Every animal has a story.In ZOOBURBIA, urban naturalist Tai Moses launches a lively exploration into "the extraordinary, unruly, half-wild realm where human and animal lives overlap." The author's woodsy backyard at the base of the Oakland hills becomes a laboratory for encounters with a variety of animals, from deer, raccoons and squirrels to birds, lizards and feral cats. The more Moses learns about their natural histories, the more curious she becomes about their life histories--their stories. After a failed attempt at backyard farming, Moses turns her energies to wildlife gardening in an effort to restore some of the dwindling habitat that sustains our wild neighbors. A captivating blend of memoir, natural history and storytelling, illustrated with original linoleum block prints by Dave Buchen, Zooburbia is a magnifying lens turned to our everyday environment.
Parallax Press
|
9781937006679
|
Paperback
The Eureka Factor
By Kounios, John
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 more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success. Eureka or aha moments are sudden realizations that expand our understanding of the world and ourselves, conferring both personal growth and practical advantage. Such creative insights, as psychological scientists call them, were what conveyed an important discovery in the science of genetics to Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock, the melody of a Beatles ballad to Paul McCartney, and an understanding of the cause of human suffering to the Buddha. But these moments of clarity are not given only to the famous. Anyone can have them. In The Eureka Factor, John Kounios and Mark Beeman explain how insights arise and what the scientific research says about stimulating more of them. They discuss how various conditions affect the likelihood of your having an insight, when insight is helpful and when deliberate methodical thought is better suited to a task, what the relationship is between insight and intuition, and how the brain's right hemisphere contributes to creative thought. Written in a lively, engaging style, this book goes beyond scientific principles to offer productive techniques for realizing your creative potential - at home and at work. The authors provide compelling anecdotes to illustrate how eureka experiences can be a key factor in your life. Attend a dinner party with Christopher Columbus to learn why we need insights. Go to a baseball game with the director of a classic Disney Pixar movie to learn about one important type of aha moment. Observe the behind-the-scenes arrangements for an Elvis Presley concert to learn why the timing of insights is crucial. Accessible and compelling, The Eureka Factor is a fascinating look at the human brain and its seemingly infinite capacity to surprise us. Praise for The Eureka Factor "Delicious . . . In The Eureka Factor, neuroscientists John Kounios and Mark Beeman give many other examples of [a] kind of lightning bolt of insight, but back this up with the latest brain-imaging research." - Newsweek"An incredible accomplishment . . . [The Eureka Factor] is not just a chronicle of the journey that numerous scientists (including the authors) have taken to examine insight but is also a fascinating guide to how advances in science are made in general. Messrs. Kounios and Beeman examine how a parade of clever experiments can be designed to answer specific questions and rule out alternative possibilities. . . . Wonderful ideas appear as if out of nowhere - and we are delighted." - The Wall Street Journal"An excellent title for those interested in neuroscience or creativity . . . The writing is engaging and readable, mixing stories of famous perceptions with explanations of how such revelations happen." - Library Journal (starred review) "A lively and accessible 'brain' book with wide appeal." - Booklist"[An] ingenious, thoughtful update on how the mind works." - Kirkus Reviews "The Eureka Factor presents a fascinating and illuminating account of the creative process and how to foster it." - James J. Heckman, Nobel laureate in economics
Random House
|
9781400068548
|
Print book
Bats
By Fenton, M. Brock
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 in a night. Bats also pollinate and disperse the seeds for many of the plants we love, from bananas to mangoes and figs. Bats: A World of Science and Mystery presents these fascinating nocturnal creatures in a new light. Lush, full-color photographs portray bats in flight, feeding, and mating in views that show them in exceptional detail. The photos also take the reader into the roosts of bats, from caves and mines to the tents some bats build out of leaves. A comprehensive guide to what scientists know about the world of bats, the book begins with a look at bats' origins and evolution.
University Of Chicago Press
|
9780226065120
|
Hardcover
The Man Who Wasn't There
By Ananthaswamy, Anil
In the tradition of Oliver Sacks, a tour of the latest neuroscience of schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer's disease, ecstatic epilepsy, Cotard's syndrome, out-of-body experiences, and other disorders - revealing the awesome power of the human sense of self from a master of science journalismAnil Ananthaswamy's extensive in-depth interviews venture into the lives of individuals who offer perspectives that will change how you think about who you are. These individuals all lost some part of what we think of as our self, but they then offer remarkable, sometimes heart-wrenching insights into what remains. One man cut off his own leg. Another became one with the universe.We are learning about the self at a level of detail that Descartes ("I think therefore I am") could never have imagined.
Dutton Books
|
9780525954194
|
Hardcover
To Infinity and Beyond
By Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Linked to a special mini season of the award-winning StarTalk podcast, this enlightening illustrated narrative by the world's most celebrated astrophysicist explains the universe from the solar system to the farthest reaches of space with authority and humor.No one can make the mysteries of the universe more comprehensible and fun than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Drawing on mythology, history, and literature - alongside his trademark wit and charm - Tyson and StarTalk senior producer Lindsey Nyx Walker bring planetary science down to Earth and principles of astrophysics within reach. In this entertaining book, illustrated with vivid photographs and art, readers travel with him through space and time, starting with the Big Bang and voyaging to the far reaches of the universe and beyond.
‎National Geographic
|
9781426223303
|
Hardcover
Untamed
By Harlan, Will
Carol Ruckdeschel is the wildest woman in America. She wrestles alligators, eats roadkill, rides horses bareback, and lives in a ramshackle cabin that she built by hand in an island wilderness. A combination of Henry David Thoreau and Jane Goodall, Carol is a self-taught scientist who has become a tireless defender of sea turtles on Cumberland Island, a national park off the coast of Georgia.Cumberland, the country's largest and most biologically diverse barrier island, is celebrated for its windswept dunes and feral horses. Steel magnate Thomas Carnegie once owned much of the island, and in recent years, Carnegie heirs and the National Park Service have clashed with Carol over the island's future. What happens when a dirt-poor naturalist with only a high school diploma becomes an outspoken advocate on a celebrated but divisive island? Untamed is the story of an American original standing her ground and fighting for what she believes in, no matter the cost.
Grove Press
|
9780802122582
|
Print book
Reader, Come Home
By Wolf, Maryanne
From the author of Proust and the Squid, a lively, ambitious, and deeply informative epistolary book that considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies.A decade ago, Maryanne Wolf's Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and how reading changes the way we think and feel. Since then, the ways we process written language have changed dramatically with many concerned about both their own changes and that of children. New research on the reading brain chronicles these changes in the brains of children and adults as they learn to read while immersed in a digitally dominated medium.Drawing deeply on this research, this book comprises a series of letters Wolf writes to us - her beloved readers - to describe her concerns and her hopes about what is happening to the reading brain as it unavoidably changes to adapt to digital mediums.
Harper
|
9780062388780
|
Hardcover
Planet of the Bugs
By Shaw, Scott Richard
Dinosaurs, however toothy, did not rule the earth - and neither do humans. But what were and are the true potentates of our planet? Insects, says Scott Richard Shaw - millions and millions of insect species. Starting in the shallow oceans of ancient Earth and ending in the far reaches of outer space - where, Shaw proposes, insect-like aliens may have achieved similar preeminence - Planet of the Bugs spins a sweeping account of insects' evolution from humble arthropod ancestors into the bugs we know and love (or fear and hate) today. Leaving no stone unturned, Shaw explores how evolutionary innovations such as small body size, wings, metamorphosis, and parasitic behavior have enabled insects to disperse widely, occupy increasingly narrow niches, and survive global catastrophes in their rise to dominance.
University Of Chicago Press
|
9780226163611
|
Hardcover
Out There
By Wall, Michael
We've all asked ourselves the question. It's impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In OUT THERE Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer) . What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited? OUT THERE is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall's informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Dr. Wall also shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever.
Grand Central Publishing
|
9781538729373
|
Hardcover
Gatecrasher
By Widdicombe, Ben
A smart, gossipy, and very funny examination of celebrity culture from New York's premiere social columnist. Ben Widdicombe is the only writer to have worked for Page Six, TMZ, and The New York Times - an unusual Triple Crown that allowed him personal access to the full gamut of Hollywood and high society's rich and famous, from billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump, and the Koch brothers, to pop culture icons Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. Now, in Gatecrasher, New York's premiere gossip-turned-society writer spills the sensational stories that never made it to print. Widdicombe has appeared at nearly every gossip-worthy venue - from the Oscars and the Hamptons, to the Met Gala and Mar-a-Lago - and has rubbed elbows with a dizzying array of celebrities (and wannabes) , and he whisks us past the clipboard and velvet rope to teach us the golden rules of gatecrashing, dishing on dozens of boldface names along the way.
Zooburbia
By Moses, Tai
Every animal has a story.In ZOOBURBIA, urban naturalist Tai Moses launches a lively exploration into "the extraordinary, unruly, half-wild realm where human and animal lives overlap." The author's woodsy backyard at the base of the Oakland hills becomes a laboratory for encounters with a variety of animals, from deer, raccoons and squirrels to birds, lizards and feral cats. The more Moses learns about their natural histories, the more curious she becomes about their life histories--their stories. After a failed attempt at backyard farming, Moses turns her energies to wildlife gardening in an effort to restore some of the dwindling habitat that sustains our wild neighbors. A captivating blend of memoir, natural history and storytelling, illustrated with original linoleum block prints by Dave Buchen, Zooburbia is a magnifying lens turned to our everyday environment.
The Eureka Factor
By Kounios, John
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 more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success. Eureka or aha moments are sudden realizations that expand our understanding of the world and ourselves, conferring both personal growth and practical advantage. Such creative insights, as psychological scientists call them, were what conveyed an important discovery in the science of genetics to Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock, the melody of a Beatles ballad to Paul McCartney, and an understanding of the cause of human suffering to the Buddha. But these moments of clarity are not given only to the famous. Anyone can have them. In The Eureka Factor, John Kounios and Mark Beeman explain how insights arise and what the scientific research says about stimulating more of them. They discuss how various conditions affect the likelihood of your having an insight, when insight is helpful and when deliberate methodical thought is better suited to a task, what the relationship is between insight and intuition, and how the brain's right hemisphere contributes to creative thought. Written in a lively, engaging style, this book goes beyond scientific principles to offer productive techniques for realizing your creative potential - at home and at work. The authors provide compelling anecdotes to illustrate how eureka experiences can be a key factor in your life. Attend a dinner party with Christopher Columbus to learn why we need insights. Go to a baseball game with the director of a classic Disney Pixar movie to learn about one important type of aha moment. Observe the behind-the-scenes arrangements for an Elvis Presley concert to learn why the timing of insights is crucial. Accessible and compelling, The Eureka Factor is a fascinating look at the human brain and its seemingly infinite capacity to surprise us. Praise for The Eureka Factor "Delicious . . . In The Eureka Factor, neuroscientists John Kounios and Mark Beeman give many other examples of [a] kind of lightning bolt of insight, but back this up with the latest brain-imaging research." - Newsweek "An incredible accomplishment . . . [The Eureka Factor] is not just a chronicle of the journey that numerous scientists (including the authors) have taken to examine insight but is also a fascinating guide to how advances in science are made in general. Messrs. Kounios and Beeman examine how a parade of clever experiments can be designed to answer specific questions and rule out alternative possibilities. . . . Wonderful ideas appear as if out of nowhere - and we are delighted." - The Wall Street Journal"An excellent title for those interested in neuroscience or creativity . . . The writing is engaging and readable, mixing stories of famous perceptions with explanations of how such revelations happen." - Library Journal (starred review) "A lively and accessible 'brain' book with wide appeal." - Booklist"[An] ingenious, thoughtful update on how the mind works." - Kirkus Reviews "The Eureka Factor presents a fascinating and illuminating account of the creative process and how to foster it." - James J. Heckman, Nobel laureate in economics
Bats
By Fenton, M. Brock
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 in a night. Bats also pollinate and disperse the seeds for many of the plants we love, from bananas to mangoes and figs. Bats: A World of Science and Mystery presents these fascinating nocturnal creatures in a new light. Lush, full-color photographs portray bats in flight, feeding, and mating in views that show them in exceptional detail. The photos also take the reader into the roosts of bats, from caves and mines to the tents some bats build out of leaves. A comprehensive guide to what scientists know about the world of bats, the book begins with a look at bats' origins and evolution.
The Man Who Wasn't There
By Ananthaswamy, Anil
In the tradition of Oliver Sacks, a tour of the latest neuroscience of schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer's disease, ecstatic epilepsy, Cotard's syndrome, out-of-body experiences, and other disorders - revealing the awesome power of the human sense of self from a master of science journalismAnil Ananthaswamy's extensive in-depth interviews venture into the lives of individuals who offer perspectives that will change how you think about who you are. These individuals all lost some part of what we think of as our self, but they then offer remarkable, sometimes heart-wrenching insights into what remains. One man cut off his own leg. Another became one with the universe.We are learning about the self at a level of detail that Descartes ("I think therefore I am") could never have imagined.
To Infinity and Beyond
By Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Linked to a special mini season of the award-winning StarTalk podcast, this enlightening illustrated narrative by the world's most celebrated astrophysicist explains the universe from the solar system to the farthest reaches of space with authority and humor.No one can make the mysteries of the universe more comprehensible and fun than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Drawing on mythology, history, and literature - alongside his trademark wit and charm - Tyson and StarTalk senior producer Lindsey Nyx Walker bring planetary science down to Earth and principles of astrophysics within reach. In this entertaining book, illustrated with vivid photographs and art, readers travel with him through space and time, starting with the Big Bang and voyaging to the far reaches of the universe and beyond.
Untamed
By Harlan, Will
Carol Ruckdeschel is the wildest woman in America. She wrestles alligators, eats roadkill, rides horses bareback, and lives in a ramshackle cabin that she built by hand in an island wilderness. A combination of Henry David Thoreau and Jane Goodall, Carol is a self-taught scientist who has become a tireless defender of sea turtles on Cumberland Island, a national park off the coast of Georgia.Cumberland, the country's largest and most biologically diverse barrier island, is celebrated for its windswept dunes and feral horses. Steel magnate Thomas Carnegie once owned much of the island, and in recent years, Carnegie heirs and the National Park Service have clashed with Carol over the island's future. What happens when a dirt-poor naturalist with only a high school diploma becomes an outspoken advocate on a celebrated but divisive island? Untamed is the story of an American original standing her ground and fighting for what she believes in, no matter the cost.
Reader, Come Home
By Wolf, Maryanne
From the author of Proust and the Squid, a lively, ambitious, and deeply informative epistolary book that considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies.A decade ago, Maryanne Wolf's Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and how reading changes the way we think and feel. Since then, the ways we process written language have changed dramatically with many concerned about both their own changes and that of children. New research on the reading brain chronicles these changes in the brains of children and adults as they learn to read while immersed in a digitally dominated medium.Drawing deeply on this research, this book comprises a series of letters Wolf writes to us - her beloved readers - to describe her concerns and her hopes about what is happening to the reading brain as it unavoidably changes to adapt to digital mediums.
Planet of the Bugs
By Shaw, Scott Richard
Dinosaurs, however toothy, did not rule the earth - and neither do humans. But what were and are the true potentates of our planet? Insects, says Scott Richard Shaw - millions and millions of insect species. Starting in the shallow oceans of ancient Earth and ending in the far reaches of outer space - where, Shaw proposes, insect-like aliens may have achieved similar preeminence - Planet of the Bugs spins a sweeping account of insects' evolution from humble arthropod ancestors into the bugs we know and love (or fear and hate) today. Leaving no stone unturned, Shaw explores how evolutionary innovations such as small body size, wings, metamorphosis, and parasitic behavior have enabled insects to disperse widely, occupy increasingly narrow niches, and survive global catastrophes in their rise to dominance.
Out There
By Wall, Michael
We've all asked ourselves the question. It's impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In OUT THERE Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer) . What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited? OUT THERE is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall's informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Dr. Wall also shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever.
Gatecrasher
By Widdicombe, Ben
A smart, gossipy, and very funny examination of celebrity culture from New York's premiere social columnist. Ben Widdicombe is the only writer to have worked for Page Six, TMZ, and The New York Times - an unusual Triple Crown that allowed him personal access to the full gamut of Hollywood and high society's rich and famous, from billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump, and the Koch brothers, to pop culture icons Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. Now, in Gatecrasher, New York's premiere gossip-turned-society writer spills the sensational stories that never made it to print. Widdicombe has appeared at nearly every gossip-worthy venue - from the Oscars and the Hamptons, to the Met Gala and Mar-a-Lago - and has rubbed elbows with a dizzying array of celebrities (and wannabes) , and he whisks us past the clipboard and velvet rope to teach us the golden rules of gatecrashing, dishing on dozens of boldface names along the way.