Fire Bubbles and Exploding Toothpaste: More Unforgettable Experiments That Make Science Fun


Steve Spangler - 2011
    The materials are easy to find and the directions are simple to follow, but the end result is guaranteed to produce lots of oohs and aahs. Steve Spangler takes his geek-chic approach to exposing some of the coolest science tricks that will surprise teachers and amaze your friends. Over 200 color photographs accompany the step-by-step instructions, and simple explanations uncover the how-to and why for each activity. You'll have a blast with these experiments: Floating Bowling Balls Pop Bottle Music Bouncing Smoke Bubbles Walking on Eggshells Balancing Nails Fireproof Balloon Skateboard Rocket Car Warning! Do not read the special, super-secret, teachers-only section that reveals a few of Steve Spangler's secrets for making science come alive in the classroom. If you're not a teacher and you don't want to miss out on twisting up a Fire Tornado or making a mountain of Exploding Toothpaste, just give this book to the coolest science teacher you know and ask him or her to help you create an unforgettable learning experience.

Concepts of Chemical Dependency


Harold E. Doweiko - 1990
    Topics include: the abuse of and addiction to alcohol; how the active agent in marijuana, THC, affects neural growth and development; the emerging body of evidence suggesting a relationship between marijuana abuse and psychotic disorders; the emerging body of evidence suggesting that marijuana is not as benign as it was thought to be even a few years ago; and updated information on the abuse of cough syrups, a trend that has evolved in adolescent substance abusers in the past decade. Adding to the book's usefulness and relevance, Doweiko also covers topics not usually discussed in other substance abuse texts, including: abuse of anabolic steroids; inhalants; many of the forms of infectious disease associated with substance abuse; how the "war on drugs" has actually contributed to the problem of substance abuse/addiction in this country; the relationship between substance abuse and many infectious diseases; and the latest information on the "medical marijuana" debate. Providing a comprehensive overview of the problems of substance abuse and addiction, students report that they appreciate the author's balanced approach in contrast to a tendency to "preach" to the reader that "drugs are bad for you." Student feedback indicates that they value the clear and detailed information provided, allowing the student to form their own opinion about the compound(s) being discussed in each chapter.

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe


Brian Greene - 2020
    Someday, we know, we will all die. And, we know, so too will the universe itself.Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe's beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless, or eternal. Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality-from the quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes-Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed.Yet all this understanding, which arose with the emergence of life, will dissolve with its conclusion. Which leaves us with one realization: during our brief moment in the sun, we are tasked with the charge of finding our own meaning.Let us embark.

Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe


Mario Livio - 2013
    Nobody is perfect. And that includes five of the greatest scientists in history—Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein. But the mistakes that these great luminaries made helped advance science. Indeed, as Mario Livio explains, science thrives on error, advancing when erroneous ideas are disproven.As a young scientist, Einstein tried to conceive of a way to describe the evolution of the universe at large, based on General Relativity—his theory of space, time, and gravity. Unfortunately he fell victim to a misguided notion of aesthetic simplicity. Fred Hoyle was an eminent astrophysicist who ridiculed an emerging theory about the origin of the universe that he dismissively called “The Big Bang.” The name stuck, but Hoyle was dead wrong in his opposition.They, along with Darwin (a blunder in his theory of Natural Selection), Kelvin (a blunder in his calculation of the age of the earth), and Pauling (a blunder in his model for the structure of the DNA molecule), were brilliant men and fascinating human beings. Their blunders were a necessary part of the scientific process. Collectively they helped to dramatically further our knowledge of the evolution of life, the Earth, and the universe.

The Way of the Hive: A Honey Bee's Story


Jay Hosler - 2000
    LikeWhen does a bee go through metamorphosis?Why does a queen bee sometimes leave her hive?And where does all this honey come from, anyway?!But Nyuki’s biggest question is, “What is this inner voice I hear, and why does it tell me to go forth to adventure?Follow Nyuki on a lifelong journey as she annoys her sisters, avoids predators, and learns to trust her inner voice as she masters the way of the hive.And if you still have questions at the end, the back of the book uncovers even more mysteries about the lives of these incredible insects!

Ultimate Visual Dictionary


Deni Brown - 1994
    -- Library Journal-- A Library Journal Best Reference Sources Book

Beetle Busters


Loree Griffin Burns - 2014
    These beetles came to America from China, living in wood turned into shipping material. At first the beetles invaded urban areas, where hardwood trees were in limited supply—Chicago was able to declare itself ALB-free in 2006. But right now there is bad news in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Toronto—infestations have erupted in the area’s hardwood forests, and these beetles, while bad at flying, are very good at killing trees.Clint McFarland’s job? Stop the ALB at any cost. How do you balance the needs of residents, the impact to the environment, and an invasive species primed to wipe out entire forests? It takes the help of everyday people, such as children playing baseball at a playground, teams of beetle-sniffing dogs, and science-minded people (bug scientists and tree doctors) to eradicate this invasive pest.

Dead Men's Secrets: Tantalising Hints of a Lost Super Race


Jonathan Gray - 1986
    And they weren't just in one place. There was a global pattern to them. This pattern showed a lost science and technology. That's when he knew someone had to speak up. This content was of tremendous value.-MACHINERY: Did you know that the Egyptians bored into granite rock with drills that turned 500 times faster than modern power drills?-ANCIENT AMERICA: Did you know that a Chinese mapping survey of North America in 2200 BC described a sunrise over the Grand Canyon, black opals and gold nuggets in Nevada, and seals frolicking in San Francisco Bay?This is the most amazing archaeology book you'll ever see!Dead Men's Secrets is an assemblage of astonishing discoveries.....A lost super science emerges from the sea floor, jungle and desert sands of our planet... over 1,000 forgotten secrets. It will SHOCK you. SEE this world as you've never seen it before. DISCOVER answers you never had. GAIN a new enjoyment. HAVE FACTS at your fingertips to amaze your friends.International explorer, archaeologist and author Jonathan Gray has traveled the world to gather data on ancient mysteries. He has penetrated some largely unexplored areas, including parts of the Amazon headwater. The author has also led expeditions to the bottom of the sea and to remote mountain and desert regions of the world. He lectures internationally.

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 1


Raymond A. Serway - 2003
    However, rather than resting on that reputation, the new edition of this text marks a significant advance in the already excellent quality of the book. While preserving concise language, state of the art educational pedagogy, and top-notch worked examples, the Eighth Edition features a unified art design as well as streamlined and carefully reorganized problem sets that enhance the thoughtful instruction for which Raymond A. Serway and John W. Jewett, Jr. earned their reputations. Likewise, PHYSICS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, will continue to accompany Enhanced WebAssign in the most integrated text-technology offering available today. In an environment where new Physics texts have appeared with challenging and novel means to teach students, this book exceeds all modern standards of education from the most solid foundation in the Physics market today.

Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence


Nick Caruso - 2017
    Millipedes do it. Dinosaurs did it. You do it: I do it. Octopuses don't (and nor do octopi). Spiders might do it: more research is needed. Birds don't do it, but they could if they wanted to. Herrings do it to communicate with each other. At the beginning of 2017, an innocent question on twitter about snakes formed the hashtag #doesitfart and spread pungently across the internet - and major newspapers - as dozens of experts weighed in on which animals do and don't fart, and if they do, how much, how often, what it's made of, what it smells like, and what it's for. Does it Fart? is the result: the fully authoritative, fully illustrated guide to animal flatulence, covering the habits of 80 animals in more detail than you ever knew you needed. What foods make hyena farts smell especially bad? What is a fossa, and does it fart? Why do clams vomit but not fart? What is a fart, anyway? With contributions from dozens of biologists, Does it Fart? is a book that will allow you to shift the blame onto all kinds of unlikely animals for years to come.

Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense


Arieh Ben-Naim - 2007
    The author paves the way for readers to discover for themselves what entropy is, how it changes, and most importantly, why it always changes in one direction in a spontaneous process.

Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons


Kris Newby - 2019
    That one bite changed her life forever, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating illness that took ten doctors to diagnose and years to recover: Newby had become one of the 300,000 Americans who are afflicted with Lyme disease each year.As a science writer, she was driven to understand why this disease is so misunderstood, and its patients so mistreated. This quest led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the Lyme microbe's discoverer, who revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons during the Cold War, and believed that the Lyme epidemic was started by a military experiment gone wrong.In a superb, meticulous work of narrative journalism, Bitten takes readers on a journey to investigate these claims, from biological weapons facilities to interviews with biosecurity experts and microbiologists doing cutting-edge research, all the while uncovering darker truths about Willy. It also leads her to uncomfortable questions about why Lyme can be so difficult to both diagnose and treat, and why the government is so reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as a disease.A gripping, infectious page-turner, Bitten will shed a terrifying new light on an epidemic that is exacting an incalculable toll on us, upending much of what we believe we know about it.

CMOS VLSI Design: A Circuits and Systems Perspective


Neil H.E. Weste - 2004
    The authors draw upon extensive industry and classroom experience to explain modern practices of chip design. The introductory chapter covers transistor operation, CMOS gate design, fabrication, and layout at a level accessible to anyone with an elementary knowledge of digital electornics. Later chapters beuild up an in-depth discussion of the design of complex, high performance, low power CMOS Systems-on-Chip.

This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress


John Brockman - 2015
    In the past, discoveries often had to wait for the rise of the next generation to see questions in a new light and let go of old truisms. Today, in a world that is defined by a rapid rate of change, staying on the cutting edge has as much to do with shedding outdated notions as adopting new ones. In this spirit, John Brockman, publisher of the online salon Edge.org ("the world's smartest website"—The Guardian), asked 175 of the world's most influential scientists, economists, artists, and philosophers: What scientific idea is ready for retirement?Jared Diamond explores the diverse ways that new ideas emerge * Nassim Nicholas Taleb takes down the standard deviation * Richard Thaler and novelist Ian McEwan reveal the usefulness of "bad" ideas * Steven Pinker dismantles the working theory of human behavior * Richard Dawkins renounces essentialism * Sherry Turkle reevaluates our expectations of artificial intelligence * Physicist Andrei Linde suggests that our universe and its laws may not be as unique as we think * Martin Rees explains why scientific understanding is a limitless goal * Alan Guth rethinks the origins of the universe * Sam Harris argues that our definition of science is too narrow * Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek disputes the division between mind and matter * Lawrence Krauss challenges the notion that the laws of physics were preordained * plus contributions from Daniel Goleman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Nicholas Carr, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Matt Ridley, Stewart Brand, Sean Carroll, Daniel C. Dennett, Helen Fisher, Douglas Rushkoff, Lee Smolin, Kevin Kelly, Freeman Dyson, and others.

Animal Diversity


Cleveland P. Hickman Jr. - 1995
    The book uses the theme of evolution to develop a broad-scale view of animal diversity--students focus not only the organisms themselves, but also the processes that produce evolutionary diversity. The book is unique in its comprehensive survey of zoological diversity and its emphasis on evolutionary, systematic and ecological principles, all in one package.