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Report on Planet Three
Arthur C. Clarke - 1972
For those of you who are worried about what the neighbors will think, there is what is purported to be an old Martian document which tells us what our nearest neighbor has to say about life on Earth.Later in the book, Clarke goes on to explain the proper etiquette for contacting and dealing with aliens from outer space, or what to do if they get here first...Ranging from the light fantastic to the extremely possible, this collection is divided into five sections: Talking of Space; Outward from Earth; The Technological Future; Frontiers of Science; and Son of Dr. Strangelove, Etc.From Martians to Magi, here is Arthur C. Clarke's unforgettable tour of the Universe - known, unknown and yet to come.
Professor Maxwell’s Duplicitous Demon: The Life and Science of James Clerk Maxwell
Brian Clegg - 2019
But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.
Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive colour. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.
Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. ‘Maxwell’s demon’ is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.
Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen
Philip Ball - 2014
Perhaps all three, given the opportunity.But there's no need to feel guilty. Because these impulses, and plenty more, have always been at the heart of our fascination with invisibility. Precisely because it points to realms beyond our senses, the notion of invisibility has long performed as a receptacle for fears and dreams, as something that hints at worlds where other rules apply; and as a mighty power and a terrible curse, a sexual promise, a spiritual condition.This is a history of invisibility in our culture. It takes in Plato, the occult in the Renaissance and the Middle Ages, Shakespearian ghosts, ether and cathode rays and nineteenth-century science, spiritualism, electromagnetism, H.G. Wells, the microscopic world, camouflage, prestidigitation and twenty-first century nanoscience.Here is everything you've ever wanted to know about the invisible - from the medieval to the cutting-edge, fairy tales to telecommunications, from beliefs about the supernatural to the discovery of dark energy.
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West
Rebecca Solnit - 2003
This striking assertion is at the heart of Rebecca Solnit’s new book, which weaves together biography, history, and fascinating insights into art and technology to create a boldly original portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. The story of Muybridge—who in 1872 succeeded in capturing high-speed motion photographically—becomes a lens for a larger story about the acceleration and industrialization of everyday life. Solnit shows how the peculiar freedoms and opportunities of post–Civil War California led directly to the two industries—Hollywood and Silicon Valley—that have most powerfully defined contemporary society.
Albert Einstein: The Human Side
Albert Einstein - 1979
The illustrious physicist wrote as thoughtfully to an Ohio fifth-grader, distressed by her discovery that scientists classify humans as animals, as to a Colorado banker, who asked whether he believed in a personal God. Witty rhymes, and exchange about fine music with Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, and expressions of his devotion to Zionism are but some of the highlights found in this rare, warm enriching book.
Gwen's Honor
Sandra Wilkins - 2013
Although engaged to Walter Manning for more than two years, she has lived away from him and worked as a society reporter for the Shawnee Globe. But an unexpected reconnection with the handsome Josh Flynn, her childhood sweetheart, leads to jealousy from Walter. Gwen insists that she loves Walter and would never be so dishonorable as to break off her engagement…Yet she can't brush off the feeling that her lack of enthusiasm and mounting pressure from wedding preparations are pointing her in a different direction—one that would shake her comfortable life to its foundation. Faced with an impossible decision, Gwen must choose between honor and love in this historical romance set in the Oklahoma Territory.
Old Man Johnson (Kindle Single)
Andrew Kevin Walker - 2015
in this off-kilter, coming-of-age romantic comedy.Abbie, a twenty-something free spirit who is dreading her looming parent-mandated enrollment in graduate school, makes a semi-annual pilgrimage to visit her perfectly well meaning and perfectly boring grandfather, Henry. But Abbie is roused out of her quarter-life crisis when she meets her grandfather's persnickety, oddball friend, Johnson. With his cane and elderly clothing, he is the very picture of a bitter old man. The problem is, Johnson is 23 years old, and apparently completely delusional. Also a problem: Abbie is falling in love with him. The first novel from screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, OLD MAN JOHNSON is for the old (and young) at heart.Cover design by Kristen Radtke.Cover painting by Mark Allison.
Minecraft: Diary of a Minecraft Creeper
Diary Wimpy - 2015
What kind of mischief will he get into? Will he win his father's approval and cause more destruction than any creeper in history? This diary book is a great read or gift for a Minecraft lover of any age! *** Read It FREE With Kindle Unlimited Or Prime Membership *** Don't have kindle? No worries! Read it on your PC, Mac, Tablet Or Smartphone! *** Download Your Copy Or Read It FREE With Kindle Unlimited Or Prime Membership ***
The Best Couple Ever
Novoneel Chakraborty - 2018
If yes, then congrats! You are their next target.
In the City of Love's Sleep
Lavinia Greenlaw - 2018
Raif is a stalled academic, as uncertain of the past as he is the future, whose girlfriend is about to move in. They meet by chance, nothing important is said, yet Iris turns away and starts to run. She is running from what this encounter has woken in her.
In the City of Love's Sleep
is a contemporary fable about what it means to fall in love in middle age. It charts the steps two people take towards one another and what it means to have taken those steps before.
The Element in the Room: Science-y Stuff Staring You in the Face (Festival of the Spoken Nerd)
Helen Arney - 2017
This hilarious and informative book is designed for anyone who is sci-curious and wants to know more about the world around them, especially the elements of everyday science that other books ignore.
The Puzzle People: Memoirs Of A Transplant Surgeon
Thomas Starzl - 1992
and a PhD. While he was a student, and later during his surgical internship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, he began the series of animal experiments that led eventually to the world’s first transplantation of the human liver in 1963.Throughout his career, first at the University of Colorado and then at the University of Pittsburgh, he has aroused both worldwide admiration and controversy. His technical innovations and medical genius have revolutionized the field, but Starzl has not hesitated to address the moral and ethical issues raised by transplantation. In this book he clearly states his position on many hotly debated issues including brain death, randomized trials for experimental drugs, the costs of transplant operations, and the system for selecting organ recipients from among scores of desperately ill patients.There are many heroes in the story of transplantation, and many “puzzle people,” the patients who, as one journalist suggested, might one day be made entirely of various transplanted parts. They are old and young, obscure and world famous. Some have been taken into the hearts of America, like Stormie Jones, the brave and beautiful child from Texas. Every patient who receives someone else’s organ - and Starzl remembers each one - is a puzzle. “It was not just the acquisition of a new part,” he writes. “The rest of the body had to change in many ways before the gift could be accepted. It was necessary for the mind to see the world in a different way.” The surgeons and physicians who pioneered transplantation were also changed: they too became puzzle people. “Some were corroded or destroyed by the experience, some were sublimated, and none remained the same.”
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 1985
Stanley SchmidtLarry Powell - 1985
Gillett, Ph.D.• The Efficiency Expert by W. R. Thompson• Second Helpings by George R. R. Martin• Random Sample by Heidi Heyer• On Gaming by Dana Lombardy• Siblings by Larry Powell• Diabetes and Rockets by G. Harry Stine• Béisbol by Ben Bova• The Darkling Plain by P. M. Fergusson• Biolog: P. M. Fergusson by Jay Kay Klein• The Reference Library by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Artifact by Gregory Benford by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Cuckoo's Egg by C. J. Cherryh by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Skinner by Richard S. McEnroe by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Blood Music by Greg Bear by Thomas A. Easton • Review: A Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny by Thomas A. Easton • Review: The Fall of Winter by Jack C. Haldeman, II by Thomas A. Easton • Review: The Time Travelers; A Science Fiction Quartet by Martin H. Greenberg and Robert Silverberg by Thomas A. Easton • Review: The Hugo Winners, 1976-1979 by Isaac Asimov by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Young Extraterrestrials by Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenberg and Charles Waugh by Thomas A. Easton • Review: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Second Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois by Thomas A. Easton • Review: The Future of Flight by Dean Ing and Leik Myrabo by Thomas A. Easton • Review: Out of the Cradle: Exploring the Frontiers Beyond Earth by William K. Hartmann and Pamela Lee and Ron Miller by Thomas A. Easton • Brass Tacks by Stanley Schmidt• Analog: A Calendar of Upcoming Events by Anthony R. Lewis
Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc
Arthur I. Miller - 2001
This fascinating parallel biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso as young men examines their greatest creations -- Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Einstein's special theory of relativity. Miller shows how these breakthroughs arose not only from within their respective fields but from larger currents in the intellectual culture of the times. Ultimately, Miller shows how Einstein and Picasso, in a deep and important sense, were both working on the same problem.
Fantasia Mathematica
Clifton Fadiman - 1958
Ranging from the poignant to the comical via the simply surreal, these selections include writing by Aldous Huxley, Martin Gardner, H.G. Wells, George Gamow, G.H. Hardy, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and many others. Humorous, mysterious, and always entertaining, this collection is sure to bring a smile to the faces of mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike.