Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo
Galileo Galilei
Galileo introduced the world to the two most significant aspects of modern science—its methods of inquiry and its criterion of truth—for he was the first major figure to champion the right of the scientist to pursue his research through observation and experiment, uninfluenced by such nonscientific considerations as politics and theology.
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The Universe: A Biography
John Gribbin
“The Universe: A Biography” makes cosmology accessible to everyone. John Gribbin navigates the latest frontiers of scientific discovery to tell us what we really know about the history of the universe. Along the way, he describes how the universe began; what the early universe looked like; how its structure developed; and what emerged to hold it all together. He describes where the elements came from; how stars and galaxies formed; and the story of how life emerged. He even looks to the future: is the history of the universe going to end with a Big Crunch or a Big Rip?
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The Goldilocks Enigma
Paul Davies
“The Goldilocks Enigma” is Paul Davies spectacular and eagerly awaited return to cosmology. Here he tackles all the ‘big questions’ and introduces the latest discoveries that have allowed scientists to piece together the story of the universe in unprecedented detail. And he explains why, despite all this, cosmologists are more divided than ever. Why is everything just right for life on earth? And how have we tried to explain this? How has belief shaped the scientific debate? What do we really know about our place in the universe? Paul Davies decodes the real science and gets to the very heart of our understanding of the universe.
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
Matt Ridley
The genome’s been mapped.
But what does it mean?
Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.
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The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence
Ray Kurzweil
Imagine a world where the difference between man and machine blurs, where the line between humanity and technology fades, and where the soul and the silicon chip unite. This is not science fiction. This is the twenty-first century according to Ray Kurzweil, the inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era. In his inspired hands, life in the new millennium no longer seems daunting. Instead, it promises to be an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live.
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The Five Biggest Unsolved Problems in Science
Arthur W. Wiggins and Charles M. Wynn
This is written by two guys who teach physics (Wiggins) and chemistry (Wynn) at the college level in a reader-friendly manner in which each of the five unsolved problems are presented, explained, and critiqued. Each section is then concluded with indications of how these problems might be solved. There are some nice cartoons by Sidney Harris to augment the text.
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Mathematics for the Curious
Peter M. Higgins
When do the hands of a clock coincide? How likely is it that two children in the same class will share a birthday? Should you play Roulette or the Lottery? How do we calculate the volume of a doughnut? Why does the android Data in Star Trek lose at poker? What is Fibonacci’s Rabbit Problem?
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The Joy of Chemistry: The Amazing Science of Familiar Things
Monty L. Fetteroff and Cathy Cobb
Discover the fun and fascination of chemistry through hands-on demonstrations. For many, chemistry is perceived as a burdensome affair, weighed down with mathematics and restricted to well-guarded research facilities. While these facets of chemistry are certainly of paramount importance, laboratories and calculators do not necessarily convey the inherent beauty of chemistry or the excitement of chemistry at work.
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Pulitzer-winning science writer Angier (Woman: An Intimate Geography) distills everything you've forgotten from your high school science classes and more into one enjoyable book, a guide for the scientifically perplexed adult who wants to understand what those guys in lab coats on the news are babbling about, in the realms of physics, chemistry, biology, geology or astronomy.
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In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
John Gribbin
It is so shocking that Einstein could not bring himself to accept it. It is so important that it provides the fundamental underpinning of all modern sciences. Without it, we'd have no nuclear power or nuclear bombs, no lasers, no TV, no computers, no science of molecular biology, no understanding of DNA, no genetic engineering -- at all. Now John Gribbin tells the complete story of quantum mechanics, a truth far stranger than any fiction. He takes us step-by-step into an ever more bizarre and fascinating place -- requiring only that we approach it with an open mind.
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Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think
Alan Grafen and Mark Ridley
In 1976, a young zoology lecturer at Oxford University published his first book. Powerfully encapsulating a gene's eye view of life, The Selfish Gene rapidly became deeply influential both within biology and associated disciplines, and in wider intellectual debate, catapulting its author to fame.
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The Five Biggest Ideas in Science
Charles M. Wynn and Arthur M. Wiggins
The Five Biggest Ideas In Science is a great summary of intricate scientific theories. Cartoons, diagrams and humor help explain in lay terms what makes the five theories BIG to scientists and how the scientific method works. Lively discussions and relevant examples clearly define the topics for readers.
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Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction
Timothy Gowers
Mathematics is a subject that we are all exposed to in our daily lives, but one which many of us fear. In this eminently accessible and entertaining introduction, Timothy Gowers elucidates the most fundamental differences, which are primarily philosophical, between advanced mathematics and what we learn at school...
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Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends...and Pseudoscience Begins
Charles M. Wynn and Arthur W. Wiggins
Astrology... poltergeists and ghosts... firewalking... spontaneous human combustion... psychic surgery... ESP. This is the stuff of tabloid headlines. Sure, many people find them laughable, but consider that these papers are all staying in business because people are buying them – and often believing in their outrageous stories, even labeling it all science.
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Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe
Nathan Spielberg and Bryon D. Anderson
Is there an objective world, or is everything relative? Do matter, time and space change, or do they remain constant everywhere in the universe? Is there always a relationship between cause and effect, or do some things "just happen?" Many of our basic ideas about the world have been shaped by science – but seldom are such discoveries accepted easily or willingly.
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
John Emsley
Have you ever wondered how lipstick can shimmer, why some fats are better than others, how Viagra works, what is the best way to kill germs, and why Prozac makes you feel so good?
Vanity, Vitality, and Virility will give you the answers to all these questions, and many more besides...
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