Book picks similar to
Mars: A New View of the Red Planet by Giles Sparrow
science
mars
space
non-fiction
Early Modern England, 1485-1714: A Narrative History
Robert O. Bucholz - 2003
Written by two leading scholars.Assumes no prior knowledge of British history.Text is broken up with maps, illustrations, and genealogies; includes glossary.Focuses on what political, religious, and constitutional developments meant to ordinary people.Covers relevant events in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.Places the Tudor-Stuart period in the context of what happened before and after.Accompanied by the student sourcebook Sources and Debates in English History, 1485-1714 - see http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/0631213910 For more information visit http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/earlymode...
Photography Night Sky: A Field Guide for Shooting After Dark
Jennifer Wu - 2014
You'll learn how to overcome the unique issues that confront nighttime photographers and capture images of which you'll be proud. Co-author Jennifer Wu, an elite Canon "Explorer of Light" professional photographer, has become renowned for her ability to capture nighttime phenomena, from quarter-phase moon rises to shooting stars to the ephemeral Milky Way. this new guide reveals her methods and concentrates on photographing four principal subjects: stars as points of light, star trails, the moon, and twilight. these subjects share common photo techniques and considerations, but each also requires a distinct approach. Once captured, your digital images must be fi nished on the computer; coauthor and author of the bestselling Photography: Outdoors, James Martin, delves into the settings and procedures that elevate an image from mundane to striking. This clear and practical guide will help photographers of all levels portray the stunning spectacle of the night sky, preserving those special memories and moments from a life outdoors.
Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space
Isaac Asimov - 1988
"A fine introduction to modern astronomical theory." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL
The Sun's Heartbeat: And Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet
Bob Berman - 2011
And from the ancients who plotted its path at Stonehenge to the modern scientists who unraveled the nuclear fusion reaction that turns mass into energy, humankind has sought to solve its mysteries. In this lively biography of the sun, Bob Berman ranges from its stellar birth to its spectacular future death with a focus on the wondrous and enthralling, and on the heartbreaking sacrifice, laughable errors, egotistical battles, and brilliant inspirations of the people who have tried to understand its power. What, exactly, are the ghostly streaks of light astronauts see-but can't photograph-when they're in space? And why is it impossible for two people to see the exact same rainbow? Why are scientists beginning to think that the sun is safer than sunscreen? And how does the fluctuation of sunspots-and its heartbeat-affect everything from satellite communications to wheat production across the globe? Peppered with mind-blowing facts and memorable anecdotes about spectral curiosities-the recently-discovered "second sun" that lurks beneath the solar surface, the eerie majesty of a total solar eclipse-The Sun's Heartbeat offers a robust and entertaining narrative of how the Sun has shaped humanity and our understanding of the universe around us.
Zero Hour for Gen X: How the Last Adult Generation Can Save America from Millennials
Matthew Hennessey - 2018
Soon Gen Xers will be the only cohort of Americans who remember life as it was lived before the arrival of the Internet. They are, as Hennessey dubs them, “the last adult generation,” the sole remaining link to a time when childhood was still a bit dangerous but produced adults who were naturally resilient. More than a decade into the social media revolution, the American public is waking up to the idea that the tech sector’s intentions might not be as pure as advertised. The mountains of money being made off our browsing habits and purchase histories are used to fund ever-more extravagant and utopian projects that, by their very natures, will corrode the foundations of free society, leaving us all helpless and digitally enslaved to an elite crew of ultra-sophisticated tech geniuses. But it’s not too late to turn the tide. There’s still time for Gen X to write its own future. A spirited defense of free speech, eye contact, and the virtues of patience, Zero Hour for Gen X is a cultural history of the last 35 years, an analysis of the current social and historical moment, and a generational call to arms.
The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe
Arthur Koestler - 1959
In this masterly synthesis, Arthur Koestler cuts through the sterile distinction between 'sciences' and 'humanities' to bring to life the whole history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton. He shows how the tragic split between science and religion arose and how, in particular, the modern world-view replaced the medieval world-view in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. He also provides vivid and judicious pen-portraits of a string of great scientists and makes clear the role that political bias and unconscious prejudice played in their creativity.
...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
Walter A. McDougall - 1997
Drawing on published literature, archival sources in both the United States and Europe, interviews with many of the key participants, and important declassified material, such as the National Security Council's first policy paper on space, McDougall examines U.S., European, and Soviet space programs and their politics. Opening with a short account of Nikolai Kibalchich, a late nineteenth-century Russian rocketry theoretician, McDougall argues that the Soviet Union made its way into space first because it was the world's first "technocracy"—which he defines as "the institutionalization of technological change for state purpose." He also explores the growth of a political economy of technology in both the Soviet Union and the United States.
Dark Cosmos: In Search of Our Universe's Missing Mass and Energy
Dan Hooper - 2006
Beginning with the publication of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, through the wild revolution of quantum mechanics, and up until the physics of the modern day (including the astonishing revelation, in 1998, that the Universe is not only expanding, but doing so at an ever-quickening pace), much of what physicists have seen in our Universe suggests that much of our Universe is unseen—that we live in a dark cosmos.Everyone knows that there are things no one can see—the air you're breathing, for example, or, to be more exotic, a black hole. But what everyone does not know is that what we can see—a book, a cat, or our planet—makes up only 5 percent of the Universe. The rest—fully 95 percent—is totally invisible to us; its presence discernible only by the weak effects it has on visible matter around it.This invisible stuff comes in two varieties—dark matter and dark energy. One holds the Universe together, while the other tears it apart. What these forces really are has been a mystery for as long as anyone has suspected they were there, but the latest discoveries of experimental physics have brought us closer to that knowledge. Particle physicist Dan Hooper takes his readers, with wit, grace, and a keen knack for explaining the toughest ideas science has to offer, on a quest few would have ever expected: to discover what makes up our dark cosmos.
Human Anatomy & Physiology [With Interactive Physiology 10-System Suite and Paperback Book and Access Code]
Elaine N. Marieb - 1989
Marieb and Katja Hoehn have produced the most accessible, comprehensive, up-to-date, and visually stunning anatomy & physiology textbook on the market. Marieb draws on her career as an A&P professor and her experience as a part-time nursing student, while Hoehn relies on her medical education and classroom experience to explain concepts and processes in a meaningful and memorable way. The most significant revision to date, the Eighth Edition makes it easier for you to learn key concepts in A&P. The new edition features a whole new art program that is not only more visually dynamic and vibrant than in previous editions but is also much more pedagogically effective for today's students, including new Focus figures, which guide you through the toughest concepts in A&P. The text has been edited to make it easier than ever to study from and navigate, with integrated objectives, new concept check questions, and a new design program.
Black Holes and Warped Spacetime
William J. Kaufmann III - 1979
They infinitely warp space and time, allowing nothing to escape: not matter, not even light. They are stellar corpses that have crushed themselves into oblivion, seemingly suspending the traditional laws of physics. The Big bang may have peppered the universe with primordial black holes, as small as protons but as massive as mountains. The universe itself may be disappearing into the final black hole. Black holes (BHs) and their warping effect on spacetime are described, beginning with a discussion on stellar evolution that includes white dwarfs, supernovas and neutron stars. The structure of static, rotating, and electrically charged BHs are considered, as well as the general theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, the Einstein-Rosen bridge, and wormholes in spacetime. Attention is also given to gravitational lenses, various space geometries, quasars, Seyfert galaxies, supermassive black holes, the evaporation and particle emission of BHs, and primordial BHs, including their temperature and lifetime. The author's engrossing, non-technical explanations are enhanced by numerous illustrations.
Molecular Biotechnology: Principles & Applications of Recombinant DNA
Bernard R. Glick - 1994
The latest edition offers greatly expanded coverage of directed mutagenesis and protein engineering, therapeutic agents, and genetic engineering of plants. Updated chapters reflect recent developments in biotechnology and the societal issues related to it, such as cloning, gene therapy, and patenting and releasing genetically engineered organisms. Over 480 figures, including 200 that are new in this edition, illustrate all key concepts. "Milestones" summarize important research papers in the history of biotechnology and their effects on the field. As in previous editions, the authors clearly explain all concepts and techniques to provide maximum understanding of the subject, avoiding confusing scientific jargon and excessive detail wherever possible. Each chapter concludes with a summary, references, and review questions. Ideally suited as a text for third- and fourth-year undergraduates as well as graduate students, this book is also an excellent reference for health professionals, scientists, engineers, or attorneys interested in biotechnology.
Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir
Bryan Burrough - 1997
It was to be a routine mission, the 4th of seven trips to Mir that NASA astronauts would take as dress rehearsals for the two countries' partnership in a new Intern'l Space Station they were building back on Earth. But there'd been bad omens: a Moscow psychic who predicted a mysterious disaster; a Russian doctor who warned that the crew was psychologically incompatible. Within two weeks the omens were borne out, as the three were suddenly forced to fight the worst fire in space history. This was only the beginning of what became the most dangerous mission in the 36-year history of manned space travel--a 6-month misadventure that would climax in the most harrowing accident faced in space since Apollo 13. In Dragonfly, bestselling author Burrough tells the story of how a joint Russian-American crew narrowly survived almost every trauma imaginable: fire, power blackouts, chemical leaks, docking failures, nail-biting spacewalks & constant mechanical breakdowns, all climaxing in a dramatic midspace collision that left all on board scrambling for their lives. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the cosmonauts, astronauts, ground controllers, psychologists & scientists involved, Dragonfly is the saga of a mission as fraught with political & bureaucratic intrigues as any DC potboiler. Using never-before-released internal NASA memoranda, flight logs & debriefings, Burrough portrays a US space program in which many astronauts refuse to raise safety concerns for fear they'll be frozen out of future missions. It offers an unprecedented look inside the rattletrap Russian space program, where the desperate thirst for hard currency leads to safety shortcuts as exhausted, puppetlike cosmonauts endure inhuman pressures from their unfeeling, all-powerful masters on the ground. In Dragonfly, the American astronauts who journeyed to Mir speak out about the failings of the program, from the rigors of training at Russia's Star City military base to the slapdash experiments they were required to perform. Yet thru it all the men & women of the two space programs persevered, forging friendships that will serve them well as the two countries prepare for the 1st launches of the Intern'l Space Station in late 1998. Theirs is a story of a triumph over adversity, destined to be one of the most enduring & widely celebrated adventure stories of our time.
Expanding Universe: Photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope
Charles F. Bolden Jr. - 2015
On the 25th anniversary of its launch into low-earth orbit, TASCHEN celebrates its most breathtaking deep space images both as scientific feats and as photographic masterpieces. Ultra high-resolution and taken with almost no background light, these pictures have answered some of the most compelling questions of time and space, while also revealing new mysteries, like the strange “dark energy” that sees the universe expanding at an ever-accelerated rate. In generous square format with several foldouts, the pictures mesmerize in their iridescent colors, intricate textures, and vast, fragile forms.The collection is accompanied by an essay from photography critic Owen Edwards and an interview with Zoltan Levay, who explains how the pictures are composed. Veteran Hubble astronauts Charles F. Bolden, Jr. and John Mace Grunsfeld also offer their insights on Hubble’s legacy and future space exploration.
Tamora Pierce
Donna Dailey - 2006
Biography of Tamora Pierce, who has written twenty-three young adult fantasy novels, in addition to many short stories, articles, and radio plays.
Stardust: Supernovae and Life -- The Cosmic Connection
John Gribbin - 2000
All the chemical elements on earth except hydrogen-including the ones in our bodies-have been processed inside stars, scattered across the universe in great stellar explosions, and recycled to become new stars, planets, and parts of us. In this engrossing book, John and Mary Gribbin relate the developments in twentieth-century astronomy that have led to this shattering realization. They begin their account in the 1920s, when astronomers discovered that the oldest stars are chiefly composed of the primordial elements hydrogen and helium, produced in the birth of the universe in a Big Bang. They then describe the seminal work of the 1950s and 1960s, which unlocked the secret of how elements are "cooked" by nuclear fusion inside stars. The heart of the story is their discussion of supernovae, only recently understood as great stellar explosions in which the resulting ash is spread far and wide through the cosmos, forming new generations of stars, planets, and people. Focusing on the relationship between the universe and the Earth, the authors eloquently explain how the physical structure of the universe has produced conditions ideal for life.