Anthrax. Smallpox. Incurable and horrifying Ebola-relatedfevers. For two decades, while a fearful world prepared for nuclearwinter, an elite team of Russian bioweaponeers began to till a newkilling field: a bleak tract sown with powerful seeds of massdestruction--by doctors who had committed themselves to creating abiological Armageddon. Biohazard is the never-before-told story ofRussia's darkest, deadliest, and most closely guarded Cold Warsecret. No one knows more about Russia's astounding experiments withbiowarfare than Ken Alibek. Now the mastermind behind Russia's germwarfare effort reveals two decades of shocking breakthroughs...howMoscow's leading scientists actually reengineered hazardousmicrobes to make them even more virulent...the secrets behind thediscovery of an invisible, untraceable new class of biologicalagents just right for use in political assassinations...thestartling story behind Russia's attempt to turn a sample of theAIDS virus into the ultimate bioweapon. And in a chilling
A riveting tale of the battle over genetically engineeredfoods, and an inside look at a biotech food empire. Ultimately astory of idealism, and conflicting dreams about the shape of abetter world. Softcover.
The publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 1859marked a dramatic turning point in scientific thought. The volumehad taken Darwin more than twenty years to publish, in part becausehe envisioned the storm of controversy it was certain to unleash.Indeed, selling out its first edition on its first day, The Originof Species revolutionized science, philosophy, and theology. Darwin’s reasoned, documented arguments carefully advance histheory of natural selection and his assertion that species were notcreated all at once by a divine hand but started with a few simpleforms that mutated and adapted over time. Whether commenting on hisown poor health, discussing his experiments to test instinct inbees, or relating a conversation about a South American burrowingrodent, Darwin’s monumental achievement is surprisingly personaland delightfully readable. Its profound ideas remain controversialeven today, making it the most influential book in the naturalsciences ever written—an important work n
David Carroll has dedicated his life to art and to wetlands.He is as passionate about swamps, bogs, and vernal ponds and thecreatures who live in them as most of us are about our families andclosest friends. He knows frogs and snakes, muskrats and minks,dragonflies, water lilies, cattails, sedges--everything that swims,flies, trudges, slithers, or sinks its roots in wet places. In this"intimate and wise book" (Sue Hubbell), Carroll takes us on alively, unforgettable yearlong journey, illustrated with his ownelegant drawings, through the wetlands and reveals why they are soimportant to his life and ours -- and to all life on Earth.
This textbook is aimed at newcomers to nonlinear dynamics andchaos, especially students taking a first course in the subject.The presentation stresses analytical methods, concrete examples andgeometric intuition. The theory is developed systematically,starting with first-order differential equations and theirbifurcations, followed by phase plane analysis, limit cycles andtheir bifurcations, and culminating with the Lorenz equations,chaos, iterated maps, period doubling, renormalization, fractals,and strange attractors. A unique feature of the book is itsemphasis on applications. These include mechanical vibrations,lasers, biological rhythms, superconducting circuits, insectoutbreaks, chemical oscillators, genetic control systems, chaoticwaterwheels, and even a technique for using chaos to send secretmessages. In each case, the scientific background is explained atan elementary level and closely integrated with the mathematicaltheory. Richly illustrated, and with many exercises and workedexamples, this
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.
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,
Two world-renowned scientists present an audacious new vision ofthe cosmos that "steals the thunder from the Big Bang theory."--"Wall Street Journal"The Big Bang theory--widely regarded as theleading explanation for the origin of the universe--posits thatspace and time sprang into being about 14 billion years ago in ahot, expanding fireball of nearly infinite density. Over the lastthree decades the theory has been repeatedly revised to addresssuch issues as how galaxies and stars first formed and why theexpansion of the universe is speeding up today. Furthermore, anexplanation has yet to be found for what caused the Big Bang in thefirst place. In "Endless Universe," Paul J. Steinhardt and NeilTurok, both distinguished theoretical physicists, present a boldnew cosmology. Steinhardt and Turok "contend that what we think ofas the moment of creation was simply part of an infinite cycle oftitanic collisions between our universe and a parallel world"("Discover"). They recount the remarkable developments inastronom