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The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

Author: Leonard Mlodinow
ASIN : 0375424040
Sales Rank : 519
Studio : Pantheon
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780375424045
ISBN : 0375424040
Number Of Pages : 272
Publication Date : December 13, 2008
Release Date : December 13, 2008
Publisher : Pantheon
Manufacturer : Pantheon
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Pantheon

Product Description

In this irreverent and illuminating book, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, change, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious cases, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.

The rise and fall of your favorite movie star of the most reviled CEO--in fact, of all our destinies--reflects as much as planning and innate abilities. Even the legendary Roger Maris, who beat Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, was in all likelihood not great but just lucky. And it might be shocking to realize that you are twice as likely to be killed in a car accident on your way to buying a lottery ticket than you are to win the lottery.

How could it have happened that a wine was given five out of five stars, the highest rating, in one journal and in another it was called the worst wine of the decade? Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how wine ratings, school grades, political polls, and many other things in daily life are less reliable than we believe. By showing us the true nature of change and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives fresh insight into what is really meaningful and how we can make decisions based on a deeper truth. From the classroom to the courtroom, from financial markets to supermarkets, from the doctor's office to the Oval Office, Mlodinow's insights will intrigue, awe, and inspire.

Offering readers not only a tour of randomness, chance, and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man fresh from a night at the bar.

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Guest Review: Stephen Hawking
Published in 1988, Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time became perhaps one of the unlikeliest bestsellers in history: a not-so-dumbed-down exploration of physics and the universe that occupied the London Sunday Times bestseller list for 237 weeks. Later successes include 1995’s A Briefer History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, and God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History. Stephen Hawking is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

In The Drunkard’s Walk Leonard Mlodinow provides readers with a wonderfully readable guide to how the mathematical laws of randomness affect our lives. With insight he shows how the hallmarks of chance are apparent in the course of events all around us. The understanding of randomness has brought about profound changes in the way we view our surroundings, and our universe. I am pleased that Leonard has skillfully explained this important branch of mathematics. --Stephen Hawking

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A Short History of Nearly Everything

Author: Bill Bryson
ASIN : 076790818X
Sales Rank : 468
Studio : Broadway
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780767908184
ISBN : 076790818X
Number Of Pages : 560
Publication Date : December 14, 2004
Release Date : December 14, 2004
Publisher : Broadway
Manufacturer : Broadway
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Broadway

Product Description

One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.

In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.


From the Hardcover edition.

Amazon.com Review

From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Life and Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton

Biology with MasteringBiology™ (8th Edition) (MasteringBiology Series)

Authors: Neil A. Campbell, Jane B. Reece
ASIN : 0321543254
Sales Rank : 80
Studio : Benjamin Cummings
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780321543257
ISBN : 0321543254
Number Of Pages : 1393
Publication Date : December 07, 2007
Publisher : Benjamin Cummings
Manufacturer : Benjamin Cummings
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Benjamin Cummings

Product Description

The best-selling biology textbook in the world just got better!  Neil Campbell and Jane Reece’s BIOLOGY  is the unsurpassed leader in introductory biology. The book's hallmark values–accuracy, currency, and passion for teaching and learning–have made Campbell/Reece the most successful book for readers for seven consecutive editions. More than 6 million readers have benefited from BIOLOGY’sclear explanations, carefully crafted artwork, and student-friendly narrative style.

Introduction: Themes in the Study of Life, The Chemical Context of Life, Water and the Fitness of the Environment,

The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies

Authors: Bert Hölldobler, Edward O. Wilson
ASIN : 0393067041
Sales Rank : 2360
Studio : W.W. Norton & Co.
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780393067040
ISBN : 0393067041
Number Of Pages : 576
Publication Date : December 17, 2008
Publisher : W.W. Norton & Co.
Manufacturer : W.W. Norton & Co.
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : W.W. Norton & Co.

Product Description

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume. The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Author: Jared Diamond
ASIN : 0393061310
Sales Rank : 595
Studio : W. W. Norton
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780393061314
ISBN : 0393061310
Number Of Pages : 512
Publication Date : December 11, 2005
Publisher : W. W. Norton
Manufacturer : W. W. Norton
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : W. W. Norton

Product Description

With a new chapter. The phenomenal bestseller—over 1.5 million copies sold—is now a major PBS special.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series. 32 illustrations.

Amazon.com Review

Explaining what William McNeill called The Rise of the West has become the central problem in the study of global history. In Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond presents the biologist's answer: geography, demography, and ecological happenstance. Diamond evenhandedly reviews human history on every continent since the Ice Age at a rate that emphasizes only the broadest movements of peoples and ideas. Yet his survey is binocular: one eye has the rather distant vision of the evolutionary biologist, while the other eye--and his heart--belongs to the people of New Guinea, where he has done field work for more than 30 years.

The Unofficial LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Inventor's Guide

Author: David J. Perdue
ASIN : 1593271549
Sales Rank : 4400
Studio : No Starch Press
Format : Illustrated
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9781593271541
ISBN : 1593271549
Number Of Pages : 300
Publication Date : December 29, 2007
Publisher : No Starch Press
Manufacturer : No Starch Press
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : No Starch Press

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)

Author: John Medina
ASIN : 0979777704
Sales Rank : 616
Studio : Pear Press
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780979777707
ISBN : 0979777704
Number Of Pages : 301
Publisher : Pear Press
Manufacturer : Pear Press
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Pear Press

Product Description

Most of us have no idea what's really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know--such as the brain's need for physical activity to work at its best.

How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget--and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?

In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule--what scientists know for sure about how our brains work--and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.

Medina's fascinating stories and sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You'll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You'll peer over a surgeon's shoulder as he finds, to his surprise, that we have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You'll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can't tie his own shoes.

You will discover how:

- Every brain is wired differently
- Exercise improves cognition
- We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
- Memories are volatile
- Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
- Vision trumps all of the other senses
- Stress changes the way we learn

In the end, you'll understand how your brain really works--and how to get the most out of it.

About the DVD The Brain Rules DVD, included with this book, is a lively tour of the 12 brain rules. You will experience firsthand Medina's rare gift for making science fun, accessible, and relevant. The DVD will take your understanding of the book to the next level.

Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

Author: Michio Kaku
ASIN : 0385520697
Sales Rank : 3459
Studio : Doubleday
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780385520690
ISBN : 0385520697
Number Of Pages : 352
Publication Date : December 11, 2008
Release Date : December 11, 2008
Publisher : Doubleday
Manufacturer : Doubleday
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Doubleday

Product Description

A fascinating exploration of the science of the impossible—from death rays and force fields to invisibility cloaks—revealing to what extent such technologies might be achievable decades or millennia into the future.

One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In Physics of the Impossible, the renowned physicist Michio Kaku explores to what extent the technologies and devices of science fiction that are deemed equally impossible today might well become commonplace in the future.

From teleportation to telekinesis, Kaku uses the world of science fiction to explore the fundamentals—and the limits—of the laws of physics as we know them today. He ranks the impossible technologies by categories—Class I, II, and III, depending on when they might be achieved, within the next century, millennia, or perhaps never. In a compelling and thought-provoking narrative, he explains:
· How the science of optics and electromagnetism may one day enable us to bend light around an object, like a stream flowing around a boulder, making the object invisible to observers “downstream”
· How ramjet rockets, laser sails, antimatter engines, and nanorockets may one day take us to the nearby stars
· How telepathy and psychokinesis, once considered pseudoscience, may one day be possible using advances in MRI, computers, superconductivity, and nanotechnology
· Why a time machine is apparently consistent with the known laws of quantum physics, although it would take an unbelievably advanced civilization to actually build one
Kaku uses his discussion of each technology as a jumping-off point to explain the science behind it. An extraordinary scientific adventure, Physics of the Impossible takes readers on an unforgettable, mesmerizing journey into the world of science that both enlightens and entertains.

Anatomy Coloring Book, The (3rd Edition)

Authors: Wynn Kapit, Lawrence M. Elson
ASIN : 0805350861
Sales Rank : 306
Studio : Benjamin Cummings
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780805350869
ISBN : 0805350861
UPC : 076092013693
Number Of Pages : 170
Publication Date : December 05, 2001
Publisher : Benjamin Cummings
Manufacturer : Benjamin Cummings
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Benjamin Cummings

Product Description

Often imitated, never duplicated.

• New! Lay-flat binding makes coloring easier.
• New! 8 plates have been added: Accessory Structures of the Skin, Temporomandibular Joint, Upper Limb: Shoulder (Glenohumeral) Joint, Upper Limb: Elbow Joints, Lower Limb: Male and female Pelves, Lower Limb: Sacroiliac and Hip Joints, Lower Limb: Knee Joints, Somatic Visceral Receptors.
• New! 7 additional sections: Skeletal and Articular Systems, Skeletal Muscular System, Central Nervous System, Central Nervous System: Cavities and Coverings, Peripheral Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Human Development.

For over 23 years, The Anatomy Coloring Book has been the leading human anatomy coloring book, offering concisely written text and precise, extraordinary hand-drawn figures. Organized according to body systems, each of the 170 plates featured in this book includes an ingenious color-key system anatomical terminology is linked to detail illustration of the structures of the body.

Wynn Kapit is the designer of the The Anatomy Coloring Book, The Physiology Coloring Book, and The Geography Coloring Book. Mr. Kapit received a B.B.A. and an L.L.B. from the University of Miami and an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lawrence M. Elson, Ph.D. is a clinical and forensic human anatomist who taught at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the University of California Medical School at San Francisco, and the City College of San Francisco. Dr. Elson is the founder and president of Coloring Concepts, Inc., and the director of graphic and textual content of its several publications.

The World Without Us

Author: Alan Weisman
ASIN : 0312427905
Sales Rank : 1281
Studio : Picador
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780312427900
ISBN : 0312427905
Number Of Pages : 432
Publication Date : December 05, 2008
Release Date : December 05, 2008
Publisher : Picador
Manufacturer : Picador
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Picador

Product Description