Back Science | November Newsletter

SelectReads News
Simple News Pro
  Science  
Virtually Human: The Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortality

Martine Rothblatt · St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition
Format: Hardcover

Virtually Human explores what the not-too-distant future will look like when cyberconsciousness--simulation of the human brain via software and computer technology--becomes part of our daily lives. Meet Bina48, the worlds most sentient robot, commissioned by Martine Rothblatt and created...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain

John Kounios · Random House
Pages: 274
Format: Print book

In a book perfect for readers of Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit, David Eagleman's Incognito, and Leonard Mlodinow's Subliminal, the cognitive neuroscientists who discovered how the brain has aha moments - sudden creative insights - explain how they happen, when we need them, and how we can have...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Making Sense of Science: Separating Substance from Spin

Cornelia Dean · The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Pages: 296
Format: Print book

"I'm not a scientist" is a familiar refrain among people asked to evaluate scientific claims they feel are beyond their ken. Most citizens learn about science from media coverage, and even the most conscientious reporters sometimes struggle to offer a clear, unbiased explanation...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Bats: A World of Science and Mystery

M. Brock Fenton · University Of Chicago Press
Format: Hardcover

There are more than 1,300 species of bats - or almost a quarter of the world's mammal species. But before you shrink in fear from these furry "creatures of the night," consider the bat's fundamental role in our ecosystem. A single brown bat can eat several thousand insects...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us

SAM KEAN · Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover

The fascinating science and history of the air we breatheIt's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day

JAMES KAKALIOS · Crown
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover

Physics professor, bestselling author, and dynamic storyteller James Kakalios reveals the mind-bending science behind the seemingly basic things that keep our daily lives running, from our smart phones and digital "clouds" to x-ray machines and hybrid vehicles. Most of us are clueless...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains

ROBERT H LUSTIG · Avery
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover

The New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease. While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance,...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Asteroids: Relics of Ancient Time

Michael K. Shepard · Cambridge University Press
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover

Where do asteroids come from and what are they made of? What clues do they hold about the evolution of the Solar System? Scientists have catalogued hundreds of thousands of asteroids, and many are thought to contain water and amino acids, the building blocks of life. Michael Shepard tells...
Read More check catalog
 
 
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

Ed Yong · Ecco
Pages: 357
Format: Print book

New York Times BestsellerNew York Times Notable Book of 2016NPR Great Read of 2016Economist Best Books of 2016Brain Pickings Best Science Books of 2016Smithsonian Best Books about Science of 2016Science Friday Best Science Book of 2016A Mother Jones Notable Read of 2016MPR Best Books of 2016Chicago...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Rocks: A Very Short Introduction

Jan Zalasiewicz · Oxford University Press
Pages: 144
Format: Print book

Rocks, more than anything else, underpin our lives. They make up the solid structure of the Earth and of other rocky planets, and are present at the cores of gas giant planets. We live on the rocky surface of the planet, grow our food on weathered debris derived from rocks, and we obtain...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Goldilocks and the Water Bears: The Search for Life in the Universe

Louisa Preston · Bloomsbury Sigma
Pages: 288
Format: Print book

Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe from its origins to its evolution into intelligent sentient beings. All life as we know it is carbon-based, reliant on sources of liquid water and energy for its survival, and as far as we are aware, exists only on Earth. Our planet occupies...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History

Sam Maggs · Quirk Books
Pages: 238
Format: Print book

A fun and feminist look at forgotten women in science, technology, and beyond, from the bestselling author of THE FANGIRL'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY You may think you know women's history pretty well. But have you ever heard of. . . · Alice Ball, the chemist who developed an effective treatment...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love

Michael Lemonick · Doubleday
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover

In the aftermath of a shattering illness, Lonni Sue Johnson lives in a "perpetual now," where she has almost no memories of the past and a nearly complete inability to form new ones. The Perpetual Now is the moving story of this exceptional woman, and the groundbreaking revelations...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Aliens Are Coming!: The Extraordinary Science Behind Our Search for Life in the Universe

Ben Miller · The Experiment
Pages: 304
Format: Print book

Actor and bestselling science writer Ben Miller takes readers to the cutting edge of one of the greatest questions of all: Is there life beyond Earth? For millennia, we have looked up at the stars and wondered whether we are alone in the universe, but in the last few years - as our probes...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Citizen Science: How Ordinary People are Changing the Face of Discovery

Caren Cooper · Overlook Press
Pages: 294
Format: Print book

The engaging history of the people whose contributions to scientific pursuits make us rethink the meaning of the word "scientist."Think you need a degree in science to contribute to important scientific discoveries? Think again. All around the world, in fields ranging from astronomy...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Where the Animals Go: Tracking Wildlife with Technology in 50 Maps and Graphics

JAMES CHESHIRE · W. W. Norton & Company
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover

"Where the Animals Go is beautiful and thrilling, a combination of the best in science and exposition, and a joy to study cover to cover." -- Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard UniversityFor thousands of years, tracking animals meant following footprints....
Read More check catalog