Why Evolution Is True


Jerry A. Coyne - 2008
    In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned—the "evidence," the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past—dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs. Why Evolution Is True weaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is True dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.

It Couldn't Just Happen (Classical Conv): Fascinating Facts about God's World


Lawrence O. Richards - 1987
    Fascinating facts about God's world that gives us thousands of pieces of evidence to prove that He created and sustains the universe.

Geography of the World


Simon Adams - 1996
    A guide to countries and continents in today's rapidly changing world.- Clear, country-by-country layout makes this an ideal reference book for use at home and at school.- Fact boxes provide at-a-glance information on each country's population, language, religion, government, currency, and more.- More than 60 large-scale, three-dimensional maps, 900 superb photographs, and 500 detailed artworks, charts, and diagrams bring the countries of the world to life.- Researched, authenticated, and updated by a team of specialists in human and physical geography and international affairs.

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science


Marc Aronson - 2010
    The trail ran like a bright band from religious ceremonies in India to Europe’s Middle Ages, then on to Columbus, who brought the first cane cuttings to the Americas. Sugar was the substance that drove the bloody slave trade and caused the loss of countless lives but it also planted the seeds of revolution that led to freedom in the American colonies, Haiti, and France. With songs, oral histories, maps, and over 80 archival illustrations, here is the story of how one product allows us to see the grand currents of world history in new ways. Time line, source notes, bibliography, index.

Then and Now


Heather Amery - 1986
    -- Pictures and complementary text explain two fundamental principles of time-- Illustrated in full color

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions: You Can Build Yourself


Maxine Anderson - 2006
    Most of Leonardo's inventions were never made in his lifetime—they remained sketches in his famous notebooks. Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself shows you how to bring these ideas to life using common household supplies. Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project combine with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies and trivia about the real-life models for each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look intothe amazing mind of one the world’s greatest inventors.

The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell


Basil Mahon - 2003
    Approaching science with a freshness unbound by convention or previous expectations, he produced some of the most original scientific thinking of the nineteenth century - and his discoveries went on to shape the twentieth century.

The Yanks Are Coming: The United States In The First World War


Albert Marrin - 1986
    Describes how American military forces helped the Allies turn the tide of World War I and how the United States mobilized industry, trained soldiers, and promoted the war to the people at home.

A Really Short History of Nearly Everything (Young Adult)


Bill Bryson - 2003
    It had an illustration that captivated him–a diagram showing Earth’s interior as it would look if you cut into it with a large knife and removed about a quarter of its bulk. The idea of lots of startled cars and people falling off the edge of that sudden cliff (and 4,000 miles is a pretty long way to fall) was what grabbed him in the beginning, but gradually his attention turned to what the picture was trying to teach him: namely that Earth’s interior is made up of several different layers of materials, and at the very centre is a glowing sphere of iron and nickel, as hot as the Sun’s surface, according to the caption. And he very clearly remembers thinking: “How do they know that?”Bill’s storytelling skill makes the “How?” and, just as importantly, the “Who?” of scientific discovery entertaining and accessible for all ages. He covers the wonder and mystery of time and space, the frequently bizarre and often obsessive scientists and the methods they used, and the mind-boggling fact that, somehow, the universe exists and against all odds, life came to be on this wondrous planet we call home.

The Mystery of the Periodic Table


Benjamin Wiker - 2003
    He introduces the young reader to people like Von Helmont, Boyle, Stahl, Priestly, Cavendish, Lavoisier, and many others, all incredibly diverse in personality and approach, who have laid the groundwork for a search that is still unfolding to this day. The first part of Wiker's witty and solidly instructive presentation is most suitable to middle school age, while the later chapters are designed for ages 12-13 and up, with a final chapter somewhat more advanced. Illustrated by Jeanne Bendick and Ted Schluenderfritz.

Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know


Shari Graydon - 2003
    A typical North American child views a staggering 40,000 ads every year on TV alone! With such a vast number of commercials out there, who's helping kids decode the messages? Media maven Shari Graydon, that's who!Made You Look offers an intriguing exploration of advertising's inner workings. From the earliest roots of advertising to the guerrilla marketers of the 21st century, this revealing book shows kids where ads came from, where they're going, and how they work.Bursting with behind-the-scenes secrets, thought-provoking Try This at Home activities, and plenty of tips to empower young consumers, Made You Look is any child's ultimate guide to the advertising universe.Key Features: Dynamically written by an experienced media authority Concrete examples drawn from familiar, contemporary ads Thought-provoking tips and easy-to-do activities encourage critical thinking

Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System


Richard Corfield - 2007
    Planetary science has mainly been a descriptive science, but it is becoming increasingly experimental. The space probes that went up between the 1960s and 1990s were primarily generalists-they collected massive amounts of information so that scientists could learn what questions to pursue. But recent missions have become more focused: Scientists know better what information they want and how to collect it. Even now probes are on their way to Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto, with Europa-one of Jupiter's moons-on the agenda. In a sweeping look into the manifold objects inhabiting the depths of space, Lives of the Planets delves into the mythology and the knowledge humanity has built over the ages. Placing our current understanding in historical context, Richard Corfield explores the seismic shifts in planetary astronomy and probes why we must change our perspective of our place in the universe. In our era of extraordinary discovery, this is the first comprehensive survey of this new understanding and the history of how we got here.

The Stars: A New Way to See Them


H.A. Rey - 1952
    This is a clear, vivid text with charts and maps showing the positions of the constellations the year round.

Robert Fulton Boy Craftsman


Marguerite Henry - 1945
    His most famous was the "Clermont," a steamboat he launched on the Hudson. Here is his boyhood.

The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom


Graham Farmelo - 2009
    He was one of the leading pioneers of the greatest revolution in twentieth-century science: quantum mechanics. The youngest theoretician ever to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, he was also pathologically reticent, strangely literal-minded and legendarily unable to communicate or empathize. Through his greatest period of productivity, his postcards home contained only remarks about the weather.Based on a previously undiscovered archive of family papers, Graham Farmelo celebrates Dirac's massive scientific achievement while drawing a compassionate portrait of his life and work. Farmelo shows a man who, while hopelessly socially inept, could manage to love and sustain close friendship.The Strangest Man is an extraordinary and moving human story, as well as a study of one of the most exciting times in scientific history.'A wonderful book . . . Moving, sometimes comic, sometimes infinitely sad, and goes to the roots of what we mean by truth in science.' Lord Waldegrave, Daily Telegraph