It has been developed specifically for emerging courses in astrobiology, though it can also be used for introductory astronomy.

    The cat lives in an opaque box with a fiendish device that randomly feeds it either food, allowing it to live, or poison, which kills it. But in the quantum world, all possibilities coexist and have a reality of their own, and they ensure that the cat is both alive and dead, simultaneously.Who's Afraid of Schrvdinger's Cat? is a clear, concise explanation of the new sciences of quantum mechanics, chaos and complexity theory, relativity, new theories of mind, and the new cosmology. It studies worlds beyond the realm of common sense, and the new kinds of thinking that we need to understand ourselves, our minds, and our human place in the larger scheme of things.

    Their subjects: language and writing. The interviewee drove more than an hour, from Claremont to downtown Los Angeles. The interviewer flew from Dallas. They spoke on film for 67 minutes and then walked uphill to a nearby seafood restaurant, where they continued the running conversation they had started five years earlier. They liked each other, and they seemed to understand each other. The rest is history. This is the last long interview with David Foster Wallace.

    Written by one of the worlds most popular contemporary astrologers, and filled with magnificent illustrations, it covers both traditional and modern forms in a way that beginners can easily understand. The zodiac, elements, qualities, polarities, planets, house, and aspects all receive detailed attention, along with advice on putting it all together and creating a chart. Theres plenty of practical guidance for every aspect of life: on how to live in harmony with a particular zodiac partner, identify the career that fits an astrological personality, and use astrology to recognize health problems and find appropriate remedies.

    Natural phenomena, revolutionary inventions, and the most up-to-date investigations are explained in detailed text, and 2,000 vivid illustrations—including 3-D graphics and pictograms—make the information even more accessible and amazing to discover. The Science Book offers both a general overview of topics for the browsing reader and more specific information for those seeking deeper insight into a particular subject. Six major sections, ranging from the universe and planet Earth to biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, encompass everything from microscopic life to nuclear power—with particular attention given to subjects in the news today, like climate change and genetic engineering. The innovative organization allows for quick reference, while numerous fact boxes and cross-references emphasize the many links among modern scientific fields. Visual elements make even the most involved discussions easy to understand. The successes of National Geographic’s Visual History of the World and The Knowledge Book underscore the market for accessible resources such as this. Attractively priced for gift-giving and loaded with essential information, The Science Book will shine as an indispensable family reference.

    Some of these incredible devices may still be far from our reach, but others have made the leap from science fiction to science fact—and now you can learn the science and engineering of what makes them tick.Treknology looks at over twenty-five iconic inventions from the complete history of the Star Trek television and film universe. Author Ethan Siegel explores and profiles these dazzling technologies and their role Star Trek, the science behind how they work, and how close we are to achieving them in the real world today.This stunning collection is packed with 150 superb film and television stills, prop photography, and scientific diagrams to pull you into another world. Brace yourself for a detailed look at the inner workings of Star Trek’s computing capabilities, communications equipment, medical devices, and awe-inspiring ships. This book is one that no fan of Star Trek, or future tech, will want to miss.

    Eliot Porter's photographs of the natural world, spanning thirty-five years and five continents -- from an Antarctic ice floe to an American desert to an Icelandic lava field -- reveal in mesmerizing ways what scientists are beginning to see for themselves: the patterns, relations, and interactions present in nature's disorder and wildness. This is the perfect marriage of image and text -- brilliant full-color photographs by the preeminent nature photographer of his generation together with an illuminating essay by the widely praised author of Chaos.

    The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit.Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes.The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It explains step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within ten years; actually produce fuel and oxygen on the planet's surface with Martian natural resources; how we can build bases and settlements; and how we can one day "terraform" Mars--a process that can alter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life.

    The universe is all about extremes, and in this engaging and thought-provoking book, astronomer Bryan Gaensler gives a whirlwind tour of the galaxies, with an emphasis on its fastest, hottest, heaviest, brightest, oldest, densest, and even loudest elements. From supernova explosions a billion times brighter than the sun to an asteroid the size of a beach ball, Extreme Cosmos offers a fascinating, fresh, and informed perspective of the remarkable richness of the universe, and the incredible physics that modern astronomy has revealed.

    In First Light, he demonstrates his gift for creating an exciting and absorbing narrative around a complex scientific subject--in this case the efforts by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains of California to peer to the farthest edges of space through the Hale Telescope, attempting to solve the riddle of the creation of the universe. Richard Preston's name became a household word with The Hot Zone, which sold nearly 800,000 copies in hardcover, was on The New York Times's bestseller list for 42 weeks, and was the subject of countless magazine and newspaper articles. Preston has become a sought-after commentator on popular science subjects. For this hardcover reprint of what has been called "the best popular account of astronomy in action," (Kirkus Reviews) he has revised the text and written a new introduction.

    

    Topics include the development of counting and numbers systems, the emergence of zero, cultures that don’t have numbers, algebra, solid geometry, symmetry and beauty, perspective, riddles and problems, calculus, mathematical logic, friction force and displacement, subatomic particles, and the expansion of the universe. Great mathematical thinkers covered include Napier, Liu Hui, Aryabhata, Galileo, Newton, Russell, Einstein, Riemann, Euclid, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Charles Babbage, Montmort, Wittgenstein, and many more. The book is beautifully illustrated throughout in full color.

    By linking research ranging from the ancient Greek "dream temples" and modern experiments in telepathy, REM, and lucid dreaming to his own research on human consciousness, he theorizes that dreaming is the basis for consciousness, and that it is through dreaming that we are able to manifest a sense of ourselves.

    What is a tree? Why are they so important to life on Earth? How do they eat, breathe, grow, communicate, and regenerate themselves? How many different kinds of trees are there, and where do they live? In this beautiful little book, illustrated with rare old engravings and specially commissioned drawings, internationally renowned Finnish tree expert Professor Olavi Huikari takes us on an unforgettable journey deep into the secrets of these most majestic of Earth's life forms.

    Here the German-born scientist Wernher von Braun detailed what he believed were the problems and possibilities inherent in a projected expedition to Mars.    Today von Braun is recognized as the person most responsible for laying the groundwork for public acceptance of America's space program. When President Bush directed NASA in 1989 to prepare plans for an orbiting space station, lunar research bases, and human exploration of Mars, he was largely echoing what von Braun proposed in The Mars Project.