Back Science | April Newsletter

SelectReads News
Dearreader template
  Science  
Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers

Amir D. Aczel · Palgrave Macmillan Trade; First Edition edition
Format: Hardcover

The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery....
Read More check catalog
 
 
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

Bill Schutt · Algonquin Books
Pages: 332
Format: Hardcover

"A masterful and compulsively readable book that challenges our preconceived notions about a behavior often sensationalized in our culture and, until just recently, misunderstood in the scientific world." - Ian Tattersall, Curator Emeritus, American Museum of Natural History,...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science
The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science

Sandra Hempel · W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition
Format: Hardcover

An infamous murder investigation that changed forever the way poisoners were brought to justice. In the first half of the nineteenth century, an epidemic swept Europe arsenic poisoning. Available at any corner shop for a few pence, arsenic was so frequently used by potential beneficiaries...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World
The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World

Russell Gold · Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition
Format: Hardcover

"Fracking has vociferous critics and fervent defenders, but the debate between these camps has obscured the actual story: Fracking has become a fixture of the American landscape and the global economy. It has upended the business models of energy companies around the globe, and it has started...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story
Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story

John Bloom · Atlantic Monthly Press
Pages: 496
Format: Print book

In the early 1990s, Motorola, the legendary American technology company developed a revolutionary satellite system called Iridium that promised to be its crowning achievement. Light years ahead of anything previously put into space, and built on technology developed for Ronald Reagan's...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Big Book of Maker Skills
The Big Book of Maker Skills

Chris Hackett · Weldon Owen
Format: Print book

Makers, get ready. This is your ultimate, must-have, tip-packed guide for taking your DIY projects to the next level—from basic wood- and metalworking skills to plugged-in fun with power tools, from cutting-edge electronics play to 3-D printing wizardry. Join Chris Hackett, Popular Science...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements
The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements

Paul Parsons · Quercus
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback

As one of the most recognizable images in science, the periodic table is ingrained in our culture. First drawn up in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev, its 118 elements make up not only everything on our planet but also everything in the entire universe.The Periodic Table looks at the fascinating...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard
Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard

George Adams · Timber Press

You may already have a bird feeder in your yard, but you can attract a far wider range of species, and they will stay longer, if you create a bird-friendly landscape. Gardening for the Birds shows you how.With the right native plants, arranged to mimic natural ecosystems, you will provide...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees
The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees

Joseph S. Wilson · Princeton University Press
Pages: 288
Format: Print book

The Bees in Your Backyard provides an engaging introduction to the roughly 4,000 different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field.The book features more than 900 stunning color...
Read More check catalog
 
 
The Secret History of Kindness: Learning from How Dogs Learn
The Secret History of Kindness: Learning from How Dogs Learn

Melissa Holbrook Pierson · W. W. Norton & Company
Format: Hardcover

An intimate, surprising look at man's best friend and what the leading philosophies of dog training teach us about ourselves.Years back, Melissa Holbrook Pierson brought home a border collie named Mercy, without a clue of how to get her to behave. Stunned after hiring a trainer whose...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Thinking In Numbers: On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math
Thinking In Numbers: On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math

Daniel Tammet · Little, Brown and Company; Reprint edition
Format: Hardcover

The irresistibly engaging book that enlarges ones wonder at Tammets mind and his all-embracing vision of the world as grounded in numbers. --Oliver Sacks, MD THINKING IN NUMBERS is the book that Daniel Tammet, mathematical savant and bestselling author, was born to write. In Tammets world,...
Read More check catalog
 
 
How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens
How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens

Benedict Carey · Random House
Format: Hardcover

In the tradition of The Power of Habit and Thinking, Fast and Slow comes a practical, playful, and endlessly fascinating guide to what we really know about learning and memory today - and how we can apply it to our own lives. From an early age, it is drilled into our heads: Restlessness,...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Fracking Pennsylvania: Flirting With Disaster
Fracking Pennsylvania: Flirting With Disaster

Walter M. Brasch · Greeley & Stone, Publishers, LLC; 2 edition
Format: Print book

--70% more content than first edition --updated t0 2014 --30 photos and graphics In his most powerful investigation to date, award-winning journalist Walter M. Brasch digs into the natural gas industry and extracts the truth about fracking. This is the long-awaited second edition to the critically-acclaimed...
Read More check catalog
 
 
Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants
Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants

Jane Goodall · Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover

Renowned naturalist and bestselling author Jane Goodall examines the critical role that trees and plants play in our world. In her wise and elegant new book, Jane Goodall blends her experience in nature with her enthusiasm for botany to give readers a deeper understanding of the world around...
Read More check catalog