the explanations behind the 'mysteries' of our unique minds - including how they differ from our brains and how they create our awareness - are explored. Among the questions discussed are: How do brains come to exist? Is the mind more than the brain? What does it mean to be conscious? What is knowledge? Does the mind play tricks? What is the 'I' in our brain?
The Big Questions: Mind (The Big Questions)
by Richard M. Restak'The Big Questions' series is designed to let renowned experts confront the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. In 'The Big Questions: Mind' the explanations behind the 'mysteries' of our unique minds - including how they differ from our brains and how they create our awareness - are explored. Among the questions discussed are: How do brains come to exist? Is the mind more than the brain? What does it mean to be conscious? What is knowledge? Does the mind play tricks? What is the 'I' in our brain?
The Big Questions: Physics
by Michael BrooksThe Big Questions series is designed to let renowned experts address the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, and provides answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: Physics, Michael Brooks answers the 20 key questions: What is the point of physics? Is everything ultimately random? What is time? Why is there no such thing as a free lunch? What happened to Schrödinger's cat? Can I change the universe with a single glance? Are solids really solid? Which is nature's strongest force? Why does an apple fall? Do we live in a computer simulation? What is light? Is Earth's magnetic shield failing? Am I unique in the universe? Does chaos theory spell disaster? Can we travel through time? Is string theory really about strings? Why does E=mc2? What is the God Particle? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the ultimate nature of reality?
The Big Questions: Physics
by Michael BrooksThe Big Questions series is designed to let renowned experts address the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, and provides answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas.
The Big Questions: Physics
by Michael BrooksThe Big Questions series is designed to let renowned experts address the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, and provides answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas.
The Big Questions: The Universe
by Stuart ClarkThe Big Questions series enables renowned experts to tackle the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy. Each 3000-word essay simply and concisely examines a question that has eternally perplexed enquiring minds, providing answers from history's great thinkers. This ambitious project is a unique distillation of humanity's best ideas. In Big Questions: The Universe, Dr. Stuart Clark tackles the 20 key questions of astronomy and cosmology: What is the universe? How big is the universe? How old is the universe? What are stars made from? How did the universe form? Why do planets stay in orbit? Was Einstein right? What are black holes? How did the Earth form? What were the first celestial objects? What is dark matter? What is dark energy? Are we really made from stardust? Is there life on Mars? Are there other intelligent beings? Can we travel through time and space? Can the laws of physics change? Are there alternative universes? What will be the fate of the universe? Is there cosmological evidence for God?
The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis
by Ruth DefriesOur species long lived on the edge of starvation. Now we produce enough food for all 7 billion of us to eat nearly 3,000 calories every day. This is such an astonishing thing in the history of life as to verge on the miraculous. The Big Ratchet is the story of how it happened, of the ratchets--the technologies and innovations, big and small--that propelled our species from hunters and gatherers on the savannahs of Africa to shoppers in the aisles of the supermarket. The Big Ratchet itself came in the twentieth century, when a range of technologies--from fossil fuels to scientific plant breeding to nitrogen fertilizers--combined to nearly quadruple our population in a century, and to grow our food supply even faster. To some, these technologies are a sign of our greatness; to others, of our hubris. MacArthur fellow and Columbia University professor Ruth DeFries argues that the debate is the wrong one to have. Limits do exist, but every limit that has confronted us, we have surpassed. That cycle of crisis and growth is the story of our history; indeed, it is the essence of The Big Ratchet. Understanding it will reveal not just how we reached this point in our history, but how we might survive it.
The Big Story of Being Alive: A Brilliant Book About What Makes You EXTRAORDINARY
by Neal LaytonWherever you go, there are lots of people and no one looks quite the same. But they are all ALIVE. YOU are alive too. But what actually makes something ALIVE?There are three things that all living things have in common: they GROW, they REPRODUCE and they are made of trillions of tiny, but mightily important, organisms called CELLS.Find out all about them in this fresh, funny and fact-filled book from author and illustrator Neal Layton, you'll discover why being alive is totally AMAZING.
The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water
by Charles FishmanPraised as &“an entertaining and torrential flow of a book&” by Nature magazine, The Big Thirst is a startling examination of the passing of the golden age of water and the shocking facts about how water scarcity will soon be a major factor in our lives.The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex. Rather than only three states of water—liquid, ice, and vapor—there is a fourth, &“molecular water,&” fused into rock 400 miles deep in the Earth, and that&’s where most of the planet&’s water is found. Unlike most precious resources, water cannot be used up; it can always be made clean enough again to drink—indeed, water can be made so clean that it&’s toxic. Water is the most vital substance in our lives but also more amazing and mysterious than we appreciate. As Charles Fishman brings vibrantly to life in this surprising and mind-changing narrative, water runs our world in a host of awe-inspiring ways, yet we take it completely for granted. But the era of easy water is over. Bringing readers on a lively and fascinating journey—from the wet moons of Saturn to the water-obsessed hotels of Las Vegas, where dolphins swim in the desert, and from a rice farm in the parched Australian outback to a high-tech IBM plant that makes an exotic breed of pure water found nowhere in nature—Fishman vividly shows that we&’ve already left behind a century-long golden age when water was thoughtlessly abundant, free, and safe and entered a new era of high-stakes water. In 2008, Atlanta came within ninety days of running entirely out of clean water. California is in a desperate battle to hold off a water catastrophe. And in the last five years Australia nearly ran out of water—and had to scramble to reinvent the country&’s entire water system. But as dramatic as the challenges are, the deeper truth Fishman reveals is that there is no good reason for us to be overtaken by a global water crisis. We have more than enough water. We just don&’t think about it, or use it, smartly. The Big Thirst brilliantly explores our strange and complex relationship to water. We delight in watching waves roll in from the ocean; we take great comfort from sliding into a hot bath; and we will pay a thousand times the price of tap water to drink our preferred brand of the bottled version. We love water—but at the moment, we don&’t appreciate it or respect it. Just as we&’ve begun to reimagine our relationship to food, a change that is driving the growth of the organic and local food movements, we must also rethink how we approach and use water. The good news is that we can. As Fishman shows, a host of advances are under way, from the simplicity of harvesting rainwater to the brilliant innovations devised by companies such as IBM, GE, and Royal Caribbean that are making impressive breakthroughs in water productivity. Knowing what to do is not the problem. Ultimately, the hardest part is changing our water consciousness. As Charles Fishman writes, &“Many civilizations have been crippled or destroyed by an inability to understand water or manage it. We have a huge advantage over the generations of people who have come before us, because we can understand water and we can use it smartly.&” The Big Thirst will forever change the way we think about water, about our essential relationship to it, and about the creativity we can bring to ensuring that we&’ll always have plenty of it.
The Big and Awesome Bridges of Portland and Vancouver: A Book for Young Readers and Their Teachers
by Sharon Wood Wortman Ed WortmanThe big & awesome bridges of Portland & Vancouver is a book that gets young people excited about science and engineering and provides teachers a comprehensive resource for developing engaging elementary school units of study, all through an exploration of one of the most diverse and historic collections of big river bridges in the world.
The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World
by Alexander BeinerCan psychedelic drugs help us tackle the biggest problems we face globally? Can they heal the cultural, spiritual, and political wounds we&’re wrestling with?Psychedelics have hit the mainstream as powerful new mental health treatments. But as clinicians explore what these molecules can do for our individual minds, The Bigger Picture goes further to illuminate how psychedelics can help us find new ways to make sense of and come through the crises we face around the world.Drawing on the latest research, as well as his unique experience as a participant in a ground-breaking clinical trial investigating the potent psychedelic DMT, Alexander Beiner reveals:the role of psychedelics in addressing global issues such as global warming, geopolitical instability, and political polarization the dark side of the &‘psychedelic renaissance&’ and &‘psychedelic capitalism&’what it takes to elicit huge personal and cultural transformation through psychedelicsEmbark on a journey into The Bigger Picture – a new era of science and spirituality with the potential to radically transform our perceptions of ourselves, one another, and our life on this planet.
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 1: Space, Time and Motion
by Sean CarrollKnowledge is power… A landmark new series from a prize-winning scientist and communicator In this major trilogy, Sean Carroll opens up the world of physics and shows that you don&’t necessarily need a science degree to gain a deeper insight into the workings of the universe. Starting with the ideas that revolutionised our view of nature, Space, Time and Motion poses deep questions about the cosmos, guiding us through classical physics from Euclid and Galileo to Newton and Einstein. Carroll investigates how a twin could be seven years older than her brother, and demonstrates why it&’s easier than you might think for a drifting astronaut to get back to the safety of the space station. These are the laws of physics as you&’ve never understood them before.
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 2: Quanta and Fields
by Sean CarrollTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER &‘Neat, and extremely simple: only a deep thinker such as Sean Carroll could introduce the complexity of Einstein&’s general relativity in such a luminous and straightforward manner.&’ Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics Immense, strange and infinite, the world of modern physics often feels impenetrable to the undiscerning eye – a jumble of muons, gluons and quarks, impossible to explain without several degrees and a research position at CERN. But it doesn&’t have to be this way! Allow world-renowned theoretical physicist and bestselling author Sean Carroll to guide you through the biggest ideas in the universe. Elegant and simple, Carroll unravels a web of theory to get to the heart of the truths they represent about the world around us. — In Quanta and Fields, the second in this landmark trilogy, Carroll delves into the baffling and beautiful world of quantum mechanics. From Schrödinger to Feynman, Carroll travels through the quantum revolution with the greatest minds of the twentieth century. Exploring how several decades of research overturned centuries of convention, Carroll provides a dazzling tour of the most exciting ideas in modern science.