McPhee embarks on a fascinating journey across the basement of the continent -- the land masses forming Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and thereabouts -- with a professor and geochronologist acting as a guide.

    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.

    Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - A 20-minute Summary Inside this Instaread Summary: • Overview of the entire book• Introduction to the important people in the book• Summary and analysis of all the chapters in the book• Key Takeaways of the book• A Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Chapter 1 Gawande grew up in Ohio. His parents were immigrants from India and both were doctors. His grandparents stayed in India, and there were few older people in his neighborhood, so he had little experience with aging or death until he met his wife’s grandmother, Alice Hobson. Hobson was seventy-seven and living on her own in Virginia. She was a spirited widow who fixed her own plumbing and volunteered with Meals On Wheels. However, Hobson was losing strength and height steadily each year as her arthritis worsened.Gawande’s father enthusiastically adopted the customs of his new country, but he could not understand the way in which seniors were treated in the US. In India, the elderly were treated with great respect and lived out their lives with family.In the United States, Sitaram Gawande, Gawande’s grandfather, likely would have been sent to a nursing home like most of the elderly who cannot handle the basics of daily living by themselves. However, in India, Sitaram Gawande was able to live in his own home and manage his own affairs, with family constantly around him. He died at the age of one hundred and ten when he fell off a bus during a business trip.Until recently, most elderly people stayed with their families. Even as the nuclear family unit became predominant, replacing the multi-generational family unit, people cared for their elderly relatives. Families were large and one child, usually a daughter, would not marry in order to take care of the parents.This has changed in much of the world, where elderly people end up struggling to live alone, like Hobson, rather than living with dignity amid family, like Sitaram Gawande.One cause of this change can be found in the nature of knowledge. When few people lived to be very old, elders were honored. Their store of knowledge was greatly useful. People often portrayed themselves as older to command respect. Modern society’s emphasis on youth is a complete reversal of this attitude. Technological advances are perceived as the territory of the young, and everyone wants to be younger. High-tech job opportunities are all over the world, and young people do not hesitate to leave their parents behind to pursue them.In developed countries, parents embrace the concept of a retirement filled with leisure activities. Parents are happy to begin living for themselves once children are grown. However, this system only works for young, healthy retirees, but not for those who cannot continue to be independent. Hobson, for example, was falling frequently and suffering memory lapses. Her doctor did tests and wrote prescriptions, but did not know what to do about her deteriorating condition. Neither did her family… About the Author With Instaread Summaries, you can get the summary of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.

     FULLY FEATURED TABLE OF CONTENTS The full Table of Contents appears at the beginning of the book and can be accessed through the MENU or GO TO button. EPUB 3 CHECK The book successfully passes ePub 3 check developed IDPF. The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) is the global trade and standards organization dedicated to the development and promotion of electronic publishing and content consumption.

    this is one of those rare books that will change your beliefs - and in doing so will change your life. tHE ANt AND tHE FERRARI offers readers a clear, navigable path through the big questions that confront us all today. What is the meaning of life? Can we be ethical beings in today's world? Can we know if there is life after death? Is there such a thing as Absolute truth? What caused the Big Bang and why should you care?

    To Kill a MockingbirdThe Shoes of the FishermanSeven Days in MayTo Catch an Angel

     A Texas Ranger, relegated to deskwork due to past recklessness, petitions to regain custody of his five-year-old daughter, and his case is assigned to a family court judge who is as attractive as she is ambitious. When a masked gunman barges in during the custody hearing with his sights on the judge, the Ranger reacts instinctually and goes after him. But authorities apprehend the wrong man, and the real gunman remains unknown, at large, and a threat. Will this take-charge lawman jeopardize his chances of custody by going after the would-be assassin? And will this unlikely pair be able to deny the forbidden attraction building between them?

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    These three audios are offered at 40% off the indivial retail price. ANDROMEDA STRAINRead by Chris North The Andromeda Strain sets forth the story of Project Wildfire - the crash mobilization of the nations highest scientific and medical resources when an unmanned research satellite returns to earth mysteriously and lethally contaminated. Four American scientists are summoned under conditions of total news blackout and utmost urgency to Wildfire's secret laboratory five stories below the Nevada desert. There - surrounded by the most sophisticated computer equipment, and sealed off from the outside world - they work against the threat of a worldwide epidemic. Step by step they begin to unravel the puzzle of the Andromeda Strain until, terrifyingly, their microbacterial adversary ruptures the hypersterile seal of the lab and their already desperate search for a biomedical answer becomes a split second race against time. JURASSIC PARKRead by John Heard A shroud of secrecy covers a privately-owned island off the coast of the Dominican Republic where an American bioengineering firm is quietly building a resort theme park. Even the expert consultants on the project don't know exactly what it is. And local doctors are mystified when an injured park worker arrives at the hospital with gashes on his body, as if he's been mauled by an animal of monstrous proportions. A year later, when the first invited guests to "Jurassic Park" attend a 4-day preview, the amazement, the shock, and finally, the terror they experience there offer a horrifying solution to this disturbing puzzle. Riveting scientific detail ad a driving, suspenseful narrative make this an unforgettable story - one of advanced technology versus prehistoric monsters . . . and of an extraordinary good idea gone extraordinary bad. THE LOST WORLDRead by Anthony Heald The sequel to Michael Crichton's bestselling "Jurassic Park." It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park: six years since that extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end - the dinosaurs destroyed, the part dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to the public. There are rumors that something has survived.

    They wanted to know why McCain appealed so much to so many Americans, and particularly why he appealed to the "Young Voters" of America who generally show nothing but apathy. The "Director's Cut" (three times longer than the RS article) is an incisive, funny, thoughtful piece about life on "Bullshit One" -- the nickname for the press bus that followed McCain's Straight Talk Express. This piece becomes ever more relevant, as we discuss what we know, don't know, and don't want to know about the way our political campaigns work.

    Your new-found wisdom will help you to impress your friends, frustrate your enemies and win every argument. Henry VIII had six wives- WRONG! Everest is the highest mountain in the world- WRONG! Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone- WRONG! Everything you think you know is- WRONG!

    On 3rd August 2012, Tia Sharp, a 12-year-old school girl, was reported missing from her grandmotherOCOs house in New Addington, south London. A call by her mother alerted the police to TiaOCOs disappearance and a massive search operation began. A nationwide appeal was launched to find Tia and her family, including her step-grandfather, 37-year-old Stuart Hazell, made a public appeal to find her. It was reported that Tia had disappeared after being dropped off at a train station to go shopping, but in the days that followed a very different story emerged. Only seven days after Tia was reported missing the terrible news came that her body had been found; wrapped in bin bags and hidden in her grandmotherOCOs attic. The truth that unfolded over the course of the day horrified the public; not only had the police searched the house on three separate occasions before discovering TiaOCOs body, late the following evening, Stuart HazellOCothe man who Tia trusted, the man who appealed for her returnOCoas change with murder. Nigel Cawthorne examines the appalling case of an evil step-grandfather who betrayed his familyOCOs trust, deceived friends and neighbors, and cut short the life of a young, well-loved girl."

    Over five decades, Star Trek's celebration of mankind's technical achievements and positive view of the future have earned it an enduring place in our global culture. Its scientific vision has also had a profound effect on the past thirty years of technological breakthroughs. Join William Shatner, the original captain of the Starship Enterprise, as he reveals how Star Trek has influenced and inspired some of our greatest scientific minds -- the people behind the future we will all share. In interviews with dozens of scientists we learn about the inventions that will revolutionise our lives and the discoveries that will make it truly possible to explore the last great frontier -- space. As one Nobel Laureate commented on being shown a wood and plastic model of the engine core from a Star Trek: The Next Generation starship: I'm working on that. From the technicalities of warp speed to real-life replicators to the likelihood of our being able to beam across continents, this always-informative book takes us on a fascinating and eye-opening voyage to

    ‘Come on! Move it!’ Pilcher, though considerably older than the others, ran with surprising speed from the base of the Needle to the helicopter. Reynolds…brought up the rear, his M16 swinging left and right in case any targets popped up. ‘Evans,’ Reynolds said, “ETA on Pam.’ ‘She’s about a minute away.’ ‘And the abbies?’ ‘They’re right behind her.’” The genius architect of Wayward Pines, David Pilcher, decides to lead a scouting party out of his secluded mountain fortress to make sure the dying world he once knew has disappeared. It has…mostly. But the abbies are out there, too—millions of monstrous reminders of what humanity has involved into. And every one of them wants to tear Pilcher and his crew apart.Brett Battles’s Alone is another wildly inventive, hair-raising chapter in the Wayward Pines series.

    Contents:Introduction: The Song of the Soul (1971) essayI Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967)The Discarded (1959)Deeper Than the Darkness (1957)Blind Lightning (1956)All the Sounds of Fear (1962)The Silver Corridor (1956)"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965)Bright Eyes (1965)