Diane Ackerman's lusciously written grand tour of the realm ofthe senses includes conversations with an iceberg in Antarctica anda professional nose in New York, along with dissertations on kissesand tattoos, sadistic cuisine and the music played by the planetEarth. "Delightful . . . gives the reader the richest possiblefeeling of the worlds the senses take in."--The New York Times.(Literature--Classics Contemporary)

Many people who have ever owned a pet will swear that their dogor cat or other animal has exhibited some kind of behavior theyjust can't explain. How does a dog know when its owner is returninghome at an unexpected time? How do cats know when it is time to goto the vet, even before the cat carrier comes out? How do horsesfind their way back to the stable over completely unfamiliarterrain? And how can some pets predict that their owners are aboutto have an epileptic fit? These intriguing questions about animal behavior convincedworld-renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake that the very animals whoare closest to us have much to teach us about biology, nature, andconsciousness. Filled with captivating stories and thought-provoking analysis, Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home is agroundbreaking exploration of animal behavior that will profoundlychange the way we think about animals, and ourselves. After fiveyears of extensive research involving thousands of people who ownand work with animals, Shel

How did the replication bomb we call life begin and where inthe world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing withcharacteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (theNew York Times described his style as the sort of science writingthat makes the reader feel like a genius), Richard Dawkinsconfronts this ancient mystery.

Details on a Major New Discovery included in a NewAfterwordWhy do we look the way we do? Neil Shubin, thepaleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discoveredTiktaalik, the “fish with hands,” tells the story of our bodies asyou've never heard it before. By examining fossils and DNA, heshows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads areorganized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of ourgenomes look and function like those of worms and bacteria. YourInner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in anilluminating new light. This is science writing at itsfinest—enlightening, accessible and told with irresistibleenthusiasm.

An unparalleled history of astronomy presented in the words ofthe scientists who made the discoveries. Here are the writings ofCopernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Halley, Hubble, and Einstein,as well as that of dozens of others who have significantlycontributed to our picture of the universe. From Aristotle's proof that the Earth is round to the 1998 paperthat posited an accelerating universe, this book contains 100entries spanning the history of astronomy. Award-winning sciencewriter Marcia Bartusiak provides enormously entertainingintroductions, putting the material in context and explaining itsplace in the literature. Archives of the Universe is essentialreading for professional astronomers, science history buffs, andbackyard stargazers alike.

First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Springalerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers ofindiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes inthe laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring becamea runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . Itis] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had notinspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one ofthe greatest nature writers in American letters" (PeterMatthiessen, for Time's 100 Most Influential People of theCentury). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates RachelCarson's watershed book with a new introduction by the author andactivist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by theacclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the storyof Carson's courageous defense of her truths in the face ofruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year followingthe publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in1964.

Thinking about moving to mars? Well, why not? Mars, after all,is the planet that holds the greatest promise for humancolonization. But why speculate about the possibilities when youcan get the real scientific scoop from someone who's been happilyliving and working there for years? Straight from thenot-so-distant future, this intrepid pioneer's tips for physical,financial, and social survival on the Red Planet cover: - How toget to Mars (Cycling spacecraft offer cheap rides, but the smell isnot for everyone.)- Choosing a spacesuit (The old-fashioned butreliable pneumatic Neil Armstrong style versus the sleek new--butanatomically unforgiving--elastic "skinsuit.")- Selecting a habitat(Just like on Earth: location, location, location.)- Finding a jobthat pays well and doesn't kill you (This is not a metaphor onMars.)- How to meet the opposite sex (Master more than fortyMars-centric pickup lines.) With more than twenty originalillustrations by Michael Carroll, Robert Murray, and other renownedspace artists,

Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spendtwenty years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos studyingnatural selection. They recognize each individual bird on theisland, when there are four hundred at the time of the author'svisit, or when there are over a thousand. They have observed abouttwenty generations of finches -- continuously. Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin'sfinches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.

A dazzling journey across the sciences and humanities in searchof deep laws to unite them. -- The Wall Street Journal One of our greatest living scientists--and the winner of twoPulitzer Prizes for On Human Nature and TheAnts --gives us a work of visionary importance that may be thecrowning achievement of his career. In Consilience (a wordthat originally meant "jumping together"), Edward O. Wilson renewsthe Enlightenment's search for a unified theory of knowledge indisciplines that range from physics to biology, the social sciencesand the humanities. Using the natural sciences as his model, Wilson forges dramaticlinks between fields. He explores the chemistry of the mind and thegenetic bases of culture. He postulates the biological principlesunderlying works of art from cave-drawings to Lolita. Presentingthe latest findings in prose of wonderful clarity and oratoricaleloquence, and synthesizing it into a dazzling whole, Consilience is science in the path-clearing traditions ofNewton, Einstein, and R

In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma ,Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption,tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes havehad on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen ofScots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers whohelped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (andincredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internetcommerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the mostpowerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy. Throughout the text are cleartechnological and mathematical explanations, and portrayals of theremarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's mostdifficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkablyfar-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history,what drives it, and how private that e-mail you just sent reallyis.

In Electric Universe , David Bodanis weaves tales ofromance, divine inspiration, and fraud through a lucid account ofthe invisible force that permeates our universe. In these pages thevirtuoso scientists who plumbed the secrets of electricity comevividly to life, including familiar giants like Thomas Edison; thevisionary Michael Faraday, who struggled against the prejudices ofthe British class system; and Samuel Morse, a painter who, beforeinventing the telegraph, ran for mayor of New York on a platform ofpersecuting Catholics. Here too is Alan Turing, whose dream of amarvelous thinking machine—what we know as the computer—was metwith indifference, and who ended his life in despair after Britishauthorities forced him to undergo experimental treatments to “cure”his homosexuality. From the frigid waters of the Atlantic to the streets of Hamburgduring a World War II firestorm to the interior of the human body, Electric Universe is a mesmerizing journey of discovery by amaster science writer.

Editor Max Brockman introduces the work of some of today’sbrightest and most innovative young scientists in this fascinatingand exciting collection of writings that describe the veryboundaries of our knowledge. Future Science features nineteen young scientists, most of whomare presenting their innovative work and ideas to a generalaudience for the first time. Featured in this collection areWilliam McEwan (son of the novelist), a virologist, discussing hisresearch into the biology of antiviral immunity; Naomi Eisenberger,a neuroscientist, wondering how social rejection affects usphysically; Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist, showing whatmassive datasets can teach us about society and ourselves; andAnthony Aguirre, a physicist, who gives readers a tantalizingglimpse of infinity.

暂无